European Writers Club reveals winners of Boosting Impact program

European Writers Club

The European Writers Club (EWC) has unveiled the winners of its Boosting Impact program, which aims to accelerate scripted TV shows based on impactful true events.

The EWC, which is led by Copenhagen Film Fund’s former CEO Thomas Gammeltoft, has selected six projects from six different European countries for the initiative’s inaugural program, with projects from Thicker Than Water‘s Mehdi Ouahab and Sophie Linnenbaum (The Ordinaries) among the winners.

The scheme will see the six teams taking part in three camps, facilitated by Le Groupe Ouest, to practically explore and further develop stories to create “societally significant and engaging stories” rooted in actual events.

The six projects are:

• Deadline (Denmark), which explores ‘legal’ human trafficking of under-aged African football players to the EU. It has been written by Jesper Fink (Birthday Girl) for Sille Sterll at Nordisk Film (Valdes Jul) with director Michael Noer attached
• White Gold (France), which tracks the lucrative but little-known industry of glass-eel trafficking. It has been written by Mehdi Ouahab (Thicker Than Water) for Jean-François Le Corre at Vivement Lundi! (Flee), with photojournalist Nicolas Legendre attached
• The Cloud (Germany), which explores a new technical development that claims to improve emotional healing. It has been written by Sophie Linnenbaum (The Ordinaries) for Britta Strampe at Bandenfilm and Jochen Laube at Sommerhaus Serien (The Empress), with Italian researcher Michele Farisco attached
• Strictly Confidential (Norway), which is set in 2011 and tracks a secret mediation team’s work in Libya, ahead of international military action. It has been written by Anna Bache-Wiig and Siv Rajendram Eliassen (The Emigrants) for Rebecca Mathisen at Paradox Film (Harold & Sonja), with diplomat Henrik Thune attached
• The Last Flight Of The Condor (Spain), which follows a victim of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet as she infiltrates his inner circle to achieve her revenge. It has been written by Rodrigo Martín Antoranz (Verdugos) for Alberto Rull at Vertice360, with journalist Mario Amorós attached.
• Gold (Switzerland), which follows the bloody path of the dangerous illegal gold trade, telling the true stories of the miners and smugglers, refiners and traders. It has been written by Christian Wehrlin (Borders) and Pascal Glatz (Rest) for Stefan Eichenberger at Contrast Film, with French researcher Muriel Côte attached.

Each team will be appointed an emerging writer selected in collaboration with La Cité Européenne des Scénaristes (CES) to assist with development. The six selected emerging writers are: Miriam Suad Buehler (Germany), Jessica Mackie Hunter (The Czech Republic), Kensley Jules (France), Petteri Lassila (Finland), Tania Notaro (Ireland) and Eve Tisler (Estonia).

The six writers will also take part in courses and workshops to boost their skills, as well as developing their own TV series project in pairs that will be presented at a two-day final pitch-conference in Copenhagen in September.

Gameltoft said: “We are thrilled with the high quality, importance, diversity and variety of projects selected for Boosting Impact as well as the potential impact on our European ways of life that each project has.

“This initiative highlights our belief in the transformative power of stories based on real events. We look forward to the creative journey ahead, accelerating collaboration and being in on bringing these captivating stories to life.”

Boosting Impact is co-financed by the European Union and supported by partners including AGADIC/Xunta de Galicia, The Estonian Film Institute, Screen Ireland/NTA, SGAE/Spain, Vision Denmark, Den Danske Filmskole, MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, and additional support from Den Danske Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, The Danish Producers Rights Fund, The Danish Producers Association, Copenhagen Film Fund, Dynamic television, Lumière Benelux, Filmax, the Danish Writers Guild and Focal.