The second edition of the Odesa IFF ScripTeast Series Pitching took place in Odesa on 17. - 20. July. It is a drama series competition organized by the Odesa International Film Festival Film Industry Office Team, powered by ScripTeast - a master training program for the best Eastern European scriptwriters, and supported by Star Media, the biggest international film company in Ukraine.
Six drama series projects from Eastern Europe with international potential were selected for participation:
FAMILY ARCHIVES by Marjan Alcevski, Andamion Murataj (Croatia)
HIDE AND SEEK by Oleksandr Protsiuk (Ukraine)
LOVE AND HATE by Ognen Georgievski (Macedonia)
PRISON HOSPITAL by Marcell Patkai (Hungary)
SMOKEY EYES by Małgorzata Piłacińska (Poland)
THE SQUARE by Volodymyr Tykhyy, Evgeniy Matvienko (Ukraine)
The selection of projects was in the hands of a committee headed by Lars Hermann, Executive Producer with Apple Tree Productions (Denmark), the OIFF, Star Media and ScripTeast teams.
Following pitching training by the renowned pitching tutor and producer Agathe Berman, the participating writers, directors and producers pitched their projects to a jury and public audience that included broadcasters, distributors and potential co-producers at the Odesa Film Studios.
The jury consisted of Laurence Herszberg, General Director of Series Mania (France), Vlad Ryashin, General Producer, Star Media (Ukraine), Meinolf Zurhorst, Head of Fiction, ZDF/ARTE (Germany), Klaus Zimmermann, Managing Partner, Dynamic Television (US/France/Germany), Brigitta Manthey, Advisor Film Funding, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (Germany), and Dariusz Jablonski, President, ScripTeast/ Independent Film Foundation (Poland).
After due deliberation, the Jury awarded “Family Archives” from Croatia, written by Andamion Murataj (“The Forgiveness of Blood”, 2011 Silver Bear for Best Screenplay) and Marjan Alcevski (Danis Tanovic’s “Uspjeh”, in post-production) and produced by Zvonimir Munivrana of Zagreb’s Corvus Film. The award consists of a post-production service package in the amount of USD 20.000 provided by Star Media Company.
Laurence Herszberg – Forewoman of the jury says: “The jury was very impressed and pleased with the general quality of the projects and of the commitment to the continued increase in quality of original series developed in the region. The jury decided to give the award to “Family Archives” because it combines all the elements of a successful contemporary drama series: a very specific local story, a strong, modern female leading character and international potential.”
The jury further decided to give a Special Award funded by Series Mania - a personal invitation to participate in the 2019 Series Mania Writers‘ Campus. It went to Małgorzata Piłacińska, writer of the Polish project “Smoky Eyes”.
ScripTeast (www.scripteast.pl):
ScripTeast is a European master training program for the best Eastern European scriptwriters, organized by the Independent Film Foundation of Poland. Since 2006 altogether 137 scripts have been developed within the program and as of today 45 of them are in production or have already been produced and distributed, many to commercial and critical success.
Star Media (www.starmediafilm.com):
Star Media is an international company that specializes in the production and distribution of theatrical and television films, telenovelas and series, TV shows and docudramas, a leading provider of television programming in Ukraine and abroad.
Odesa International Film Festival (www.oiff.com.ua):
Support and development of Ukrainian cinematography inside the country and on the international stage, popularization of high-level intellectual films. Main professional platform that gather Ukrainian and foreign filmmakers. Exclusive film premieres, workshops of leading world filmmakers and unique festive atmosphere – all of this is brought together in the 9 days of the Odesa International Film Festival! The 9th Odesa International Film Festival is from 13 to 21 July 2018.
Series Mania Writers Campus (www.seriesmania.com/en/industry/series-mania-writers-campus)
Series Mania Writers Campus is a week-long writing workshop open to 20 European writers. It will take place in Lille in March 2019. The 20 selected writers will have the chance to be trained and mentored by experienced A-List writers (like Sarah Treem, Hagai Levi or Bryan Elsley) and to meet the key industry decision-makers during the Series Mania professional Forum. A unique opportunity to develop project and a network!
