Formation of Canada-France Series Lab, a joint venture between Series Mania Forum, Telefilm Canada, CNC, and Banff World Media Festival
Partners include Embassy of Canada in France, French Embassy in Canada and Canada Media Fund
LILLE, FRANCE – November 7, 2022 – Canada-France Series Lab is a joint venture between Series Mania Forum, Telefilm Canada, CNC, and BANFF World Media Festival. The main goal of the Canada-France Series Lab is to encourage and facilitate the development of new relationships between Canadian and French producers and ultimately create new co-production opportunities, while at the same time fostering the development of projects with strong international potential in a competitive environment.
Partners of this new Series Lab include the Embassy of Canada in France, the French Embassy in Canada and will be supported by producers’ associations and industry partners from each country. The “Call for Producers” for this program opens on November 23, 2022 and closes on January 23, 2023.
The Canada-France Series Lab will be a year-long initiative starting at Series Mania Forum 2023 and ending at the 2024 event. A selection of 15 producers from each country will be invited to participate in Series Mania Forum 2023 to meet their French/Canadian counterparts and form pairs. Four to five projects presented by these pairs will be selected by a jury of experts and invited to participate in a series of professional workshops. The first workshop will be held in person at the BANFF World Media Festival in June 2023. It will be followed by a virtual coaching cycle from September 2023 to March 2024. The program will end at the 2024 edition of the Series Mania Forum with the projects’ presentation to potential international financiers.
“We are delighted to join forces with Telefilm Canada, CNC and Banff World Media Festival to create the Canada-France Series Lab, a brand-new program designed to encourage Franco-Canadian co-production of TV drama series with strong international potential,” commented Laurence Herszberg, Founder and General Director of Series Mania. “Series Mania Forum is today a major platform for the development of international co-productions, and this new initiative will help foster meetings between French and Canadian producers, highlight certain projects on the international scene, and revive ongoing co-productions between the two territories.”
“For the past several decades, France has been a partner of choice for Canada, with both countries sharing a commitment to strengthen equity, diversity and inclusion,” said Francesca Accinelli, Interim Executive Director and CEO, Telefilm Canada. “It is in this context and through the vital collaboration of the CNC, Series Mania Forum and Banff World Media Festival that the idea of this Lab was born, which encourages co-productions of fiction TV series between our two countries. This initiative supports projects with strong international potential and strives to showcase to a wider audience the stories and talents that make our two industries so dynamic and complementary.”
“This initiative is a new opportunity, at the height of the golden age of series, to give birth to projects with strong international influence,” stated Dominique Boutonnat, President, CNC. “This Canada-France Series Lab is the result of a collaboration with our Canadian friends and representatives of the Series Mania and Banff Festivals, and a concrete application of the new agreement we have signed with Canada. It will stimulate partnerships between our two countries by supporting producers and project developers. We look forward to seeing the first fruits of this new co-production program!”
“The Banff World Media Festival is proud to be a partner in this innovative program that will bring Canadian and French producers together with the goal of igniting new drama series, ” said Jenn Kuzmyk, Executive Director BANFF. “We look forward to welcoming the co-production teams to the Festival in June 2023”.
An informative webinar is set for November 21, 2022 at 5 pm (CET) / 11 am (EDT) / 9 am (MDT) and will include a detailed presentation of this new Series Lab, a general presentation of Series Mania Forum and of the Banff World Media Festival. The webinar will end on a Q&A period. To participate, please register here before November 18.
ABOUT SERIES MANIA
Based in Lille since 2018, Series Mania – Lille / Hauts-de-France has become the biggest event dedicated uniquely to television series in Europe. Its festival offers exclusive world premieres of the greatest international series on the big screen, giving its audience – up to 70,000 spectators – 8 days of discoveries, parties, and masterclasses with some of the most renowned personalities in the series world.
At the same time, Series Mania welcomes 3,300 international professionals from the television industry at Series Mania Forum including the anticipated Lille Dialogues summit. Two key events for networking and business are now extended online with the creation in 2020 of Series Mania Digital.
In 2021, Series Mania launched Series Mania Institute, a training program for students and industry professionals. The association is thus extending its action to support the creation of series in Europe.
ABOUT TELEFILM CANADA
Telefilm is dedicated to the cultural, commercial and industrial success of Canada’s audiovisual industry. Through funding and promotion programs, Telefilm supports dynamic companies and creative talent at home and around the world. Telefilm also makes recommendations regarding the certification of audiovisual treaty coproductions to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, and administers the programs of the Canada Media Fund. Launched in 2012, the Talent Fund accepts private donations to principally support emerging talent. Visit telefilm.ca and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/telefilm_canada and on Facebook at facebook.com/telefilmcanada.
ABOUT THE CNC
The CNC (the French National Center of Cinema), created by the act of 25 October 1946, is a public administrative organization with a legal entity status and financial autonomy. It operates under the authority of the Ministry of Culture and Communication .
The CNC’s principal responsibilities are:
- regulation,
- support for the economy of the film, television, video, multimedia and technical industries,
- the promotion of films and television productions and their broadcasting to all audiences,
- the preservation and enhancement of cinema heritage.
ABOUT THE BANFF MEDIA FILM FESTIVAL (BANFF)
Now in its 44th year, and with 45+ countries participating, the Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) and the Rockie Awards host one of the most important global conferences and content development marketplaces – gathering top creators, producers, showrunners, talent, networks, studios, streamers, press and media companies. BANFF’s intimate, retreat-style event, serves as a leading destination for co-production and co-venture partners and offers an unparalleled opportunity for international decision-makers to connect, map the future of the industry, and execute new business deals. The Rockie Awards International Program Competition and Rockies Gala recognize the best content and most influential entertainment industry executives, talent and creators in the world. BANFF continues to deliver important fellowships and initiatives including: the BANFF Spark Accelerator for Women in the Business of Media, the Netflix-BANFF Diversity of Voices Initiative, and the Indigenous Screen Summit and Pitch Forum. Together these programs have provided more than 700 opportunities for under-represented professionals in the Canadian media industry.
For more information about the Banff World Media Festival, please visit: banffmediafestival.com.
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