The ninth edition of Co-Production Series has invited ten promising projects from Europe, Argentina and Canada to be presented to an audience comprising producers, editors, distributors and other series financiers, during a renowned pitching event (21-22 February at the CinemaxX on Potsdamer Platz). After the pitches, the producers of the projects will meet interested potential partners at a get-together and in individual meetings, which will take place in the Gropius Bau.

“Family relationships, corruption, inclusion, climate change, belonging and drug experiments – are among the varied themes of the series this year. Thrillers are represented in large numbers, some playing in breath-taking settings. But dramas are not neglected either. The time periods covered in the series are quite contemporary this time – they range from the 1960s to the future, which we look forward to seeing,” says the head of the Berlinale Co-Production Market and curator of Co-Pro Series, Martina Bleis.

One of the two series set in the 1980s comes from the team around director/creator Isaki Lacuesta (last represented in the Berlinale Competition of 2022 with One Year, One Night): The Chauffeur’s Son is about a power-obsessed media creator in Catalonia. The renowned Italian production company Fandango (Gomorrah, My Brilliant Friend) is also presenting a new series set in this era: in a rousing tour de force, Totonero recounts the rise and fall of two masterminds in the first major betting scandal in Italian football.

The Acid Clinic by Asta Film and SAM Productions (Borgen, The Chestnut Man) from Denmark is also based on a true case. In this series project, a young doctor tries to stop LSD experiments on patients during the Cold War of the 60s, only to be targeted by international secret services.

The Island is a contemporary family thriller in a breath-taking Scottish setting, presented by the British company Black Camel Pictures. Export Only, the first series project by Romanian producer Ada Solomon (Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, Child’s Pose) and her company Microfilm, is also about family: Here, a shawarma vendor in a backwater town struggles to stay close to her daughter in order to protect her from her toxic friends and drug-related crime in the border area.

A group of teenagers whose deafness may help save the world in face of disaster star in the Argentine thriller series Decibel, to be directed by Pablo Agüero (Salamandra, Eva Doesn’t Sleep).

Another unusual project is Earthbound by the Canadian company Pixcom and ZDF Studios from Germany: When a teenage boy is found on a space station and brought back to earth, he becomes the target of scientists, journalists and everyone around him attempting to clarify his origin and intentions, whilst trying to adapt to life on earth and learn what it means to be human.

Finland’s ReelMedia and Norwegian series-experienced Maipo Film (State of Happiness) have teamed up to produce Tipping Point, a thriller in which a rogue energy mogul and his activist daughter battle a conspiracy in the far north, where Cold War and climate change collide.

In My First Family, Razor Film Produktion explores the challenges of a parenting suitability check in an alternate world. On board are creators Ori Sivan (In Treatment) and Maya Zaydman, as well as a director with considerable series experience, Randa Chahoud (Deutschland 89, Legal Affairs).

The Danish series Family Stories: A Boy Disappears by Nimbus Film (The Bridge) is being presented in cooperation with the Series Mania Forum in Lille, where it was first pitched in 2022. At Co-Pro Series, the producers hope to find more partners. One of the new projects presented for the first time at Co-Pro Series will then have the opportunity to pitch again at Series Mania at the end of March.

Co-Pro Series will take place for the ninth time this year. Such internationally successful series as Babylon Berlin, Eldorado KaDeWe, Freud, Furia, Blackport and Trom have been among the previous Pitch participants. This year, two earlier projects will be screened in the Berlinale Series Market Selects: Dome 16 from Norway, Schnee (Snow) from Austria / Germany, while Davos from Switzerland / Germany is presented as part of the showcase Up Next: Germany.

Potential co-producers and interested funding partners have already registered – and places for the entire event, including pitches, get-togethers and meetings, are now fully booked.

The Berlinale Co-Production Market is a Berlinale Pro* initiative of Berlin International Film Festival and is supported by MDM – Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung and the European Union’s Creative Europe – MEDIA programme. The networking get-together following the Co-Pro Series pitches will be held in cooperation with the Norwegian Film Institute (NFI).

The Berlinale Series Market and its annual conference programme is a joint initiative of the European Film Market, the Berlinale Co-Production Market and Berlinale Talents, organised in close cooperation with Berlinale Series.

Co-Pro Series Projects 2023
(in alphabetical order of production companies):
The Island (Writer: Nick Osborne; Director: tba), Black Camel Pictures & All3Media International,
United Kingdom

Totonero (Creator/Director: Emanuele Scaringi), Fandango, Italy

Export Only (Creator/Director: Cristina Iliescu), microFILM, Romania

Decibel (Creator/Writer: Nicolás Britos; Director: Pablo Agüero), Mil Monos, Argentina

Earthbound (Writer: Harris Goldberg; Director: tba), Pixcom, Canada & ZDF Studios, Germany

My First Family (Creators/Head Writers: Maya Zaydman & Ori Sivan; Director: Randa Chahoud), Razor Film Produktion, Germany

Tipping Point (Head Writer: Brendan Foley; Director: AJ Annila), ReelMedia, Finland & Maipo Film,
Norway

The Acid Clinic (Creator: Jens Dahl; Writers: Jens Dahl, Dorte Warnøe Høgh & Adam August; Director: tba), SAM Productions & Asta Film, Denmark

The Chauffeur’s Son (Creators: Isaki Lacuesta, Isabel Campo & Cristóbal Garrido; Director: Isaki
Lacuesta), Zeta Studios, Spain