Hey everyone – remember the first three Totally Serialized (one, two, three)? Well, the fourth one’s coming next month…
Totally Serialized – Season 4
29 – 31 January 2015 at Ciné LumièreFrom 29 to 31 January, Ciné Lumière will hold the 4th edition of Totally Serialized, the one and only TV series festival in London. Aimed to promote and improve collaboration between the UK and France, it will showcase the best of new productions from both sides of the Channel.
Audiences will get a chance to attend exceptional preview screenings and meet creators and actors of their cult TV series.
Those last years of production have proven that TV series are more creative than ever. And more recently, the British TV industry has broken down frontiers, with international buyers moving away from a remake-centred strategy and now broadcasting the original series with subtitles. French shows such as The Returned, Braquo, Spiral, Hard and Maison Close from the French Pay TV CANAL+ have benefited from this shift, and have proven to be a success on Channel 4, FX, BBC Four and Sky Arts respectively. Just recently, Channel 4 acquired Witnesses, another French series. One of the aims of the festival is to encourage this trend.
A dedicated industry programme is organised in association with Creative Europe Desk UK and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) on 29 & 30 January aiming to foster international exchanges and co-productions in order to meet the growing demand for high-quality European TV drama. Various aspects of the constantly-evolving field of TV series, including producing, screenwriting, and financing will be covered.
The festival opening ceremony followed by an industry cocktail is organised with CANAL+.
In partnership with the Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers (SACD), British and French TV writers will gather and discuss the art of TV writing on 30 January while networking events will accompany this two-day programme. The festival also launches a speed-dating meeting between selected French and British producers organised with Europe Creative Desk MEDIA France and Ile de France Film Commission.
Festival highlights include a preview of award-winning writer Russell T. Davies’ Banana, courtesy of E4 (Channel 4) in the presence of members of the cast and crew.
Spiral enthusiasts are in for a treat as several events will be dedicated to this dark and labyrinthine Parisian crime drama. While Series 5 will be showing on BBC Four, the CANAL + CREATION ORIGINALE series will be unravelled by its screenwriter Anne Landois in a special screening of episode 1 at Ciné Lumière on 29 January. In addition, Caroline Proust, who plays Captain Laure Berthaud will give a masterclass where Spiral’s fans will learn behind-the-scene stories on 31 January. The UK premiere of Paris, a mini-series from the team behind Spiral, will top it all.
Thrillers are a strong strand in this year’s festival as we will also screen the UK Premiere of Jean-Christophe Grangé’s The Passenger with actor Jean-Hugues Anglade (Braquo). and host a masterclass with Tony Grisoni in which he will decrypt the creative process behind the acclaimed Channel 4 TV show Southcliffe.
This year’s festival will be a platform for new talent with a BAFTA masterclass on ‘Breaking and entering TV Screenwriting’ for budding writers, a marathon of new French TV comedies and fresh out of French animation schools directors with En sortant de l’école, a mini series based on Jacques Prévert’s poems.
After the jump, the programme of public events (ie the ones you can attend if you don’t work in TV). And to find out more or book tickets, visit the Totally Serialized web site
Thursday 29 January
Spiral
7.30pm
Season 5, episode 1 | cert. 15 | in English
France | 2014 | 52 mins | showrunner Anne Landois | written by Anne Landois, Simon Jablonka, Kristel Mudry, Sébastien Vitoux, Mathieu Missoffe, Yann Brion, Yann Le Nivet, Anne Rambach, Marine Rambach et Olivier Fox | dir. Frédéric Jardin, Frédéric Balekdjian, Nicolas Guicheteau; with Caroline Proust, Grégory Fitoussi, Philippe Duclos, Fred Bianconi, Thierry Godard, Audrey Fleurot | Produced by Vassili Clert, Son et Lumière | Broadcaster France: CANAL+ | Broadcaster UK: BBC4
Enter in series 5 of Spiral, guided into the dark and labyrinthine Parisian crime drama by its screenwriter Anne Landois.
Friday 30 January
How to Write TV Series
3pm | £5
Have you ever wondered how your favourite characters are created? How does the writer develop the plot and structure of the series and move the story along so you can’t stop watching? A discussion between French and British TV writers, who will compare their writing techniques.
With Frédéric Krivine (Un Village français), Ben Harris (Transporter) other guests to be confirmed.
