Series Mania Institute, Europe's leading institution entirely dedicated to series, is continuing the international development of its Serial Bridges workshop under the leadership of Pierre Ziemniak, Director of Programs at the institute.
Organized from November 13 to 17, 2025, in Tallinn, Estonia, during Industry@Tallinn and Baltic Event, the new session will bring together six screenwriter-producer duos from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, each with a series project with strong international potential in several genres: espionage, thriller, horror, and comedy.
Aimed at professionals, screenwriters, and series producers, Serial Bridges programme takes place around the world and opens up new perspectives for participants in the international audiovisual industry with each session.
Designed to connect series creators from the Baltic countries to the European market, Serial Bridges Baltics aims to help them find co-production and distribution partners, while strengthening their understanding of trends and mechanisms in the European series market.
"We are delighted to be organizing such a workshop in Estonia for all Baltic talent. Despite tighter budgets than in Western Europe, Baltic series are increasingly recognized and appreciated by the international market, as exemplified by Soviet Jeans, from Latvia, which was presented at Series Mania in 2024. This is a dynamic that we want to support," says Pierre Ziemniak, Director of Programs at Series Mania Institute.
The selected projects are:
During the workshop the participants will benefit from:
Participants will also benefit from the support of mentors Gabor Krigler (Hungarian screenwriter-producer) and Jemina Jokisalo (Finnish screenwriter). They will also have the opportunity to exchange ideas with several French experts: Emmanuelle Guilbart (Joint CEO, About Premium Content), Emmanuel Eckert (former Deputy Director of Acquisitions, Mediawan Rights) and Patrick Nebout (producer and screenwriter).
The workshop will conclude on November 17, 2025, with a public pitch session at TV Beats. A professional jury will award the best project, which will receive an invitation to participate in the Series Mania Forum 2026 in Lille, a must-attend event for the European series industry.
"Building this bridge between TV Beats and Series Mania Institute was a quick but smooth and exciting process! First, it was great to see the potential of Baltic series creators recognized internationally. I am convinced that the workshop format, bringing together several experienced experts and including a final pitch in front of professionals, will help develop new skills and open doors for future co-productions." Petri Kemppinen and Roosa Toivonen, Co-Heads of TV Beats Forum.
Serial Bridges Baltics is organized in partnership with the Institut français and Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, with the support of the Estonian Ministry of Culture, Elisa Eesti, Latvian Television, LRT, and the Estonian Film Institute. This project is supported by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Institut français, as part of the strategy to promote French Cultural and Creative Industries internationally.
Founded in 2021, Series Mania Institute is a training organization entirely dedicated to series. Located in the heart of Lille, it enjoys strong regional roots and international influence. The institute aims to open up the sector to people from diverse backgrounds and origins: beginners, students, and professionals. From scriptwriting to directing, and from pre-production to post-production, these programs cover the entire creative process involved in making a series. In 2023, Series Mania Institute reached a key milestone in its development by obtaining the France 2030: Grande Fabrique de l'image label. It is backed by major institutional, economic, and educational partners such as the Métropole Européenne de Lille, the Hauts-de-France Region, the CNC, Creative Europe Media, Warner Bros. Discovery, France Télévisions, Entreprises et Cités, AFDAS, France Travail, and Sciences Po Lille.