Content Warsaw CoPro Pitch 2024
The Content Warsaw CoPro Pitch was open to early-stage scripted series and feature-length docs from established producers from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), looking for wider partnerships across the region or internationally. This competition is geared towards projects that are looking for further international partnerships, which already have some partners attached and can demonstrate the financial commitment that comes with those partnerships.
The winning pitch will receive a prize of US$15,000 worth of marketing across C21Media’s digital, print and event products to support development and pre-sales promotion of the show.
The Content Warsaw CoPro Pitch Winner
F**k the Law focuses on an international custody battle over a little girl between a Norwegian architect and a Lithuanian mother of humble origins who is accused of kidnapping her daughter under international law. When the mother loses her legal fight, she goes on the run with the child to Poland as the father throws the weight of top-tier lawyers and detectives at the case.
Dansu Films was founded in 2008 and is now one of the biggest production houses in Lithuania. Its major projects include Netflix’s Moscow Noir (directed by Oscar nominee Mikael Halfstrom), Agent Hamilton (directed Erik Leijonborg) and Troll Farm (distributed by Mumbai-based GoQuest Media).
Anna Różalska, co-founder and producer at Match&Spark, chaired the jury and said: “The project deals with important contemporary issues that can resonate universally with any family. The judges appreciated that the pitch was delivered with a strong emotional connection to the story.”
LINK TO SEE THE FINALIST PROJECTS: Bear With Me | Creature Series | Fuck The Law | Polish Training | Red Orchestra | Undercurrent
The Content Warsaw CoPro Finalists 2024
Bear With Me
SYNOPSIS:
Retired circus trainer Maxy (80) lives with her last living bear, Natasha (43), in a parking lot near Amsterdam. But there is one condition – she can stay there only while the bear is alive.
Bears have always been most important in her life. They are her best friends, her closest relatives. She grows up as a child of the circus. Her parents are animal trainers and she has helped them from a young age. One day, her father gets sick and is unable to perform in the circus show. She has to take over. Then, at the age of 11, in 1953, in the former German Democratic Republic, fearlessly she goes with a bear to the arena. With no rehearsals, she has to step in for her father only once, because a child under 14 cannot work in the circus. But she refuses to leave the arena. She appears older and declares: “I’m 14!” She stays under the spotlight and the cheers of the audience – for 60 years.
During this period, society is changing its mindset towards animals. The public realises that cruelty often stands behind circus magic. The perception of entertainment develops, people no longer find it fun to watch animals in the circus arena, and many of them stand against this practice. Most circuses are giving up animal tricks.
In 2014, her career is over. She remains on the streets with her last animals, a bear and a tigress, and is determined not to abandon them. With great effort, she finds a place where they are willing to accommodate her and her animals. After the tigress dies, Maxy is alone with Natasha. Without her, she has nowhere to go. That’s the story of the European circus star Maxy Niedermeyer.
GENRE:
Unscripted
PROJECT'S COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
PRODUCTION COMPANY
Helmed by lead producer Martichka Bozhilova, AGITPROP is probably the most awarded Bulgarian film production company. The company has coproduced with Germany, the US, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Romania, Croatia and UAE. Among AGITPROP’s leading TV partners are: Channel 4, Sundance Channel, HBO, Arte, PBS and YLE.
AGITPROP has produced a number of creative documentaries, fiction films and TV series with a strong author’s style, including the multiple international award winner Georgi and the Butterflies (IDFA winner), The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories (Cannes), Corridor #8 (Berlinale), Omlette (Sundance) and The Boy Who Was a King (Toronto). AGITPROP produced the first original Bulgarian content for HBO and National Geographic.
The company’s filmography includes Touch Me Not (Golden Bear winner, Berlinale), Love & Engineering (Tribeca NY, Visions de Reel) and Dad Made Dirty Movies (sold to more than 30 territories). AGITPROP’s other credits include the documentary TV series/one-off Palace for the People (Dok Leipzig, Dok Buster Award; the series aired on the BBC, Arte, MDR, NHK and SVT), as well as high-end TV drama series Father’s Day, commissioned by Bulgarian National Television.
