GOING EUROPEAN PROGRAMME

In 2023, the French National Centre for Cinema and Animated Image (CNC) launched Going European, a training programme for pairs of European authors, focusing on issues related to the co-writing of international series. The programme has three partners: the Séries Mania festival (France), the co-production and networking market Conecta FICTION & ENTERTAINMENT (Spain) and the Sarajevo Film Festival – CineLink Industry Days (Bosnia and Herzegovina).  

Going European is funded by the MEDIA programme of the European Commission, the programme runs for a period of three years (2023-2025), and aims to train authors in the co-writing, co-development and co-production of international series. 30 authors (10 each year) will receive support for the duration of the programme, all of them involved in co-writing projects for international series.  

The 10 authors will meet each year for three intensive one-week training sessions at the three partner events, where they will participate in exchanges, workshops and masterclasses on the specific issues involved in the conception of an international series, the creative, financial, legal and environmental aspects, as well as production, distribution and promotion issues. They will meet with experienced professionals from various areas of the series industry.  

After the Séries Mania festival in March, the five pairs will attend several days of exclusive training at Conecta FICTION & ENTERTAINMENT in June. 

These are the five winning pairs of authors for the year 2024:

Alex Balassa (Hungary) and Ewelina Chyzynska (Poland), who write the series ‘Chopin, The series‘, about a Polish composer who becomes a persecuted exile after using his music to incite an uprising against imperial Russia.

Alex Balassa (Hungría)
With over 25 years of experience as an award-winning content creator, writer, producer and director, he is well-versed in all aspects of the entertainment industry. Nominated for an International Emmy and a Latin Grammy, he completed several international projects in America, Europe and Asia.

Ewelina Agata Chyrzynska (Poland)
Screenwriter, script consultant, head writer, and musicologist. As a screenwriter she has documented work on over 1.700 episodes of various series. She works as a script consultant at the production company House Media, contributing to the development of premium series and feature films.

Nadja Dumouchel (Germany) and Nicolas Ducray (France), working on their series project ‘Zebras‘, set in a hot summer in Berlin, where a rampaging zebra turns the lives of six foreigners in search of a better life upside down.

Nadja Dumouchel (Germany)
Script writer and story editor based in Berlin where she teaches scriptwriting at Filmuniversität Konrad Wolf. She currently co-writes several feature films. She co-founded La Scénaristerie in 2014, a development hub for writers based in Paris, and previously worked as a commissioning editor for ARTE.

Nicolas Ducray (France)
He worked in the cultural field in Jamaica and Hungary before moving to Paris in 2007 and taking up writing. A screenwriter for cinema and television, Nicolas also works as a consultant for film labs and film. Currently, Nicolas is developing his first feature film as a director, as well as two CNC-funded series.

Judit Banhazi (Hungary) and Pierre Puget (France), who collaborate on the series ‘Bluebeard’s Daughters‘, a limited series inspired by the real-life case of the infamous Hungarian serial killer AndrásPándy.

Judit Bánházi (Hungary)
Graduate of Serial Eyes, freelance screenwriter with a background in film and tv production and a passion for character driven stories. In 2019, ScreenDaily profiled her as one of the five emerging writers from Southeast Europe to look out for. She’s been developing stories for Gaumont, Audible, Banijay France, Mediawan, Odeon Fiction.

Pierre Puget (France)
French writer and producer based in Berlin. After a first career as a TV director in Brussels, Pierre participated in 2016 in the international Serial Eyes TV writing program. Pierre also offers script consulting and teaches TV series writing. Pierre recently co-founded his writer-driven production company, BRAINS.

Paul-Razvan Macovei (Romania) and Simon P.R. Bewick (France), who co-wrote ‘Ma VDM‘, starring Denisa, a talented Romanian cartoonist, who is forced to leave her hometown to move to France when her mother decides to follow her new boyfriend.

Paul-Razvan Macovei (Romania)
After working as a producer for three different production companies in Bucarest, he returns to directing in January 2023 with his 2nd feature film, ‘Romina, VTM’. After taking part in the Midpoint Writers Room 2023, R?zvan started directing ‘Bravo, tat?’, a primetime sitcom for Antena 1, among top 3 watched shows in Romania and is prepping his next short film.

Simon P.R. Bewick‘s (France)
His career reflects his dual French-English heritage, which got him to be both a sales agent for Twinings and a flight attendant for AirFrance before having his first documentary showcased at FID Marseille in 2012. Bewick’s storytelling for teenagers and young adults has led to notable projects. Alongside his writing, filmmaking and producing, Bewick is passionate about teaching filmmaking.

Sonja Prosenc (Slovenia) and Teona Mitevska (Macedonia), whose project is ‘Mala Yugoslavia‘, a post-socialist feminist black comedy, in which strange disappearances unravel the lives of its female inhabitants.

Sonja Prosenc (Slovenia)
Writer-director, based in Slovenia. Both of her awarded feature films, ‘The Tree’ and ‘History of Love’ were Official Oscar Candidates in 2016 and 2020, respectively. Her work ranges from the arthouse dramas, to comedy, and mystery thriller. She was named a Breakout Feature Director at Slamdance, and highlighted by Cineuropa as one of the eight female directors to watch.

Teona Mitevska (Macedonia)
Macedonian-born, trained as a painter and graphic designer, and studied film at NYU Grad-Tisch School of Arts. Her filmography since 2004 includes acclaimed films like ‘God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya’ (2019), which premiered at Berlinale, winning the Ecumenical Prize and the German Guild Film Prize, and among other awards most notably the 2019 LUX Prize.