Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Feb 15, 2015 18:39:08 GMT -6
variety.com/2015/digital/news/berlin-european-film-market-chief-matthijs-wouter-knol-on-embracing-drama-series-1201434132/
This year, for the first time, the European Film Market allowed producers and sales companies representing up-market drama series to sell their shows at the EFM with the introduction of Drama Series Days, a platform for serial content. It also introduced CoPro Series as part of the Berlinale Co-Production Market, with six handpicked serial projects. Matthijs Wouter Knol, the director of the EFM, spoke to Variety about the thinking behind the decision.
The EFM’s move sprung from a desire to reflect the growing integration of the TV, digital and film industries. “In reality — as we all know — people active in the drama series sector are increasingly people who are producing films as well,” Knol says.
He adds: “As the boundaries between cinema film and top-quality series are dissolving, the same is happening to the industry producing it. Therefore, for us it was a logical step to include high-end drama series in the Market and offer the Drama Series Days as a platform for those involved in their production and distribution. Our initiative is not about including television content in the EFM, it is about including high-quality series content, regardless of the medium showing it.”
Among the drama series screening as part of Drama Series Days were “Blue Eyes,” which was being sold by ZDF Enterprises, “The Book of Negroes,” being repped by eOne Films Intl., Tandem Communications’ “Spotless,” HBO Europe’s “Shadows” and “Deutschland 83″ from FremantleMedia Intl.
The list of EFM attendees in past years had already shown the importance of TV and digital to the film sector. “We were very aware that the commissioning editors and heads of acquisition of TV channels were already attending the EFM — they always have done, because TV has always played a role in film financing at least in Europe, and now there are new platforms and players like Netflix or Amazon entering this market as well. Many of them are specifically looking to make deals for drama series, sometimes they even covered it themselves,” Knol says.
Another factor in the decision to allow TV and digital content in the EFM has been the festival’s move in recent years to incorporate in the official program high-quality drama series like as “Top of the Lake” in 2013 and “House of Cards” in 2014. This year, the Berlinale is screening eight series, including “Bloodline” and “Better Call Saul” from the U.S.
All these factors led the EFM team to decide to welcome drama series and their producers. “We thought: why don’t we just create a platform within the eight days of the EFM where we can better cater for the series industry, which produces high-quality content for all kind of platforms, and make sure they can do their business better. We’d like to embrace them and make them feel at home within the market,” Knol says.
In the past year, the EFM team has been meeting with the producers, sales agents and commissioners of drama series in order to encourage them to attend the Berlin market. They have reached out to both the TV channels and the streaming platforms. “We thought: if you are looking for a platform from which to connect with the industry in Europe, and feature projects you are working on within the context of a large film festival we would be happy to offer you a platform within the EFM,” he says.
In some cases, series submitted to the EFM have ended up in the festival.
However, the market is not open to all drama series, and the EFM has been selective, especially those project chosen for the co-production market. “We have been specifically scouting for projects,” Knol says. “We decided to do that in order to create the right profile.”
The intention was to make sure that the series were of the same quality that the EFM expected from the movie co-productions, and the festival expected from completed films.
Knol adds: “The EFM has no intention whatsoever to become a competitor to Mipcom or MipTV, although there will be some overlap. We will just go for the high-quality series.”
This year, for the first time, the European Film Market allowed producers and sales companies representing up-market drama series to sell their shows at the EFM with the introduction of Drama Series Days, a platform for serial content. It also introduced CoPro Series as part of the Berlinale Co-Production Market, with six handpicked serial projects. Matthijs Wouter Knol, the director of the EFM, spoke to Variety about the thinking behind the decision.
The EFM’s move sprung from a desire to reflect the growing integration of the TV, digital and film industries. “In reality — as we all know — people active in the drama series sector are increasingly people who are producing films as well,” Knol says.
He adds: “As the boundaries between cinema film and top-quality series are dissolving, the same is happening to the industry producing it. Therefore, for us it was a logical step to include high-end drama series in the Market and offer the Drama Series Days as a platform for those involved in their production and distribution. Our initiative is not about including television content in the EFM, it is about including high-quality series content, regardless of the medium showing it.”
Among the drama series screening as part of Drama Series Days were “Blue Eyes,” which was being sold by ZDF Enterprises, “The Book of Negroes,” being repped by eOne Films Intl., Tandem Communications’ “Spotless,” HBO Europe’s “Shadows” and “Deutschland 83″ from FremantleMedia Intl.
The list of EFM attendees in past years had already shown the importance of TV and digital to the film sector. “We were very aware that the commissioning editors and heads of acquisition of TV channels were already attending the EFM — they always have done, because TV has always played a role in film financing at least in Europe, and now there are new platforms and players like Netflix or Amazon entering this market as well. Many of them are specifically looking to make deals for drama series, sometimes they even covered it themselves,” Knol says.
Another factor in the decision to allow TV and digital content in the EFM has been the festival’s move in recent years to incorporate in the official program high-quality drama series like as “Top of the Lake” in 2013 and “House of Cards” in 2014. This year, the Berlinale is screening eight series, including “Bloodline” and “Better Call Saul” from the U.S.
All these factors led the EFM team to decide to welcome drama series and their producers. “We thought: why don’t we just create a platform within the eight days of the EFM where we can better cater for the series industry, which produces high-quality content for all kind of platforms, and make sure they can do their business better. We’d like to embrace them and make them feel at home within the market,” Knol says.
In the past year, the EFM team has been meeting with the producers, sales agents and commissioners of drama series in order to encourage them to attend the Berlin market. They have reached out to both the TV channels and the streaming platforms. “We thought: if you are looking for a platform from which to connect with the industry in Europe, and feature projects you are working on within the context of a large film festival we would be happy to offer you a platform within the EFM,” he says.
In some cases, series submitted to the EFM have ended up in the festival.
However, the market is not open to all drama series, and the EFM has been selective, especially those project chosen for the co-production market. “We have been specifically scouting for projects,” Knol says. “We decided to do that in order to create the right profile.”
The intention was to make sure that the series were of the same quality that the EFM expected from the movie co-productions, and the festival expected from completed films.
Knol adds: “The EFM has no intention whatsoever to become a competitor to Mipcom or MipTV, although there will be some overlap. We will just go for the high-quality series.”