Among its latest films are The Cars We Drove Into Capitalism (Dok Leipzig, CPH:Dox), A Provincial Hospital (Karlovy Vary, Ecumenical Jury Award) and Working Class Goes to Hell (Toronto IFF, Tallinn Black Nights). It is a coproducer on the first official drama series coproduction in South Eastern Europe, Operation Sabre (global sales handled by Beta Film), which won the Best Interpretation award at Canneseries 2024.
www.agitprop.bg
Pitchees:
Martichka Bozhilova
Martichka Bozhilova is lead producer at AGITPROP. Her high-end, author-driven films have been selected and awarded at Cannes, Berlin, IDFA, Toronto, Sundance, Tribeca and Pusan, and broadcast all over the world.
Bozhilova’s latest films include Touch Me Not (Golden Bear winner, Berlinale); Palace for the People, a film (Dok Leipzig, Dok Buster Award) and four-part TV docuseries for Arte that also aired on the BBC, MDR, NHK and SVT; The Cars We Drove Into Capitalism (Dok Leipzig, CPH:Dox); A Provincial Hospital (Karlovy Vary, Ecumenical Jury Award); and Working Class Goes to Hell (Toronto IFF, Tallinn Black Nights).
She is a producer of successful factual TV series for National Geographic and HBO, as well as Father’s Day, a high-end, award-winning drama series for Bulgarian National Televisio. In addition, she is a coproducer on the first official drama series coproduction in South Eastern Europe, Operation Sabre, which won the Best Interpretation award at Canneseries 2024.
Bozhilova has been a jury member at prestigious film festivals and lecturer at international documentary workshops. She is the director of the Balkan Documentary Center, which is behind BDC Discoveries and Rough Cut Boutique training initiatives, and the director of Sofia DocuMental International Film Festival. In addition, she is a mentor at the European Women’s Audiovisual Network, commissioner at Re-Act Co-Development and The Malik Bendjelloul Memorial Foundation’s Fund, and a member of the European Producer’s Club.
Martin Genovski
Martin Genovski is a director and screenwriter with experience in feature films, documentaries and TV series. He holds a bachelor’s degree in film and television directing and a master’s degree in screen arts management from Bulgaria’s National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts. He also has a PhD in film art and is an assistant professor of film and television directing and film acting at the National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts. He is an alumnus of ESoDoc 2021 and was an IDFAcademy participant in 2022. He has more than 15 years of experience across radio, TV and press. Genovski is an animal lover and often includes animals in his fiction and documentary films. He is a lecturer in film directing of animals.
Polish Training
SYNOPSIS:
Pekka has always been the best. The best grades in school, early promotions, 100% of cases solved as a cop, tons of awards and medals. He is the perfect cop – and he knows it.
Pekka’s limitless passion for self-improvement and motivational techniques, adventurous personality and, above all, overoptimistic approach make his colleagues in the Helsinki homicide department want to get rid of him. Luckily, in the EU, all police stations participate in an international training programme. When Pekka is sent for training, he thinks it’s just another promotion, as he can be a perfect instructor for special police units in Paris or London. Unfortunately, he is not sent to one of those Western countries but to Wolin, a small Polish island on the Baltic sea, famous for its annual Slavs and Vikings Festival.
As no one in town has the slightest intention of listening to his orders, even optimistic Pekka must admit he has been sent to exile. However, when a vicious crime hits the small town for the first time in many years, he finds his second wind and, along with Marek, the initially reluctant and extremely pessimistic officer from the local police station, he starts the most important investigation of his career. He also happens to step on the toes of some dangerous criminals…
With the help of Marek and new friends from the police station – sexy rookie Sandra and corrupt drunkard Waldek – he finds the trail of a huge smuggling case, which has something to do with the festival taking place in the city.
Polish Training is a crime series with elements of comedy. Humour is provided by both the fish-out-of-water protagonist and the cultural differences between CEE and Scandinavia.
GENRE:
PROJECT'S COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
Finland, Poland
PRODUCTION COMPANY
ReelMedia is a Helsinki-based production company that focuses on developing and producing TV drama series. It launched in April 2021 and has already delivered two series (The Man Who Died, The Paradise S2).
ReelMedia’s aim is to maintain high production quality and tell meaningful stories. We concentrate on both accurate and timeless content that can travel and stay in focus for a long time. Our high-profile producers, who have expertise in international productions and experience in several different countries, make sure we always find the right people for each production. With an extensive network, ReelMedia has the possibility to create productions together with international partners. We are also committed to sustainable and responsible productions.
