The series projects Yours, Margot, The Invisible Ink and Amigas, all with duos behind them, have won the three development grants that were up for grabs

l-r, top row first: Jussi Rantamäki, Juho Kuosmanen, Maíra Bühler, Beatriz Seigner, Fernando Epstein and Cesar Diaz

Launched by Series Mania and Germany’s Beta Group in order to support talents making the leap from films to series, the SERIESMAKERS initiative has unveiled its first list of winners, singling out three projects from among the ten originally selected (see the news). The teams behind them have been benefiting from a tailor-made training programme supervised by well-known consultants.

A development-support grant worth €50,000, provided by Beta, went to Yours, Margot, a project being helmed by Finland’s Juho Kuosmanen (Grand Prix at Cannes in 2021 with Compartment No. 6 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juho Kuosmanen
film profile]) and being produced by Jussi Rantamäki. This 8x45-minute show will revolve around Vilja, who, after discovering her father’s letters to an unknown lover, unearths her family’s traumatic past in 1980s East Berlin.

The second €50,000 grant offered by Beta was bestowed upon The Invisible Ink, directed by César Díaz (winner of the Caméra d’or at Cannes in 2019 with Our Mothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cesar Diaz
film profile]) and produced by Fernando Epstein. The 8x50-minute Belgian-Uruguayan project centres on a former Uruguayan revolutionary who leads a peaceful life in Belgium – until he receives a visit from his old torturer, who threatens to kill his wife and daughter if he doesn’t hand him some hidden loot. Now, he must travel back to Uruguay, confront his past and face those who have considered him dead for 20 years.

Lastly, a €20,000 grant provided by the Kirch Foundation (in conjunction with HFF - University of Television and Film Munich) went to the Brazilian project Amigas, directed by Beatriz Seigner (popular in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2018 with Los silencios [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) and written by Maíra Bühler. The plot hinges on five secondary-school girl friends who meet again for the 25th anniversary of their graduation. Now in their forties, life is far from what they had imagined. The encounter brings back a traumatic experience that they lived through together as teenagers, and which they will need to face in order to free themselves in the present.

The winners of the two prizes provided by Beta will work closely with the group to fine-tune the development of their projects and will be invited to the 2024 Series Mania Forum to present them to the industry’s most influential decision makers (including representatives of broadcasters, platforms, co-producers and financiers).

The call for projects for the second edition of SERIESMAKERS opened yesterday (for more details, please click here) and will close on 15 June. We already know that Chris Brancato (Narcos) and Lisa Joy (Westworld) will be joining the team of experts who will oversee the training of the teams behind the ten projects due to be selected in 2024.

(Translated from French)