Series Mania forum announces the ten projects selected as part of its new initiative Series Mania Buyers Upfront

With the Series Mania Buyers Upfront, a new initiative and a prelude to the Series Mania Forum designed to provide the industry’s top buyers with exclusive access to highly anticipated series, having launched last September, Laurence Herszberg, Founder and General Director of Series Mania, announced today the ten titles selected to be showcased during this invitation-only event set for March 24 at the Chamber of Commerce (CCI), in Lille's historic city center, marking a new chapter in the Forum's evolution. The event will kick-off with the exclusive invitation-only BETA Brunch, the well-known industry staple in the international marketplace, followed by the series presentation.

'The Series Mania Buyers Upfront is an exclusive event for top-tier buyers, showcasing exclusive 12-minute first look screenings from ten eagerly awaited series that have strong global appeal. From the outset, our goal with this new event has been to give unparalleled access to our buyers as well as help facilitate networking opportunities with the leading distributors behind these series. We are delighted to be unveiling these titles here today,” commented Herszberg.

'While serving as the leading European event for distributors and scripted content development these past few years, we have created a tailor-made experience just for our buyers', added Francesco Capurro, Director of Series Mania Forum. 'This new event marks the beginning of a truly new chapter in the history of Series Mania Forum. From creation to international distribution, we are further solidifying our position as the must-attend event of the spring for the scripted community'

Curated by the Series Mania Festival's artistic team, the ten selected titles, based on both artistic merit and broad audience appeal, include:

DANGEROUS TRUTH

Original Title: Das zweite Attentat

Country: Germany

International Sales: OneGate Media GmbH

Production Company: EIKON Media GmbH, DEAL PRODUCTIONS

Format: 6 episodes x 45 minutes

Genre: Thriller

Year of production: 2024

Synopsis: Alex Jaromin has been living with his mother under a false name in the BKA witness protection program in Athens for 20 years. When she dies, he finds out that the deaths of his father and his sister in 2003 were not, as he had assumed, the work of Serbian nationalists. In his search for the truth, he comes across evidence that his father was commissioned by the German government to bring a witness out of Baghdad.

ESCAPING BOLIVIA

Original Title: Flukten fra Bolivia

Country: Norway

International Sales: REinvent International Sales

Production Company: Fenomen TV, 4 1/2 FILM

Format: 6 episodes x 44 minutes

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Year of production: 2025

Synopsis: Ida, her girlfriend and sister-in-law are brutally arrested at the airport in Bolivia, accused of smuggling cocaine. The three women are sentenced to 13 years in one of the world's poorest prisons. Ida quickly realizes that she is surrounded by lies and betrayal and that no one can be trusted. While waiting for help from Norwegian authorities, an unexpected source gives her a chance and a daring escape plan is set into action.

FUSION

Original Title: Reykjavik Fusion

Country: Iceland

International Sales: The Mediapro Studio Distribution, Wild Sheep Content

Production Company: Act4

Format: 6 episodes x 52 minutes

Genre: Thriller

Year of production: 2024

Synopsis: Talented chef Jónas, falsely imprisoned, tries to regain his family's trust. Shunned by society, he accepts illicit funds to open a restaurant, leading him to money laundering. This jeopardizes his parole, life, and loved ones.

PUZZLE LADY

Original Title: Puzzle Lady

Country: UK

International Sales: ZDF Studios

Production Company: December FilmsFormat: 6 episodes x 60 minutes

Genre: Comedy, Thriller

Year of production: 2025

Synopsis: When a strange murder takes place in the sleepy market town of Bakerbury, the local police are baffled by a crossword puzzle clue left on the body. Fortunately, the famous cruciverbalist Cora Felton, known as The Puzzle Lady, has just moved to town with her long-suffering niece, Sherry Carter.

RIOT WOMEN

Original Title: Riot Women

Country: UK

International Sales: Mediawan Rights

Production Company: Drama Republic Limited

Format: 6 episodes x 60 minutes

Genre: Drama

Year of production: 2025

Synopsis: Five women who come together to create a makeshift punk-rock band in order to enter a local talent contest but soon discover that they have a lot to say - and this is their way to say it. As they juggle demanding jobs, grown-up children, complicated parents, husbands who’ve buggered off, and disastrous dates and relationships, the band becomes a catalyst for change in their lives.

