Series Mania launches Franco-Israeli writing residency

French drama festival Series Mania is launching a Franco-Israeli writing residency initiative.

In partnership with France’s Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (National Center for Cinema and Moving Image) and Israel’s Gesher Multicultural Film Fund, the festival has opened submissions for a Franco-Israeli ‘Co-Writing Residency for Drama Series’.

The project will find five French and five Israeli screenwriters working in pairs to develop global-facing series.

Two writing workshops will be organised in the coming months, with the first to be held in Israel in the autumn and the second in France next spring.

The projects developed will be presented at next year’s Series Mania, which takes place from 20-28 March.

Submissions close on 30 September. Residents will be selected by an international jury, and revealed on 6 November.

Frédérique Bredin, president of CNC, said: “This residence is a first step. The idea is to build a creative incubator between our two countries to give birth to high quality series for an international audience.”

Laurence Herszberg, founder and general director of Series Mania, added: “From the beginning, it’s been part of Series Mania’s mission to strengthen creativity and international co-operation. This is a first initiative and we hope that there will be more in the future.”