PYP Jury: The Pitch-Your-Pilot Event for Writers

Calling all broadcasters, producers, screenwriters , storytellers and industry players! It's time to join the Creative Forum and talk stories, concepts and find potential partners at the TV SERIES FESTIVAL.

Get ready for the thrilling festival pitches at the Creative Forum & co-pro hub. The "Pitch-Your-Pilot" event that presents new writer voices and talents from around the world each year with esteemed jury members who are industry veterans, will be held July 12th at the Hotel Palace. The Jury is ready to assess and judge the creative brilliance, concepts and original ideas.

In this post, we'll delve into the excitement of this festival pitch event and finally announce the remarkable jury members who will be presiding over this exceptional and annual event gathering.

Pitch-Your-Pilot: Where You Can Find Original local and International Stories, pre-selected by the the festival's selection committee , our industry service.

A space filled with writers buzzing with anticipation, ready to share their stories with key players. PYP (Pitch-Your-Pilot) is where you have the opportunity to present your TV concepts to a distinguished panel of judges. It's not just about winning awards or a price; it's about making connections, receiving feedback, and gaining exposure in the industry, the very idea behind the TV SERIES FESTIVAL, supporting diverse and authentic stories, great writers and storytellers since day one.

Let's unveil the outstanding jury members

who will lend their expertise and discerning eyes to this year's semi-finalists and submissions.

Carolin Haasis, Content Development & Strategy Fiction; Channel Management ARD: After 15 years on the production side, moved to the fiction editorial department at ARD Degeto. Responsible for the development and production of non-linear series formats in the content development team of the ARD Mediathek for two years. Responsible for the productions "Babylon Berlin", "Lamia", "Asbest", "Das Begräbnis", "Für immer Sommer 90", among others.

ARD Mediathek is the joint offering of on-demand videos from the first state broadcaster (ARD) and joint institutions. Like the formerly independent "Das Erste: Mediathek", the service was first presented at the International Consumer Electronics Fair in Berlin in 2007 and launched in May 2008.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kevin Anweiler, Manager for international Co-Production, Co-Finance and Development LEONINE: Kevin Anweiler was born in Tettnang on Lake Constance, where he grew up in his parents’ cinema, which shaped his audiovisual career. After an internship in Vancouver and an apprenticeship in audiovisual media in Munich, he enrolled at the University of Television and Film Munich for the production course, which he completed in 2018. In January 2015, the creative producer founded Walking Ghost Film with which he produced several short films, including the Student Academy Award-winning short ADISA in 2021. After a station at Warner Bros Entertainment, he joined LEONINE Studios in 2020 as a Manager for International Co-Productions and Development. He was Executive Producer for the Canadian show SURREALESTATE, which was produced for SyFy and Bell Media.

LEONINE Studios is a leading independent German content house focusing on inspiring viewers with premium content and being a reliable partner for creative talents. With its three divisions LEONINE Production, LEONINE Distribution and LEONINE Licensing, the media company covers the entire value chain of the content business. LEONINE Studios produces feature films, series, TV shows, entertainment formats, infotainment formats, content for social media channels, and co-produces national and international fiction formats. The LEONINE Studios production companies – i&u TV, Odeon Entertainment, Odeon Fiction, SEO Entertainment, W&B Television and

Wiedemann & Berg Film – are led by award-winning producers with long-term ties to outstanding creative talents. LEONINE Studios distributes its content in theaters, on digital services, in home entertainment and on TV channels. In this context, the company also draws on its market-leading license library which includes programs in all formats and genres. LEONINE Studios’ independence assures that all players in the content sector can be provided with premium content – digital streaming providers, pay TV partners as well as public and private television broadcasters.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anna Rohde Seyfried, International Creative Executive and Content Editor Beta Film GmbH: Before joining Beta as Creative Executive, Anna studied dramaturgy, philosophy and literature at Munich's Theatre Academy and at the LMU, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich. Before her studies, she was an assistant director in many national and international TV and feature film projects. Among others, Anna is a jury member of the International Emmy’s semi-finals and NEM’s writing contest.

