News

The third and last workshop of the MIDPOINT TV Launch 2018 program has concluded with the Partners' Award ceremony at the Sarajevo FF's Industry Days.

Three projects of the 2018 edition were awarded during the Thursday ceremony.

The HBO Europe Award, a financial award of 5.000 USD granted by HBO Czech Republic, was presented by the VP Executive Producer of Drama Development, Steve Matthews, who also participates on the program as a tutor, went to the Greek project Sleepover, a half-hour dramedy about two women, Theano and Mara, who engage in a crazy love chase that will turn their everyday lives upside down, set against the backdrop of a chaotic and ever changing Athens. “Aside from the excellent scripts which have grown exponentially across the year, the presentation materials were superb.  It is not easy to sell a low concept show in a pitch environment, and the team realised that they had one key asset - an actor - and used that asset to full effect.  The presentation captured exactly a full 360 degree depiction of the core idea, demonstrating its tone and themes and deeper ambitions perfectly in three dimensions beyond the script page, and did so with simplicity, charm and heart,” says Matthews. The project is written by Maria Hatzakou and Alkis Papastathopoulos, and produced by Amanda Livanou.

The Art Department Masterclass Award, bringing one project to the second, practical assignment workshop of the program designed for raising the next generation of European art directors and production designers, was given to the Belgian project Transit, written by Domien Huyghe and Melissa Dhondt. The project, set in Belgium, 1985, tells a story of  a truck driver, Victor, who struggles to maintain control over his life, family and the family business’ recent involvement in the world of illegal organ trade, after the sudden death of his wife.

The C21 Media Award, granted to the producer of the project, went to Milan Stojanovic, producer of the Serbian-German project TURBO. The project about an aging mobster, Dragan, struggling to adapt to the new times by fighting teenage-hot-shots on the rise and ealising that his son is becoming the very face of this emerging “turbo-generation”, is written by Milica Zivanovic, Boris Grgurovic and Matthias Nerlich, and produced by both Milan Stojanovic for Serbia and Matthias Nerlich for Germany.

Moreover, the CineLink Drama platform, in cooperation with the Goteborg Film Festival selected the joint Serbian project Anatomy of a Crime by Ana Tomovic and Vuk Rsumovic, produced by Mirko Bojovic and Ugljesa Jokic to be presented at the upcoming edition of the TV drama market of the festival - TV Drama Vision.

The 2018 edition of the program introduced 6 projects from Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece and Serbia. These projects have been through an intense 9-month training, during which they’ve worked on their concepts, pilot scripts, season outlines, as well as the partnership and financial development structures for their projects, under the supervision of their core tutors, guest tutors and a producer tutor.

MIDPOINT TV Launch 2018 was supported by the Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the European Union, the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the Czech Film Fund, the Slovak Audiovisual Fund and the International Visegrad Fund. It was presented in co-operation with HBO Europe, the Finale Plzen Film Festival, the Sarajevo Film Festival – CineLink Industry Days, CHARACTER – Film, Development Association, Serial Eyes, C21 Media, Barrandov Studio, Series Mania, the Audiovisual Producers' Association and AMU.
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