S LINE

Original Title: 에스라인

Country: South Korea

International Sales: Sidus

Production Company: Sidus

Format: 6 episodes x 60 minutes

Genre: Thriller, Science fiction

Year of production: 2024

Synopsis: Hyun-heup sees the "S Line", a red thread linking intimate partners, which she calls a curse. She isolates herself to avoid bringing misfortune. A murder rocks her neighborhood. sinister glasses revealing S-Lines are to blame. Her friend falls into a coma after using them, so she teams up with Detective Han Ji-wook. Despite their efforts, loved ones suffer, prompting them to realize the glasses’ creator is luring them into peril.

SHADOW LEAKS

Original Title: Schattenseite

Country: Germany

International Sales: Beta Film

Production Company: Dreamtool Entertainment for ARD Degeto Film, funk, and Hessischer

Rundfunk, with funding from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.

Format: 6 episodes x 45 minutes

Genre: YA Thriller

Year of production: 2024/2025

Synopsis: It's Nola’s first day at a new high school, her last year before graduation, and things already seem off. Linus, a student, recently passed. And during his memorial, everyone’s phones go off: A mysterious website, the “Shadow Page”, upends all their lives by exposing their most intimate secrets. The more traffic the site receives, the more sensitive content is leaked: chats, screenshots, explicit pictures, and videos. Even the most popular couple, jock Simon and the beautiful Patricia, are to be exposed! Nola isn’t exempt either – whoever is behind the page knows a dark secret she’s keeping and is blackmailing her… Together with Linus’ best friend Corvin, she tries to prevent the leak. But does Nola have to betray him to save herself? Who is behind the Shadow Page? And what does it all have to do with Linus’ death?

THE DANISH WOMAN

Original Title: Danska Konan

Country: Iceland

International Sales: The Party Film Sales

Production Company: SLOT MACHINE

Format: 6 episodes x 47 minutes

Genre: Drama, Comedy

Year of production: 2025

Synopsis: When Ditte Jensen retires from the Danish Secret Service she moves into an apartment block in Reykjavik seeking a quiet life tending her garden. But Ditte cannot stop being a warrior. And soon the apartment building becomes a battlefield for a better world. With her deep-rooted sense of justice she sees her neighbor’s problems and is compelled to help, whether they want her help or not. And in her world, the end justifies the means. Always.

THE DEAL

Original Title: THE DEAL

Country: Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium

International Sales: Gaumont

Production Company: Bande à Part Films, LES FILMS PELLEAS, Gaumont Télévision, Bidibul

Productions, VERSUS PRODUCTION

Format: 6 episodes x 46 minutes

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Year of production: 2024

Synopsis: 2015 – Switzerland hosts last-chance nuclear talks between the US and Iran, with Europe, Russia and China. Swiss diplomat Alexandra Weiss leads the mission, where rising tensions and delegates’ hidden agendas threaten fragile diplomacy. But when her former love Payam—a threatened Iranian engineer—appears, Alexandra finds herself crossing lines to protect him. The world’s peace is at risk, how far will she go?

WAR OF THE KINGDOMS

Original Title: War of the Kingdoms

Country: Germany

International Sales: Fremantle

Production Company: Constantin Television

Format: 6 episodes x 60 minutes

Genre: Drama

Year of production: 2024

Synopsis: An epic medieval fantasy based on the original heroic legend The Song of the Nibelungs, the inspiration behind Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. Bound by duty and loyalty to the kingdom, Hagen is a soldier and Lord Commander ready to serve and stand by his King. But he has a secret, he is deeply in love with Princess Kriemhild. A love that will never be permitted.

The six-person jury of key buyers previously announced last September, includes:

Ghislain Barrois, Director Cinema, Fiction, Sales, Rights’ Acquisition and Distribution, Mediaset Spain Communication Audiovisual Group (Spain)
Marina Chiaravelle, Head of TV Rights Acquisition, RAI Cinema, (Italy)
Rubén Fernández Loa, Head of Series Acquisitions, Movistar Plus+ (Spain)
Julia Fidel, Head of International Fiction - Acquisitions, ZDF (Germany)
Katie Keenan, Group Director of Acquisitions, UK/ROI & Europe, Sky
Virginie Padilla, Commissioning Editor, Arte (France/Germany)

 

LC