Three incredible days at Série Series 2019
Text: Monica Fuentes
The time goes slower in Fontainebleau… the timeless town is the perfect setting for Série Series with its outstandingly beautiful architecture. The amazing summer weather and the mixture between nature and history created the perfect backdrop for the 3-day event Série Series, where television creatives get to meet up, share ideas and take part in panel discussions and masterclasses. It took place in Fontainebleau a town 55.5km south-east of Paris, from the 1st-3rd of July. Where creation takes power!
Série Series is according to their website the meeting place for European series and their creators, designed by those who make them. Three days of screenings and meetings to present the best of European series and introducing their creators to professionals and the general public. It is the perfect occasion to get an insight into the latest, most exceptional and little known productions directly from their producers and writers. Discover more about what inspired the characters, the creative process, funding, anecdotes that surround their work, shared visions and opinions about the industry that inspire and feed curiosity through masterclasses, screenings, discussions and plenty of caffeine.
Série Series officially started on Monday the 1st of July with an inaugural session at the beautiful Theatre Municipal, that reflected the vibe and friendly atmosphere that was palpable throughout the festival. The present trends of the industry were discussed as well as audience preferences, the undeniable influence, and growth of the SVOD platforms and the importance to keep working and developing content for Television. The morning continues with Ampere Analysis giving a sharp analysis of the current events and trends in the industry, strategies for an industry in constant growth, globalization of the productions and a power shifting in protagonists and so on. This brilliant talk was followed with a Master Class with Italian writer Niccolò Ammaniti closing a fascinating morning.
The afternoon continued with the screening and case studies of several new series; Happily Never After (ICELAND /RÚV), Gangs of London (UK, USA / SKY ATLANTIC, HBO CINEMAX), Holy Mary! (MALTA / NET TELEVISION), Malaka (SPAIN/RTVE) and Floodland (NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM / AVROTROS, EÉN) and later on the opening ceremony with the screening of When the dust settles (DENMARK/DR). The day closed brilliantly with a dinner at the Chateau giving the crowd a chance to share the events of the day and network.
Day 2 started with another session of Ampere Analysis followed by a masterclass with the brilliant British writer and director Sally Wainwright, the talk focused on Gentleman Jack, her most recent production for the BBC. She described her creative writing process, her inspiration, her methods, the motivation to write the scripts and her inspiring vision of creation.
After this highlight, it was time from another masterclass with the film, television and theatre composer Isobel Waller-Bridge where she talked about the importance of music in film and television and how this can change scene completely and how it supports the entire the development. Her creative process, personal experiences, anecdotes and memories were the centre of a masterclass that gave another perspective on series creation.
Tuesday afternoon was for exploring upcoming productions and ideas on development. Leonardo, Frankenstein 1918, promises to be a big hit once its completed, as well as the Swedish and Danish co-production Snow Angels. Then the screening afternoon followed again at the Cinema Ermitage with The Trial of Christine Keeler, (BBC One) written by the BAFTA winner Amanda Coe that is one of the series next to have its premiere. Back to the theatre, the day finished with a screening of the first episode of Dark Money a topical series from BBC One, worth to watch due to its sensitive subject matter.
Day 3 started with an Ampere Analysis session followed by a talk ‘Poverty is Power’ with Walter Iuzzolino, founder and curator of Walter Presents In his talk, he mentions the importance of not being dazzled by glossy and expensive productions, that for him that is not the only factor when selecting a production, for him the script, the story, the plot, good direction counts more. All these elements can build an amazing production and the audience can find this more valuable than a glossy and super expensive but empty production.
This three day’s television extravaganza couldn’t finish better than with the discussion about the most challenging remakes of the season Mouche (Fleabag) and Everybody is perfect (Team Chocolat) the producers and developers disclosed to the audience the challenges they overcome to adapt these two successful productions to very different audiences from its originals – English and Flemish- to their local audiences France and Italy respectively.
Goodbye to Fountainbleau and Série Series 2019 for this time around. It showed what a vibrant and important industry television has become. And there are loads of new and promising productions that we are more than sure will enlighten and entertain audiences all over.
Merci Série Series 2019, when the creation took power!!
Special thanks to Constance Cardon for your practical help and Hélène at Kandimari.
