Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has unveiled the winners of its TV Beats Co-Financing Market, intended to foster creative collaborations in series co-production and empower independent producers.
Finnish drama “The Women I Think About at Night” took the event’s top honor, the Series Co-Production Development Award and its €50,000 ($52,780) purse, part of the Pilot Program for series co-productions, an initiative of the Council of Europe.
Produced by Liisa Karpo for Napafilms, the project turns on a 40-year-old art teacher with no family who one day abandons her comfortable but unsatisfying life. With the help of a group of fellow courageous women, past artists and explorers from history, she finds a new way of living.
The series is planned to be shot in a wide range of diverse locations as its protagonist explores the world, including Finland, Italy, Japan, Tibet, and Kenya. Anna Ruohonen is the show’s head writer and Saara Cantell and Anu Kuivalainen are on board to direct episodes.
According to Karpo, “‘The Women I Think About at Night’ is an uplifting high-end series that offers its viewers a much-needed escape from today’s dark reality. We want to give women a break to dream, travel and adventure again from the comfort of their own sofas. This series combines some documentary footage with animated elements. The story is based on a same-titled book by Mia Kankimäki, and the story has captivated female readers in over 20 countries.”
According to the jury, “[We] selected a project that seamlessly combines AI and live action, archival material and fiction, tackling universal themes in a bold and impactful way. It explores identity and self-discovery from a female lens, highlights the power of learning from diverse cultures, and draws inspiration from brave and curious historical women.”
This year’s TV Beats jury included Clémentine Trolong-Bailly as the representative of the Pilot Program for Series Co-production of the Council of Europe, producer Christian Wikander and Remi Tereszkiewicz, Development Executive at BetaSeries.
For the first time this year, all the participating projects were involved in a public vote, which resulted in the German project “In Paradise” winning the inaugural Public Favourite Award. Produced by Marco Gilles and Lutz Heineking for Eitelsonnenschein, the project received €2,000 ($2,100) worth of Yamdu subscription credit for any annual Yamdu plan or Yamdu add-on.
A dramedy about the aftermath of a high-profile family’s separation, the show is written by Corinna C. Poetter, recently nominated for an International Emmy for the children’s show “Gong! My spectRacular Life.”
During the TV Beats award ceremony, the Honorary TV Beats Producer Award was given out for the first time, granted to Ukrainian indie producer Kateryna Vyshnevska, whose impressive list of credits includes “Hide and Seek” – Ukraine’s first crime noir series and the appropriately named “A Girl From Tallinn.” Recently, she produced the standout Ukrainian series “Those Who Stayed,” an anthology series inspired by true events that unspooled in Kyiv in February 2022 when Russia invaded the country.
“This award is meant to spotlight a prominent and inspiring figure from our region, covering the Nordics, Baltics and Central Eastern Europe, who has made a significant impact in the field of TV Drama production,” said Petri Kemppinen and Roosa Toivonen, Co-Heads of TV Beats Forum. “Kateryna Vyshnevska’s role in building and growing the internationalization of Ukraine’s Film.UA has been remarkable, culminating in executive producing the show ‘Those Who Stayed,’ a contemporary landmark series co-produced and financed with several European countries.”
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