Pitchees:
Markku Flink
A producer in Nordic countries since the 1990s, Flink has wide experience in international coproductions on feature films and TV drama series. His most recent production is The Man Who Died (2022), a dark crime comedy (6×45’) for Elisa Viihde and Media Musketeers, and crime/thriller series Cold Courage (2020) for Lionsgate, Viaplay and BritBox. Currently in production S2 of The Man Who Died, Flink is an active member of the APFI Audiovisual Producers Finland and ACE Producers Network- Ateliers du Cinéma Européen.
Wiktor Piątkowski:
Writer, producer and showrunner Piątkowski created and co-wrote HBO’s first original series produced in Poland, Wataha. He has also been behind four Netflix original feature films (including Squared Love), Viaplay’s first Polish series (Murderesses) and Canal+/Polsat copro Sortownia. Just Push Abuba, the sitcom he co-created and co-wrote, premiered in 2018 on ZDF. His producer’s filmography includes feature films (Święta inaczej) as well as shorts (Reset) and documentary movies (Over the Mountains, Trzej przyjaciele z boiska).
Piątkowski graduated from the Polish National Film School in Łódź and is an alumnus of Serial Eyes, European TV Drama Series Lab, European Showrunner Training, Canneseries Writers Club, Racconti, The Owl and Berlinale Talents. He is also a member of SEAN, the Polish Filmmakers Association and the Polish Screenwriters’ Association. He runs screenwriting workshops in Poland and abroad, has a PhD in TV marketing and manages Bahama Films, an independent production company based in Warsaw.
Creature Series
SYNOPSIS:
This 12-part historical-mystery series features crime elements based on true stories, drawing from the real Archives of Mary Therese. Every time something unusual happens, the monarchy sends out a committee of three emissaries to investigate. The trio represents a perfect combination of power, mind and faith that can overcome any obstacles and bring funny moments. They travel around the region to solve the cases, involving sorcery, mysteries, horror and traits of higher forces at play.
Each supernatural phenomenon is explained using science and medicine. The viewer is intrigued by the mystery seen through the eyes of the villagers – we see real demons, action and inexplicable phenomena that are explained with classical criminological methods – interrogation, looking for traces, retrospections. All 12 themes of the series are commonly known in the region.
Where does it take place? In the former Austro-Hungarian monarchy. This is currently a region of approximately 100 million inhabitants of the Central Europe and the Balkans. The main characters are Hugo, a captain, a man of flesh and bones who loves women and makes things happen; Balthazar, an intelligent, educated monk who understands people; and Albert, a scientist, a woman in disguise with a strong will and passion for examination.
The 12 stories are The Werewolf, Bearer of Light, Revenant, Grijalica, Fairies Devil, Vampire, Mamuna (Polednica), Mora, Hell Doors, Zmok and Hykal.
GENRE:
PROJECT'S COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
PRODUCTION COMPANY
Piknik Pictures Production Company was established in 2005. Since then, it has cooperated with the biggest Slovak broadcasters and market-leading companies. Its portfolio comprises feature films, documentaries, original series and adapted foreign TV formats.
Pitchees:
Eva Holtáková
The business manager at Piknik, Holtáková is a possibility seeker. Her passion stems from the idea that ‘anything is possible.’ She studied screenwriting and journalism.
Martina Flasikova
Flasikova is an executive producer at Piknik, with experience in TV series, documentaries and feature films. She has a bachelor’s degree in film science and a master’s in film and TV production and management from the University of Performing Arts in Bratislava. She has more than 20 years of experience in media.
Fuck The Law
SYNOPSIS:
Two very different families. Two countries. An international custody battle over a little girl. A story that is similar to thousands from all around the world. In Fuck the Law, Malte (30), a Norwegian architect, marries Milda (27), a Lithuanian beauty from a humble upbringing. It would be a Cinderella story, but the marriage doesn’t work. Milda takes their daughter Veronica (five) and returns to her hometown.
The story picks up a year after Milda’s departure. The young mother now lives in a village with her sister. They receive a call from Malte, who says he wants full custody of Veronica. Milda decides to contest this. However, according to international law, she must return her daughter to Malte, who intends to take Veronica back to Norway. Legally, Milda is classified as a parental kidnapper because she did not obtain Malte’s permission to relocate with Veronica to Lithuania.
Legal battles ensue, made more difficult by Milda’s financial constraints. After Milda loses the fight, she becomes an international fugitive and flees with her daughter to Poland. Malte transforms into a devoted father determined to assert his parental rights. He emerges as a heroic figure, fighting to rescue his daughter from a ‘challenging life’ in Lithuania. He spares no expense in retaining top-tier lawyers and detectives.
