The event recognized the winning projects from its Buyers Upfront, Co-Pro Pitching Sessions, and SeriesMakers sections, highlighting productions from France, Kyrgyzstan, and Canada.
Series Mania Forum unveiled the winners of three of its most prominent sections during the awards ceremony held on Tuesday, March 24, as announced by Laurence Herszberg, founder and general director of the event.
In the second edition of the Series Mania Buyers Upfront, the winning project was R91, a French action thriller (6 x 52’) produced by Next Episode, with international sales handled by SND Groupe M6.
Set in the Mediterranean Sea, the series follows the French nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91) on a strategic mission. After one crew member is found dead and another goes missing, military investigator Paul Fischer is urgently sent on board. Alongside second-in-command Helena Duval, he must uncover the truth before the killer strikes again, as tensions escalate into a global security crisis.
Meanwhile, the Co-Pro Pitching Sessions award —one of the forum’s cornerstone events, which includes a €50,000 prize— went to Red Pants, a 10 x 60’ action drama from Kyrgyzstan, one of the countries attending the event for the first time.
The project is produced by Erke Dzhumakmatova for Studio Oymo, co-produced by Pavel Feldman and Alexander Seliverstov for Human Films, and written by Tilek Cherikov. Set in the late 1970s in Soviet Kyrgyzstan, the story follows Aisha, the daughter of a military officer, who forms the first all-female criminal gang known as Red Pants to avenge her father’s death and challenge the oppressive regime.
Finally, the SeriesMakers award —in association with Series Mania Institute— was granted to the Canadian project Chachachá! (8 x 30’), by Alison Fairweather Murray (writer/director) and Jennifer Weiss (producer, Nice Picture!).
According to the organization, Beta will release a press statement with additional information about the project in the coming days.
