“George Blake,” from Oscar winner Kevin Macdonald, “The Squatter” from Venice-acclaimed Erik Matti and “Sleeping Swans” from esteemed auteur Barbara Albert were the big winners from this year’s second edition of scripted incubator Seriesmakers.
Backed by Beta Group and Series Mania, the mentoring program for feature filmmakers looking to make the leap to TV will return for a third edition, organizers announced at Wednesday’s awards ceremony. The call for admissions will open soon.
Produced by Femke Wolting, the U.K./Dutch series “George Blake” looks into the wilder-than-fiction tale of the most prolific double agent in British history, asking the question of what makes a working class, former resistance fighter turn against everything they ever stood for? The project will interrogate the multiple identities – and families – of a man who reinvented himself time and again, dying a traitor in England and a national hero in Russia. The project received in €50,000 ($54,200) in prize money.
After a winding career taking him from advertising to creature-features to the A-list festival circuit, Manila-based Erik Matti (“On the Job: The Missing 8”) will next focus on his east-meets-west crime series “The Squatter.” Produced by Ronald Monteverde, the eight-part thriller centers on a Filipino maid and a Ukrainian detective unraveling a mystery that begins with a dead body in small town and spans halfway across the globe. The project also claimed €50,000.
With pedigree from Venice, Toronto and Locarno — and an academic perch succeeding Michael Haneke as a professor of directing at the Vienna Film Academy — Barbara Albert turned to the scripted drama format because she felt less constrained when developing her supernatural saga “Sleeping Swans.” Written by Ulrike Tony Vahl and produced by Martina Haubrich, the German series follows an idyllic community torn asunder when its children fall prey to a mysterious malady. The project walked away with €20,000 ($21,693) in winnings.