The media and social networks in both countries explode. In Lithuania, public opinion rallies behind Milda, while in Norway, support for Malte is strong. It seems everyone has an opinion, and even politicians from both countries become involved, eager to score points by ‘saving’ the girl from either her ‘bad’ father or ‘bad’ mother. Over two months, the narrative explores the journeys of these characters, their families and lawyers, each battling for Veronica in their unique way. But what is truly best for Veronica herself?
GENRE:
PROJECT'S COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
PRODUCTION COMPANY
Dansu Films was created in 2008 and is now one of the biggest production houses in Lithuania. Its major projects include TV series (for Netflix), Moscow Noir (directed by Oscar nominee Mikael Halfstrom), Agent Hamilton (directed Erik Leijonborg) and Troll Farm (Berlinale Series Market Selects; and feature films Sasha Was Here and I Am Fine Thanks. It is also behind a handful of awarded short films and more than 200 commercials. The company has provided services on films including The Crown Jewels, starring Alicia Vikander, and Gentlemen, starring David Dencik. It currently has several feature films and TV series in different stages.
Pitchees:
Gabija Siurbyte
Siurbyte is co-owner of Dansu. She has recently produced and was showrunner on Troll Farm (the first Lithuanian TV series financed by Lithuanian Film Centre), which premiered at Berlinale Series Market Selects and was picked up by Transylvania IFF. She has also coproduced Netflix’s Clark and fellow TV series Moscow Noir. Her credits include feature films that have premiered at Shanghai, Les Arcs, Warsaw, Tallinn Black Nights and other international film festivals. Siurbyte has taken part in Inside pictures, EAVE+, Producers Network and Berlinale Talents Campus. She is currently developing several new TV series and is looking for projects to coproduce.
Ernestas Jankauskas
Director Jankauskas helmed Troll Farm. He was also behind Sasha Was Here, his first feature, which premiered at POFF in Tallinn and visited Shanghai and Les Arcs film festivals; and I Am Fine Thanks, which was picked up by Warsaw IFF. He has directed more than 40 award-winning commercials and was second unit director on Swedish series Moscow Noir (distributed by StudioCanal).
Red Orchestra
SYNOPSIS:
What do radical Zionists, Ukrainian nationalists, French revolutionaries, Polish communists, Soviet, German, British and Italian spies and Aristotle Onassis have in common? All of them wanted Jan Gerhard dead.
Anna, an ambitious forensic scientist, would shine in her profession nowadays. Henryk, a Civic Militia investigator struggling with war trauma, would be considered a traitor and conformist. They wouldn’t even meet today, but in the grim reality of the 70s they must team up to solve one of the most mysterious crimes of the Polish People’s Republic. A mysterious Italian spy follows them. Who is he really working for? And what is the real purpose of Red Orchestra – a top-secret espionage network involved in the mysterious deaths of important military commanders and politicians all over Europe?
Red Orchestra is a thrilling crime series inspired by true events. The first season is based on one of the most mysterious crimes committed in Poland in the 20th century.
An ambitious female forensic scientist and a hard-working but conformist crime investigator team up to solve the case. The series presents not only a complex crime and the interesting characters who deal with it, but also illustrates the rich background full of events, people and moments significant in the history of Poland and beyond. All of it is shown through the eyes of modern protagonists trapped in the past; people who would be successful and praised in our times but were born too soon; people just like us, but less fortunate.
Red Orchestra would be a perfect choice for an audience looking for a mysterious and intelligent crime series, but also for viewers who adore fast-paced action, plot twists and lots of tension. Thanks to the unique setting, the series will be interesting to both Polish and international audiences.
GENRE:
PROJECT'S COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
Poland, Germany
PRODUCTION COMPANY
Bahama Films is an independent production company based in Warsaw and specialising in script development for film and TV projects. It was established in 2009 by Wiktor Piątkowski. Bahama Films works on feature films, documentaries, short films and TV series. Projects developed by Bahama Films have been presented at international festivals and industry events including Series Mania, MIA, Seriencamp, Tallin Black Nights and Odessa Film Festival.
