National film agencies from Estonia, Ireland, Spain and the Nordics launch the European Writers’ Club initiative
- Backed by the EU and launched at this year’s Série Series, the effort aims to increase collaboration on high-end series projects across the continent
On 30 June, Fontainebleau’s Série Series hosted the launch of a new initiative, the European Writers’ Club (EWC). The effort, promoted by several European film agencies and backed by the European Union, aims to increase collaboration opportunities on high-end series projects across the continent.
The EWC is spearheaded by Denmark’s Thomas Gammeltoft, formerly partner and executive producer at production and distribution outfit True Content Entertainment, and CEO of the Copenhagen Film Fund from 2013-2019. Nawell Amour, from the European Producers Club, will assist Gammeltoft in running the initiative.
The national film bodies backing the initiative are Screen Ireland, the Estonian Film Institute, the Danish Film Institute, the Nordisk Film & TV Fund, the National Film School of Denmark, the Nordic Writers Associations, the Galician funding agency AGADIC and Danish broadcaster TV2. The EWC will be administered by Vision Denmark.
The advisory board includes Katrine Vogelsang, of TV2; Simone Emmelius, of Germany’s ZDF; writers Nikolaj Scherfig and Virginia Yague Ivar Kohn, of Norway’s Rubicon; and Femke Wotling, of Dutch outfit Submarine.
In its inaugural year, the EWC will host three sessions, each consisting of two one-week camps, along with dedicated, localised events and master classes for its members. The first, the Boosting Ideas Session, will be led by Le Groupe Ouest and will unspool in Copenhagen from 23-28 October before moving to Tallinn, where it will run from 5-10 December. The session will be open to ten writers and ten broadcasters.
The second, the Boosting Concepts Session, will be taken care of by the Series Lab programme of the TorinoFilmLab. Its first camp will run from 11-16 April 2023 in Dublin, whilst the second will take place in Galicia from 30 May-5 June. Writers and creators will be paid for their participation in both sessions.
Finally, a special seminar session, titled “Boosting Broadcasters” will serve as a meeting place for both public and private broadcasters to network and discuss market trends.
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