Conference 2019

For this edition of the Seriencamp Conference, we looked back and forward: What has changed on a global, regional and national level in the five years since the first season of Seriencamp? And what does the future hold for creators, content creators and distributors?

The first day of the conference featured a diverse program for our industry guests: among other things, we highlighted the growing importance and dominance of South Korean shows in Asia, enlightened those on original strategy at pay-TV and subscription channel Movistar+ in Spain, and spoke with Ukrainian producers Kateryna Vyshnevska and Olesya Lukyanenko about the challenges of creating high-end production in a country that until recently relied on imports. In addition, a delegation of Norwegian production companies, consisting of Anagram Norway & Klynge, Nordisk Film Production, Rubicon, Mer Film, Maipo Film and Monday Scripted, presented their current and upcoming production programs to an audience of potential partners.

The participants* of this year's Web:Series Lab of Bayerischer Rundfunk First Movie Plus, FFF Bayern and Seriencamp Conference presented their projects to an audience of producers, broadcasters and distributors.

DWDL.de's Thomas Lückerath moderated the panel German Perspectives on Global Content Strategies, where Thomas Münzner (Joyn), Marcus Ammon (Sky) and Cosima von Spreti (Leonine) gave a comprehensive insight into how the internationalization and vertical integration of media giants influences decision-making, co-production and partnerships.

The "Work in Progress" section, with presentations of four projects currently in production, rounded out the first day of Series Camp Insights: from ORF's Netflix co-production FREUD to Telekom's WILD REPUBLIC, BR's OKTOBERFEST 1900 and Amazon's family-friendly BIBI & TINA.

The interactive Q&A session "Bootcamp: Think Global," moderated by Alexandra Heidrich of Global Screen with guests Moritz Polter and Britta Meyermann, offered writers and producers the opportunity to learn about the ins and outs of targeting international markets.

The second day of the Series Camp Conference was dedicated to STORY EXCHANGE at the Isarforum: Six co-production session pitches and eight early-stage projects in the Creators' Vision Pitch focused on fresh new stories; matchmaking sessions brought together nearly 100 writers and creative producers with representatives at special "Industry Tables".

Finally, the third day of Seriencamp, INNOVATION DAY, offered insight into the future of serial storytelling and several interactive workshops. Melissa Byrne and Paul Feldmann spoke about the production of their vertical Instagram sitcom Bad Sex; Floris Asche (Divimove) and Angela Treviño shared their experiences working on mobile first broadcasts in Germany and the United States.
Marte Sunde Härter, creator and writer of NRK's successful program 17, spoke about the unique production process of programs aimed at youth audiences. Meredith Burkholder of Webfest Berlin moderated the SHORT & TRUE panel marathon, which focused on the meteoric rise of factual short films. In conversation with the creators of the docu-series REFUGEE ROADS, BASTARDS, CHINESE DREAM, HIER DRÜBEN, DIE EINSTEIN-WG and HELENA, the dazzling range of documentary short films was revealed.
A case study with creator and writer Adrian Spring ("No. 47") rounded out the Innovation Day panels on the main stage, while the workshops offered more interactive and hands-on approaches: Tatjana Samopjan and Sarah O''Connor delved into the writer's psyche with yogic breathing exercises in BEYOND STORYTELLING; composer Sebastian Oswald's TONEGRADING workshop offered insights into the challenge of translating between author, story and music when creating soundtracks. Gerhard Maier, Melissa Byrne and Paul Feldmann dove deep into the world of vertical series by presenting an overview of vertical content from around the world in VERTICAL? RADICAL!