SERIES MANIA’S FIRST ANNUAL “LILLE TRANSATLANTIC DIALOGUES” ANNOUNCES KEY SPEAKERS “

LILLE & PARIS, FRANCE – April 17, 2018 – M. Rodolphe Belmer, Chairman of Series Mania, and Ms. Laurence Herszberg, General Director, announced today the key speakers and participants for its first annual Lille Transatlantic Dialogues which aims to bring together major political, corporate, creative and economic players from the TV and culture sectors in Europe and the USA for exchanges on developments and challenges in this field.

The Lille Transatlantic Dialogues is a joint initiative between Series Mania, the French Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (CNC), the programme Europe Creative - MEDIA of the European Union with the collaboration of the Hauts-de-France Region. It brings together representatives of:

● US studios and platforms

● European creative industries, producing and broadcasting companies

● European institutions, governments and funding bodies

Leading figures from the TV industry who will attend this year’s event to connect with counterparts and international decision-makers on their level, include:

Reed Hastings, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO, Netflix, (USA)

Sophie Turner Laing, CEO, Endemol Shine Group (UK)

Stéphane Richard, CEO, Orange (FR)

Paul Lembrechts, CEO, VRT (BE)

Delphine Ernotte Cunci, CEO, France Télévisions (FR)

Gilles Pélisson, CEO, TF1 Group (FR)

Among the confirmed panelists : Paula Vaccaro, Founder, Producer, Pinball London (UK); Veena Sud, Showrunner, The Killing, Seven Seconds (USA); Caroline Benjo, Producer, Haut et Court TV (FR); Sarah Treem, Showrunner and co-creator, The Affair (USA); Anna Croneman, Head of Drama, SVT (SE); Alessia Sonaglioni, Network director, EWA (FR), Alex Berger, Producer, The Oligarchs (FR); Antony Root, VP of programming and production, HBO Europe (UK); Claire Sumner, Director of Policy, BBC (UK); Doreen Boonekamp, CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund (NL), Séverine Jacquet, Screenwriter (FR); Pascal Rogard, General Director, SACD (FR); Tony Grisoni, Screenwriter (UK).

The discussions will be closed by Françoise Nyssen, French Ministry of Culture and Andrus Ansip, Vice-President of the European Commission.

“Our goal with the Lille Transatlantic Dialogues is to create a club for media and policy-makers, a regular high-level rendezvous inspired by the ‘Sun Valley Conference’, that has brought together political and economic leaders along with philanthropists every year since 1983,” commented Ms. Herszberg. “The event will benefit from both the appeal of Series Mania and the location of the city of Lille, at the heart of Europe between Paris, London, and Brussels.”

For information write to: lilledialogues@seriesmania.com

Or visit our website: https://seriesmania.com/en/industry/lille-transatlantic-dialogues

ABOUT SERIES MANIA

Created by Laurence Herszberg in 2010, the Series Mania Festival brings the best international TV series on the big screen and offers its audience (over 50,000 spectators in 2017 with 1,200 industry professionals) the unique opportunity to meet and learn from renowned show-runners, directors and television talent. Series Mania has developed into a unique event with wide recognition, entirely dedicated TV series, and aimed at both the general public and industry professionals. For this ninth edition, the Festival is moving to the charming northern French city of Lille (Hauts-de-France) where it will once again organize a competition featuring world premieres judged by a prestigious international jury.

ABOUT EUROPEAN PROJECT AND TALENT FORUM

Launched in 2013, the European Project and Talent Forum (formerly the Co-Production Forum), the industry arm of the Series Mania Festival has become the place to be for all those involved in the creation of TV series around the world. The Forum has seen many projects become a series, including: Liar, Tabula Rasa, Stella Blomkvist, Keeping Faith, Banking District with many others currently in production or in advanced development. In 2017, over 1,200 accredited professionals from 35 countries attended the Forum.

For information write to: lilledialogues@seriesmania.com

Or visit our website: https://seriesmania.com/en/industry/lille-transatlantic-dialogues