From Co-Pro Pitching Sessions at the Séries Mania Forum industry event to four projects in official selection, Canadian content will be front and centre at Séries Mania, the major European television series festival! Kicking off August 26 and running until September 2, 2021, this year’s Séries Mania is happening both online and in-person in Lille, Hauts-de-France.
Co-Pro Pitching Sessions: Prison Boy
British Columbia-based producers Dylan Jenkinson and Jason R. Goode’s Prison Boy (Hope of Glory Pictures) made the cut as one of 15 series in development who will participate in these exciting pitch sessions, out of 566 submissions hailing from 59 countries around the world (35 projects were submitted from Canada)!
On August 30, selected projects will be pitched to possible financial partners — with a chance to win a 50,000€ jury prize!
Prison Boy is a six episode dramatic series. It tells the story of a teenage boy with the unique experience of growing up in a prison for women, where his mom was incarcerated for killing his father, who was a cop. When she dies, he leaves the prison and tries to find out the hidden truth about what really happened leading up to her conviction.
P.S.: Did you know that Dylan Jenkinson was a participant in the RDV CANADA initiative Meet the Series 2020-2021? Meet the Series aims to help participants in developing their series projects for international sales or find an international coproducer!
Canadian projects in official festival selection
International Panorama:
- Sort Of
Having its world premiere is this CBC comedy about Sab Mehboob, a gender-fluid twenty-something millennial from a large Pakistani family, who works as a nanny. Produced by Toronto’s Sienna Films, this eight-episode series stars Bilal Baig who co-created the show alongside Fab Filippo. - Dark Soul (Bête noire)
Produced by Encore Television, this six-episode drama is directed by Sophie Deraspe, whose 2019 feature, Antigone, was Canada’s official submission to the 92nd Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film. Dark Soul, which centers around a psychiatric coroner investigating a tragic school shooting, is making its international debut.
Short Forms Competition:
- Felix, Maude and the End of the World (Félix, Maude et la fin du monde)
What would you do if you thought you were the last person left on earth? Make a new friend, of course. A man thinks he’s alone on the planet after an eclipse, until he encounters Maude. Broadcast by ICI.TOU.TV and produced by Trio Orange, this comedic,10-episode web series is having its international premiere. - Something Undone
Making its international premiere and broadcast in Canada on CBC Gem, this six-episode web series delves into themes of mental illness, loss, and family when a woman returns home to clear out and sell her late mother’s house, and finds a secret that begins to consume her. Produced by 4 AM Films, this thriller stars co-creators Madison Walsh and Michael Musi.
