·} GOING EUROPEAN {·
Going European Program
In 2023, the French National Centre for Cinema and Animated Image (CNC) launched Going European, a training programme for pairs of European authors, focusing on issues related to the co-writing of international series. The programme has three partners: the Séries Mania festival (France), the co-production and networking market Conecta FICTION & ENTERTAINMENT (Spain) and the Sarajevo Film Festival – CineLink Industry Days (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Funded by the MEDIA programme of the European Commission, the programme runs for a period of three years (2023-2025), and aims to train authors in the co-writing, co-development and co-production of international series. 30 authors (10 each year) will receive support for the duration of the programme, all of them involved in co-writing projects for international series.
The 10 authors will meet each year for three intensive one-week training sessions at the three partner events, where they will participate in exchanges, workshops and masterclasses on the specific issues involved in the conception of an international series, the creative, financial, legal and environmental aspects, as well as production, distribution and promotion issues. They will meet with experienced professionals from various areas of the series industry.
After the Séries Mania festival in March, the five pairs attended several days of exclusive training at Conecta FICTION & ENTERTAINMENT in June. The five couples selected this year were:
- Víctor Santos (Spain) and Anthony Alleyne (UK), who are writing the dystopian series ‘Motorway‘, which imagines a world in which the remains of human civilisation are clustered together on an endless motorway (finalists in the Pitch High-End session of Conecta FICTION & ENTERTAINMENT 2022).
Víctor Santos (Spain)
Creator of awarded graphic novels, published in various countries, he has worked with the most famous comics publishers. His graphic novel Polar was adapted for Netflix, starring Mads Mikkelsen.
Anthony Alleyne (UK)
Director, scriptwriter and producer, his first feature film Sunburn was released in 2021. He’s also co-producer of the short film Cognition, which won 164 awards in international festivals.
- Julien Paolini (France) and Isabel Andrés Portí (Spain), who are working on their series project ‘Les Reyes’ about the world of MMA fights and organised crime between Perpignan and Catalonia in the 1990s.
Julien Paolini (France)
After several awarded short films, he wrote the series Le Doute for Arte, before moving on to writing and directing his first feature film, Amare Amaro, released in 2020. His second film, Karma Police, is currently being post-produced.
Isabel Andrés Portí (Spain)
Scriptwriter and director, she worked on several awarded documentaries for ARTE, ZDF, TVC, Amazon prime & Netflix. Back to fiction, she’s now working on a feature film adaptation of a book and a series project.
- Maja Pek-Brünjes (Croatia) and Matija Dragojevic (Serbia), who are collaborating on the series ‘Moon Coast‘ about the transformation of an isolated Croatian island into the ‘Ibiza of the Adriatic‘ and the problems that go with it.
Maja Pek-Brünjes (Croatia)
Her drama series The Mountain is broadcasted on Croatian public television; she’s also a writer for crime series Jinx and The Witch Hunter. She won the 2020 HBO Europe Award for her work as development producer for Afterparty.
Matija Dragojevic (Serbia)
Laureate screenwriter of the 2019 CANNESERIES Writers’ Residency, his mystery thriller Awake was multi-awarded at the 2021 Sarajevo Festival. In 2022, his drama series Wool won the « best scripted » award at the NEM Market in Zagreb.
- Fabien Dao (France-Burkina Faso) and Ange-Régis Hounkpatin (Benin), who co-wrote ‘Princesse Téné‘, an African western set in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, between horse racing and drug trafficking.
Fabien Dao (France-Burkina Faso)
After his studies at Paris-based FEMIS, he directed three award-winning short films, and the series De plus en plus loin (Canal + International). He’s currently working as a co-writer for several TV projects.
Ange-Régis Hounkpatin (Bénin)
After graduating at the FEMIS, he wrote several awarded short films, and is currently working as a screenwriter for TV series: Wara’s season 2 (TV5 Monde), Black Santiagos Club (Canal + International) or La cerise sur les accras (Arte.tv).
- Laetitia Mikles (France-USA) and Flynn Roddam (UK), who are working on ‘Les Protégés‘, a drama set between France and England in a near future where a matriarchal regime has been imposed on Europe.
Laetitia Mikles (France)
Director, documentarian, scriptwriter of several short and feature films, she’s also a critic at the magazine Positif. Her movies, notably Touchée or Que l’Amour, have been awarded by various international festivals.
Flynn Roddam (UK)
Scriptwriter and producer, she has worked on several feature films, series, and podcasts, and was assistant to Peaky Blinders’ director for the show’s sixth season.
