The future of serial storytelling presents itself in Munich
After two years of hosting the so-called PROFESSIONAL DAYS, SERIENCAMP gave birth to the CONFERENCE in 2017, two days filled with panels, presentations, case studies and pitches all centered around the status quo and future of TV series in Europe and abroad.
Opening up with an overview into the landscape of Nordic series production, day one was packed with presentations of Finnish projects and partner festivals such as CONECTA FICTION and HELSINKI SCRIPT as well as with panels on series remakes and the future of serial storytelling and case studies on Norwegian smash hit SKAM, Finnish-German co-production DEADWIND and French „tropic noir“ ISKANDER. Culminating in the CONFERENCE’s first CO-PRODUCTION SESSIONS with six international high end projects presenting themselves to key decision makers from the drama series industry, day one saw international speakers and guests such as Ram Landes (producer, YOUR HONOR), Polly Leys (producer LOADED), Al Munteanu (Managing Director, Square One), Liselott Forsman (YLE), Marianne Furevold (producer, SKAM), Noor Sadar (producer ISKANDER), Olivier Abbou (director ISKANDER) and the MENTAL-team of Jani Pösö and Hyppe Salmi. The official opening ceremony with its screening of UK-hit-series SS-GB was attended by stars such as Sam Riley and Maria Furtwängler and provided the glamourous ending for an inspiring first CONFERENCE day.
The second day started off with a Bavarian Brunch Meet-Up supported by Global Screen before kicking into high gear with several pitching sessions (Digital Short Form, Writers’ Vision and Producers’ Vision) featuring aspiring writers from Europe and high profile production companies from Germany. The makers of MENTAL, ZOMBIELARS and GIRL CAVE talked about how to reach Millenials in an inspiring panel before two packed WORK IN PROGRESS sessions showcased some of the most promising German series in production right now: TRAKEHNER BLOOD (Servus TV), TNT Comedy’s new show ARTHUR’S LAW, Christian Schwochow’s BAD BANKS (ZDF), Neuesuper’s EIGHT DAYS (Sky), maze picture’s THE CRIMSON RIVERS and Amazon Prime Video’s PASTEWKA, which was presented by Bastian Pastewka himself.
Gaining praise from its diverse international audience, the SERIENCAMP CONFERENCE succeeded in combining theoretical insight with practical guidance, while providing a pleasantly familiar atmosphere for networking and discussions.