Writing TV comedy: case study ‘Workingirls’
4pm
season 3, episode 11 | cert. 15 | In French with English subtitles
France | 2013 | 13 mins | written by béatrice Fournera, Frank Bellocq & Eve-Sophie Santerre; with Claude Perron, Laurence Arné, Blanche Gardin
Workingirls is the story of six women working in a small company. Humiliating boss, nympho HR manager, depressive Project manager, floozy operators. What they do, how and where they do it, we don’t really know and it doesn’t matter much. What matters is who they are…
Followed by a Q&A with writer Béatrice Fournera
Masterclass with Tony Grisoni
5pm | £5
Creator Tony Grisoni (Red Riding, The Unloved) will decrypt the creative process behind the acclaimed Channel 4 TV Show Southcliffe and share personal insights into his career and craft.
BAFTA Craft Masterclass: Breaking and Entering TV Writing
6pm | £8, conc. £6
Are you a budding writer, looking for more insight into how to hone your screenwriting skills? Join a panel of industry professionals for an in depth discussion about how they got their first break and share secrets of their success in a competitive industry. Writers Daniel Fajemisin Duncan and Marlon Smith (BAFTA winners – Run), Lucy Kirkwood (The Smoke, Skins) and Benjamin Dupas (Un Village Français, Kaboul Kitchen) will delve into their screenwriting processes to share what challenges they face and what advice they can give as you forge your screenwriting career. The writers will be in conversation with Hilary Martin, Head of BBC Drama England, North.
The Producer’s Masterclass
7.30pm | £5
Nicola Shindler, Executive Producer & CEO of Red Production Company, a Studiocanal company, will talk about the role of the producer and nurturing talent. Red first went into production on Russell T Davies’ Queer As Folk for Channel 4 and has since gone on to produce quality drama for the BBC, ITV and SKY (Scott & Bailey, Last Tango in Halifax, Bedlam, Hit & Miss, Happy Valley) and Russell T Davies’ latest projects – Cucumber, Banana, and Tofu.
Banana
8.45pm | £5 | Preview screening
season 1, episodes 4 & 5 | cert. 18 | in English
UK | 2014 | 2×30 mins | creator Russell T Davies, written by Charlie Covell and Matthew Barry with with Luke Newberry, Chloe Harris, Bethany Black
Part of three new interlinked shows for Channel 4, E4’s Banana is a series of 8 witty, charming and unique stand-alone stories that cover 50 shades of gay and beyond – created by award-winning writer Russell T Davies and featuring exciting and emerging talents from the fields of acting, writing and directing.
Followed by a Q&A with key creatives and members of the cast and crew
Saturday 31 January
Fresh Out Of School / En Sortant De L’ecole
2pm | £5 | UK Premiere
season 1, episodes 1-13 | cert. U | in French with English subtitles
France | 2014 | 13x3mins | 40 mins | Age 6+
En sortant de l’école is a collection of 13 animated short films – 3 minutes each – which aims at matching 13 poems from Jacques Prévert with the talent and graphic creativity of young directors, just out of French animation schools.
French Tv Comedies: The New Generation
3.30pm | £5 | UK Premiere
cert. 12A | in French with English subtitles | 120 mins
Comedy marathon including Les Lascars, In America, Kaboul Kitchen, The Lazy Company, Silex and the city.
Paris
6pm | £8, conc. £6 | UK Premiere
Season 1, episode 1 | cert. 12A | in French with English subtitles
France | 2014 | 68 mins | creator Virginie Brac; dir. Gilles Bannier; with Eric Caravaca, Nanou Garcia, François Loriquet, Florence Pernel, Stéphanie Murat
Paris is a mini-series that covers 24 hours in the everyday life of the French capital city. During this day, the trajectories of 12 characters will cross and interlace, reaching a turning point in their lives.
Masterclass with Caroline Proust
7.30pm | £8, conc. £6
Captain Laure Berthaud (Spiral), aka Caroline Proust, will share behind-the-scenes stories of this now cult TV series.
The Passenger
8.45pm | £8, conc. £6 | UK Premiere
Season 1, episode 1 | cert. 15 | in French with English subtitles
France | 2013 | 47 mins | writer & creator Jean-Christophe Grangé; dir. Jérôme Cornuau; with Jean-Hugues Anglade, Raphaëlle Agogué, Jacques Weber, Serge Riaboukine
Mathias Freire, a psychiatrist, and Anaïs Chatelet, a homicide squad captain are connected to each other through a series of crimes inspired by Greek Mythology. United in an investigation they will have to face one another and their own demons.