Pitchees:
Wiktor Piątkowski:
Writer, producer and showrunner Piątkowski created and co-wrote HBO’s first original series produced in Poland, Wataha. He has also been behind four Netflix original feature films (including Squared Love), Viaplay’s first Polish series (Murderesses) and Canal+/Polsat copro Sortownia. Just Push Abuba, the sitcom he co-created and co-wrote, premiered in 2018 on ZDF. His producer’s filmography includes feature films (Święta inaczej) as well as shorts (Reset) and documentary movies (Over the Mountains, Trzej przyjaciele z boiska).
Piątkowski graduated from the Polish National Film School in Łódź and is an alumnus of Serial Eyes, European TV Drama Series Lab, European Showrunner Training, Canneseries Writers Club, Racconti, The Owl and Berlinale Talents. He is also a member of SEAN, the Polish Filmmakers Association and the Polish Screenwriters’ Association. He runs screenwriting workshops in Poland and abroad, has a PhD in TV marketing and manages Bahama Films, an independent production company based in Warsaw.
Undercurrent
SYNOPSIS:
When Anna (23) heads into the isolated Polish woods for the yearly deer hunt with her mother, Maria (43), and their family friends, the serenity is shattered by a sudden tragedy: Maria is fatally shot in what appears to be a hunting accident. But Anna, grappling with an unsettling certainty that the incident was intentional, struggles to convince the others of foul play.
Their hunt turns harrowing as Anna, in a frantic quest for answers, slips into the river’s grasping currents, only to be engulfed by a whirlpool that renders her unconscious. Awakening on the riverbank, Anna is thrust into a weird reality: the deer they shot last night is nowhere to be seen, the day is reset, and her mother is inexplicably alive.
Torn between sanity and the surreal, Anna faces a chilling possibility: has she gone mad, or has the river’s vortex drawn her into a parallel existence? As the almost same day begins again, Anna is driven by a resolute purpose – to find the would-be killer. Against a backdrop of deceptive tranquillity and shifting realities, Anna’s pursuit becomes a race against time to alter fate. Truth and illusion intertwine, and Anna must trust her instincts to protect her mother from a fate that has already befallen her once – or has it?
GENRE:
PROJECT'S COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
Poland, Norway
PRODUCTION COMPANIES
Bacon Pictures is a Scandinavian film production company with its headquarters in Oslo and branches in Copenhagen and Stockholm. The company was established in in 2022 by experienced producers Magne Lyngner and Jan Eirik Langøen. It is part of the Bacon Group, one of Scandinavia’s most successful production companies for high-end commercials. Despite being in its early stages, the company has developed a strong slate of talent-driven projects.
Under Ski Tower is a film prodco specialising in feature films, documentaries TV programmes. The team works for international and Polish clients, offering comprehensive film production anywhere in Poland. The company is part of the OTO Film Group of seven companies specialising in advertising and film production, post-production, sound, casting, talent representation and virtual production.
The team works for international and Polish clients offering comprehensive film production anywhere in Poland. The company is part of the OTO Film Group containing 7 companies specializing in advertising and film production, postproduction, sound, casting, talent representation and virtual production.
Undercurrent is the first collaboration between Creator Soni Jôrgensen and producer Jan Eirik Langøen.
Pitchees:
Wojciech Stuchlik
Stuchlik graduated in media studies from Queens College in New York and film and television production organisation at the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School in Katowice. He is a member of the National Chamber of Audiovisual Producers. He made his first feature, the horror film Sparrow, directed by Shaun Troke, in 2011. He also has credits on productions such as Silent Lake, Wilq Superbohaterem and Fisheye. Currently, Stuchlik is particularly interested in family cinema, aimed at a young audience. In 2022, the children’s film titled Detective Bruno, which he coproduced, was released in cinemas.
Jan Eirik Langøen:
Eirik is one of the most experienced producers in Norway. He started film school at Simon Fraser University in 1996 and worked as a key location scout in Vancouver for four years before returning to Norway. In Norway he quickly moved up the ranks and produced highly successful Norwegian feature films including Max Manus (2008), Journey to the Christmas Star (2015), The Wave (2016), The Quake (2018) and Betrayed (2020). He has also been involved with TV series such as Nobel (2016), Amazon production Fortitude (2018) and Netflix production Stormy Christmas (2022).
The feature films have been awarded several People’s Choice Awards in Norway and he was recently described in Variety as a disaster movie specialist. Eirik is happiest when he gets to produce shows in either -30°C on Svalbard or 40°C in Morocco.
Judges
Jan Maxa
Rodrigo Herrera Ibarguengoytia
English (UK)