14/06/2022 - Twenty European TV series producers and writers will participate in a three-day professional feedback and networking workshop, starting today

The sixth edition of Series Lab Hamburg will take place from 14-16 June. The script-development workshop is organised by Creative Europe Desk Hamburg, the MOIN Film Fund and Letterbox Filmproduktion, in cooperation with 14 other Creative Europe Desks. Further supporters are ZDF Studios, Sky, GRAEF Rechtsanwälte, Optical Art and Post Perfect.

The participating group will consist of 20 European producer-writer teams with a TV drama series in development. They will receive script consultancy, get networking opportunities and have meetings with international financiers. The participants were chosen by their respective Creative Europe Desks from a pool of countries and regions consisting of Austria, Denmark, Finland, Flanders, France, Hamburg, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Wallonia-Brussels and Switzerland. The cost of participation itself is covered by the event.

“We are really proud that, at our sixth edition of the Series Lab, we can already look back on a number of successfully produced projects that have found their way to the European audience,” says Christiane Siemen, CEO of Creative Europe Desk Hamburg, specifically mentioning Death of Friends by Letterbox Filmproduktion, Parlement [+see also:
interview: Benjamin Elalouf
series profile] by Cinétévé, Missing Lisa G5 by Red Balloon, Furia by Monster Scripted and State of Happiness by Maipo Film, which is currently available on ARTE Mediathek. “Demand for European series continues to grow in the global market. The lab provides a platform to intensively discuss projects with high-profile consultants at an early stage of development, and to pitch them to international financiers.”

The criteria required for a successful participation application are international experience in a production company and having a TV series currently in development. The series itself has to be planned as a co-production, must be conceived for international distribution and must ideally already have some guaranteed financing behind it.

This year, the MEDIA-funded Art Department Master Class is giving an award to one of the projects that has no production designer attached yet: one team will have a chance to participate in a three-day training session that will be all about digital post-production, and using the latest technology and innovative solutions available to improve the art-department workflow.

Series Lab Hamburg was first launched in 2016. The aim is to provide an intensive workshop for producers and writers that focuses on the particular dramaturgy involved in creating high-end TV series. The consultants this year are Claire Armspach (head of Drama Development at STV), Donna Sharpe (head writer and co-creator of Mapa and West of Liberty), Blanca Escoda Agustí (script consultant), John Yorke (Shameless, Jekyll, Life on Mars, The Streets, Wolf Hall) and Miguel Machalski (trainer, mentor and script analyst, Million-Dollar Baby, The Sea Inside [+see also:
trailer
film profile]). They will analyse the projects and offer answers to any questions that may arise regarding plot, character constellations and story depth.

Further enquiries for future editions can be made via your local Creative Europe Desk or via Creative Europe Desk Hamburg (click here).

The following projects and producer-writer groups have been selected for the 2022 edition:

Log Out - Philippe Coeytaux, Raphaël Meyer, Ami Cohen
Producer: Akka Films (Switzerland)

In Denial - Rebecka Hamberger, Sara Kadefors, Annika Rogell
Producer: Art & Bob Film & Drama (Sweden)

Dual Use - Joram Willink, Jan van Dyck
Producer: Bind (Netherlands)

Solas - Yvonne Donohoe, Lydia Mulvey
Producer: Blinder Films (Ireland)

Namibia - Raoul Reinert, Raphael Solá Ferrer, Silja Clemens, Girley C Yazama, Mikiros Garoes
Producer: Cuckoo Clock Entertainment (Germany)

[Project name and company not public] - Deborah Pierre-Bloch, Simon Farmakas (Luxembourg)

[Project name and company not public] - Miriam Porté, Leticia Dolera, Almudena Monzú (Spain)

The Alps Are Red - Andi G Hess, Cornelia Travnicek
Producer: DOR Film Group (Austria)

Mephisto - Annegret Weitkämper-Krug, Cynthia Buchheim, Isabel Grand
Producer: Gretchenfilm (Germany)

The Soldier - Sebastian Weyland, Verena S Freytag
Producer: Heimathafen Film & Media (Germany)

[Project name and company not public] - Hlín Jóhannesdóttir, Kristín Helga Gunnarsdóttir, Lisa Herbers (Germany/Iceland)

[Project name and company not public] - Edyta Janczak-Hiriart, Julie Benegmos (France)

Passepartout - Anette Unger, Florian Vey, Johannes Rothe, Ipek Zübert
Producer: Leitwolf Film (Germany)

A Boy Disappears - Live Hide, Julie Budtz Sørensen
Producer: Nimbus (Denmark)

Leaks - André Logie, Maxime Pistorio
Producer: Panache Productions (Belgium)

[Project name and company not public] - Sanne Nuyens, Sabine Lubbe Bakker (Belgium)

A Question of Insanity - Steffen Gerdes, Miriam Suad Bühler
Producer: Red Balloon (Germany)

Superhero Academy - Are Valle Skjelvan, Nina Wikstøl, Eirik Moen Holsve
Producer: Seefood TV (Norway)

Guts - Johanna Tarvainen, Jemina Jokisalo
Producer: Solar Republic (Finland)

Cosmic Girl - Claudio Esposito, Daniela De Francesco, Adama Grevoz
Producer: The Piranesi Experience (Italy)