Tag Archives: Series Mania

Realness Institute names Series Lab writers

African filmmaking organisation Realness Institute has revealed the four participants who have been selected for the AuthenticA Series Lab course slated to start at the end of this month.

Angela Wamai, Jessica Hagan, Chantel Clark and Tony Sebastian Ukpo

The Series Lab is presented by Realness Institute in partnership with Geneva-based philanthropic outfit The Storyboard Collective and French drama event Series Mania.

It is aimed at supporting and mentoring each participant into delivering a pilot script, a pitch deck and a professional pitch that they will present at Series Mania Forum 2023.

The young African screenwriters are film editor Angela Wamai (Kenya), director and screenwriter Chantel Clark (South Africa), Ghanaian-British writer Jessica Hagan and France-based Nigerian filmmaker and photographer Tony Sebastian Ukpo.

They will undergo the six-month Series Lab to develop their stories, under the mentorship of story expert Selina Ukwuoma and creative producer Mehret Mandefro.

They will begin the programme with an eight-day residency in South Africa this month followed by a few months of online mentorship, meetings and support, leading up to a 10-week residency in Switzerland next year.

Realness executive director Elias Ribeiro said: “The four selected participants all have a range of ideas and approaches to their episodic series, which will make for a creatively dynamic lab. The programme also offers opportunities to engage with a host of industry experts.”

David Rimer, founder of StoryBoard Collective, said: “StoryBoard seeks to promote independent African episodic content. We seek to support powerful, authentic and unapologetic voices. We understand that these narratives must start with good stories; these four scriptwriters have most definitely achieved that.

“Now, it is up to AuthenticA to support them throughout the residency and, ultimately, at Series Mania to do our utmost to get these brilliant stories on national, regional, and international screens.”

“We have been amazed by the quality and the diversity of the applications, which prove again the creativity of the talents coming from all over Africa. We selected four compelling projects, with a strong market potential that for sure will raise interest among our professional attendees. This partnership with AuthenticA Series Lab reinforces Series Mania’s position as the best place to discover new voices from all over the world,” added Laurence Herszberg, general director of Series Mania.

tagged in: , , , , , , , ,

SA’s Paradys wins Series Mania award

Nimrod Geva (left) and Darrel Bristow-Bovey pitch Paradys

South African drama Paradys has won the Best Project Award at this week’s Series Mania Forum in Lille, France.

The drama was selected out of 15 projects that were pitched during the event’s Co-pro Pitching Sessions. The jury comprised Noel Hedges, exec VP of acquisitions at transatlantic producer/distributor Entertainment One; Yaël Fogiel, producer, co-founder and co-director at Films du Poisson, France; Daniele Cesarano, head of drama at RTI Mediaset Group in Italy; and Susanne Frank, director of drama at ZDF Enterprises, Germany.

Paradys producer Nimrod Geva of Quizzical Pictures and creator/writer Darrel Bristow-Bovey were presented with a cheque for €50,000 (US$55,000) for winning the competition.

Paradys follows two black police officers called to investigate a murder in Paradys, the last whites-only enclave in South Africa. They must work together to navigate an upside-down world of shifting allegiances, apocalyptic cults and covert interference from the American alt-right to finally uncover a truth that is neither black nor white.

The show’s win was announced by Laurence Herszberg, the founder and general director of Series Mania, and Antony Root, exec VP and head of original production at WarnerMedia EMEA.

Root said: “The jurors were impressed by the wide range and high quality of the 15 pitches they watched from 56 countries. There were some comedies, some dramas, some crime series, some horror series and some futuristic fantasy. Each project was considered for its own intrinsic qualities, for its originality for audiences, and for its potential to travel outside its country of origin.

“The jury’s final decision was unanimous that the award should be given to Paradys from South Africa. The project was presented with passion and precision, and we hope the Series Mania award will allow it to be developed further and start the journey towards production.

“Although the setting is local, we believe the story, its themes and its characters will also resonate for audiences outside South Africa. The country is well known for the high quality of the international productions that shoot there. To see the same standards applied to a distinctive and ambitious local project will be very exciting.”

Paradys was created by Bristow-Bovey and Anton Visser, written by Bristow-Bovey, and produced by Geva for Quizzical Pictures. Avi Nir is the exec producer for Keshet International, which is distributing the series globally.

 

tagged in: ,

Abudu to receive Women in Series award

Mo Abudu, CEO of Nigeria’s EbonyLife Group, will be honoured with the Women in Series award at the Series Mania drama festival, which is being held in Lille, France, from March 18 to 25.

Mo Abudu

In collaboration with the European Women’s Audiovisual Network and advocacy group Pour Les Femmes Dans Les Médias, the prize is given to a remarkable woman from the audiovisual industry to honour her vision and leadership. The awards ceremony will take place on March 22.

Last year’s winner was Christina Sulebakk, general manager of HBO Max EMEA.

Announcing the award on Instagram, Abudu said: “I am deeply pleased to be fulfilling a dream where EbonyLife Studios is working with a variety of international partners in amplifying the awareness of the black experience in storytelling and bringing fresh new African stories to a world audience.

“I would really like to encourage our industry to make positive change with inclusive representation of women, African and black creative talent.”

Abudu started Ebonylife TV in 2006 and the network now airs in more than 49 countries across Africa, as well as in the UK and the Caribbean. She established EbonyLife Films in 2014 and her first film as an executive producer was Fifty. Teaming up with The Elfike Collective in 2016, she produced The Wedding Party and other films. She has also exec produced or coproduced movies including The Wedding Party 2, The Royal Hibiscus Hotel, Chief Daddy, Your Excellency and Òlòtūré.

Abudu has also formed partnerships with Sony Pictures Television to coproduce The Dahomey Warriors, a series about the Amazons who took on French colonialists in a 19th century West African kingdom; with AMC Networks to produce Nigeria 2099, a crime drama created by EbonyLife; with Netflix to create two original series as well as multiple Netflix-branded films; and with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Studios to produce a slate of film and TV projects connected to the African continent.

Laurence Herszberg, founder and general director of Series Mania, said: “I am honoured to be making this wonderful announcement alongside the European Women’s Audiovisual Network and Pour Les Femmes Dans Les Médias. Mo Abudu is truly a remarkable leader and visionary and was the perfect choice for Series Mania and to complement the 2022 International Women’s Day campaign theme of #BreakTheBias.”

tagged in: , ,