EXCLUSIVE: Germany’s top scripted conference Seriencamp is headed for a new home in Cologne this summer, and its line-up is coming together.
The three-day event will take place between June 14-16 at the Cinenova in Cologne’s Ehrenfeld district, marking a return to a fully physical presence after a hiatus in 2022 and a hybrid event in 2021. Deadline has signed on as the event’s official media partner and will be on the ground hosting and covering panels and keynotes.
Among the those featuring at the event’s Story Exchange project market will be Paramount+, Prime Video and Amazon Studios, and Apple TV+. German networks ZDF, Sky Deutschland, RTL, Arte and ServusTV will also attend the market, in which decision makers from major international companies speak with producers, writers and creators. The focus is on collaboration and co-production.
ZDF, Paramount+, Prime Video, Sky, ZDFneo and ARD are also expected to provide first looks at German series in production. Major producers such as UFA Fiction, Wiedemann & Berg and Gaumont will present.
European commissioning club The Alliance — which comprises ZDF, France Télévisions and Rai — will will present new strategies and projects and another major European network cooperation will be unveiled for the first time.
Others appearing on keynotes and panels include veteran doc maker Marc Smerling, who will lead a masterclass on the intersection of the mechanics of storytelling between docs, fiction and audio. Sterling is best known for seminal HBO doc The Jinx and Capturing the Friedmans but has more recently been making podcast doc series, such as Apple’s 1993 World Trade Center bombing pod Operation: Tradebom.
Jean-François Asselin and Jacques Drolet, the pair behind French-Canadian sci-fi series Plan B, will also be in spotlight. Several international versions of Plan B are currently in the works, including one for English-Canadian public network CBC, as we told you first back in June last year.
Elsewhere, Neil Krishnan and Anna Phelan from podcast company Novel will discuss collaboration opportunities with TV series creators. ZDF Studios VP, Drama Robert Franke will share views on the role of AI in series; Frank Tönsmann from WDR and Helen Perquy from producer Jonnydepony discuss their sci-fi sews Arcadia; and George Gottl and Benjamin Munz will talk creating genre series.
Seriencamp will also host a variety of interactive workshops bringing together industry professionals with experts from other fields.
“We are thrilled to celebrate the first edition of Seriencamp Conference in Cologne,” said founder trio Malko Solf, Simone Schellmann and Gerhard Maier.
“Over the past few months, we have worked tirelessly to create an exciting program that will spark insight, inspiration, and discussions, and cement Seriencamp Conference as a must-attend event for European industry professionals,” added Maier, the event’s Program Director.
Accompanying the conference will be the Seriencamp Festival, a free-to-attend event that spotlights serial storytelling from the around the world. Around 35 new series will be screened with the support of Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, the Staatskanzlei NRW and Prime Video. Attendees will also have access to panel discussions and workshops.
Seriencamp Conference is held in co-operation with Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, the Staatskanzlei NRW and ZDF Studios.
