Inspired by the pilot “Writing European” project of the European Commission, the Series Rough Pitch - The Balkan Way event combines a pitching workshop and a final pitching session that is being broadcast through a live stream at noon on 16 November, as part of the industry programmes of the Zagreb Film Festival and the Ljubljana International Film Festival. The host and moderator is Croatian film promoter Martina Petrović, and the event is taking place in collaboration with the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Film Center Serbia, the Bulgarian National Film Center and the Film Centre of Montenegro, with the support of the CED MEDIA Offices in Austria and Italy.

The pitching event is aimed at fictional TV series projects at the development stage. Eight of the 37 entries received during an open call for participants from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia made it to the final stage. They previously took part in the pitch preparation workshop led by experienced scriptwriter Valeria Richter (Denmark) and producer Helene Granqvist (Sweden), and will now be pitched online to a jury of industry experts: head of Co-Pro Series at the Berlinale Co-Production Market Martina Bleis; senior manager, International & Episodic Programming at The Gotham Film & Media Institute Gabriele Capolino; Francesco Capurro and Inès Huet, representing Series Mania Forum; head of Scripted Division, MIA, Gaia Tridente; and TV commissioning editor at ORF Susanne Spellitz. Pre-recorded pitching videos will be presented before the Q&A sessions that will take place between the participants and the jury members. In a 30-minute break, livened up by a Croatian DJ, the jury will have to decide on the recipient of an award of €5,000, to be given to one project for further development, as well as on the lucky winner of an additional Series Mania Award.

The participating projects are as follows:

Banda Balkanica
Scriptwriter/creator: Andamion Murataj (Albania)

Your Man Tony
Scriptwriter: Decho Taralezhkov
Director: Kamen Kolarov
Producer: Eleni Dekidis (Bulgaria)

Limited Range
Scriptwriter: Mateja Posedi (Croatia)

Tomorrow Never Comes
Scriptwriter: Veno Mušinović
Producer: Tamara Babun (Croatia)

Glitter Ville
Scriptwriters/creators: Asimenia Tsali, Adonis Tsistrakis (Greece)

Fates and Furies
Scriptwriter/co-creator/producer: Olivia Typaldos
Co-creator/producer: Paul Typaldos (Greece)

A House of Obodin
Scriptwriter: Teodora Kipa
Producer: Branimir Žugić (Montenegro)

Lady Driver
Scriptwriters: Anđela Dubljević, Bojana Babić (Serbia)