Beta Film: A leading independent Film & Television group, Beta Film produces, finances and distributes high-end content for the global market, nurturing extensive partnerships spanning from public to private broadcasters, streaming platforms to special interest channels, production companies and top international talent, theatrical and video distributors to major film and TV festivals.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Irina Ignatiew, Managing Director All3Media Fiction : Irina Ignatiew-Lemke has been working in the media and film industry for over 25 years and has held various executive positions at various renowned production and distribution companies in Europe and North America. In 2017, Irina Ignatiew-Lemke founded her own company Boxworks Media, where she advised, among others, Deutsche Telekom on the set-up and content direction of Magenta TV and was also executive producer on the series "Wild Republic" produced by X- Filme/Lailaps for MagentaTV, WDR, SWR, ARTE, ONE. Previously, she was Managing Director of Red Arrow International. During this time she managed the international distribution and co-financing of highly acclaimed productions such as Netflix's "Lilyhammer" and Amazon's "Bosch". She also served as Executive Producer for various international co-productions such as "The 100 Code" (starring Dominic Monaghan and directed by Academy Award winner Bobby Moresco) for SKY Germany, HBO Nordics and Kanal 5 Sweden.

As a subsidiary of All3Media Germany and part of the All3Media Group, we develop and produce high-quality fictional films and premium TV and streaming series for the German-speaking and international markets. We create with bold entrepreneurial spirit and the passion of a start-up and see ourselves as a creative heart chamber that empowers writers and directors and promotes creative freedom and ownership. We are guided by our values, which combine passion, integrity and perseverance, and are inspired every day by the power and promise of what creativity can achieve. Our association also includes the Filmpool Fiction label, which has been

producing top-class, sophisticated and multi-award-winning films and series for decades.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Constantin Film is a film company based in Munich that operates both as a film distributor and as a film production company. The company is now a subsidiary of the Swiss Highlight Communications AG and the most successful independent producer in Germany

Sarah Mohrat works as a Creative Affairs Manager at Constantin Film AG since January 2023, where she supports and consults the Board in the TV & Series division. Prior to that, she worked at Rat Pack Filmproduktion GmbH as Creative Assistant/Junior Producer among others for the series Grumpy Olaf (2021). There she also completed her traineeship, which she had previously started at Constantin Entertainment. From 2012-2019, she first completed her bachelor's degree in literary studies at the University of Mainz, and then her master's degree in literary and cultural theory at the University of Tübingen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ulf Israel, Managing Director Senator Film (Wildbunch Germany): Ulf Israel holds a degree in communications and is a graduate of the Berlin University of the Arts. From 1998 to 2002 he was a management consultant at X Filme Creative Pool, after which he headed 3L Filmproduktion for five years. Since 2010, he has been managing director of Senator Film Produktion, the global production arm of Wild Bunch.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sebastian Fruner, Produzent, Traumfabrik: After successfully completing his Master's degree in 'Music and Creative Industries' at the Popakademie Mannheim in 2013, Sebastian Fruner decided to become a producer for feature films. He developed his first feature film "Unsere Zeit ist jetzt" (Our Time is Now, Warner Bros.) together with his team around the exceptional rap-artist CRO. Sebastian Fruner acted as co-author and produced the film in 2016 in co-production with Til Schweiger. In 2019, Fruner developed and produced the feature film "Traumfabrik" (TOBIS) together with the late Tom Zickler and Studio Babelsberg. The film has already opened several international festivals and has been sold to over 50 countries (including USA) with theatrical release. In 2022 he produced the series "SWEAT" for ARD Mediathek, and in 2023 he produced the international feature film

"Traumnovelle (AT)" and is currently acting as executive producer for the second season of "ALMANIA" for ARD Mediathek, which starts shooting in July 2023.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wiebke Andresen was born in Hamburg in 1976. Her first professional experiences at the local radio station Radio HH were followed by training as a publishing house clerk at Gruner + Jahr AG & Co KG and subsequent assistance to the marketing manager of all titles of the STERN Group.

Since 2001 Wiebke Andresen has been working in the film industry, first as a motif manager and later as 1st unit manager for various production companies, both for cinema and TV projects.

In 2006 she started working for DELPHI Filmverleih in the acquisition department, thus combining her enthusiasm for storytelling, her experience in organisation and coordination and her desire for new content. With DELPHI's acquisition of DCM in 2010, Wiebke Andresen continued her career in acquisitions and was most recently responsible for national and international acquisitions and co-productions as Director of Acquisitions.

Since November 2022 Wiebke Andresen has been Managing Director of NORDFILM GmbH and producer of LETTERBOX FILMPRODUKTION GmbH as part of the Studio Hamburg Production Group.