Cineuropa talked to the Hungarian screenwriter and story editor about the characteristics and innovations of the TorinoFilmLab programme dedicated to TV series development, which she leads

From dramedy/thriller to dark comedy, mystery to sitcom, the selection of projects for this year's TFL SeriesLab has something for everyone. The TorinoFilmLab programme dedicated to the development of TV series presents 9 projects coming from Croatia, Finland, the Netherlands, the United States, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium and the United Kingdom, and for the first time, it does so within the framework of the TFL Meeting Event, in Turin, the event which, each November, celebrates the lab's previous 12 months of activity, organised by the National Cinema Museum (read the news). To cite just a few, Dear Insects and Other Creepy Stories from Croatian director Karla Lucić is a 7x26 anthology series which, in the name of dark humour, tells seven nightmarish stories taking place in seven respective apartments in a dilapidated socialist building, with temperatures above 40 degrees; Spanish show Freeloaders School by Horacio Alcalà is a 6x45 comedy/drama with a touch of thriller genre about a group of people infiltrating elite events to satisfy their ego and their stomachs, a mix between The White Lotus and Big Little Lies where the poor subtly exploit the rich; in Metamorphoses (6x45), written by Belgian screenwriter Hasse Steenssens – already the author of Noise (2023), the first Belgian Netflix original with over 23 million views – the fairytale meets the thriller, with a policeman on the hunt for a killer who uses the help of a little girl with a particular ability: she can reconstruct the past of victims through their severed tongues.

Cineuropa talked with the person in charge of the TFL SeriesLab, Hungarian screenwriter and story editor (with a background at HBO Hungary) Eszter Angyalosy, about the characteristics of this programme.

Cineuropa: What guides you in choosing projects?
Eszter Angyalosy: We chose these projects because we fell in love with them, it’s a very exciting and colourful selection. Basically, three factors guide us: quality, originality, marketability. Of course we look for cool stuff and talented writers with exciting voices, we want to find people who can give us a new take on reality. We need the skills, too, so we want to find writers, producers and directors who are actually able to execute what they want to achieve. TV is about money, it’s an industry, so we want to develop projects which will sell abroad and make sense, meaning we won’t pick up something that is super high budget, very ambitious, like a sci-fi story set in space from a beginner writer in a small country: nobody’s going to finance that.

What makes the TFL SeriesLab different from other laboratories of this kind?
What I have in mind is doing something which is not just project development: the life of a TV series starts with an idea, this idea turns into a pilot or even more episodes, after that there is a selling period, which is essential, long and also frustrating. Only after the selling can you go into season development, and only after season development can you go into production. What happens here is the beginning and we prepare participants for the selling process. The project has to be as solid as possible, this is the priority, but besides that, the creators must understand their project, who is the target audience, who might be the right commissioner; they have to learn how to communicate about it and also to understand the reality of an industry which is fast changing. That’s what I want to do: make them understand the game. I think it’s a false promise to tell somebody that all you need is a great idea – you need much more than that to make it in this industry.

The new thing this year, in addition to the fact that you're presenting the projects at the Meeting Event, is the launch of the SeriesLab Story Editing programme. What does it consist of?
It’s the first time that we are here in Turin for the final presentation; usually we had the final pitching at festivals like Berlinale, Series Mania and other international events for TV series. It’s very exciting because we are here together with the other programmes, it’s like we are part of the family! Here it’s more relaxed, informal, and more supporting than at bigger events. What is special is that, while when pitching in other industry events there is a lot happening around and you are in competition with several other programmes in terms of audience, instead here we have our own dedicated time. This is also the first year of the SeriesLab Story Editing programme, through which we've trained three script editors alongside the projects. The whole idea came from the realisation that the industry needs these professionals who know specifically how to develop TV series, because it’s different from working on features. What is common is that every writer is sensitive and every writing process is truly, deeply personal. Somebody may need more encouragement, and everybody has different skills and personal tastes. So if you are a professional story editor, you have to make them realise what they want to do, and not do what you like. It’s a psychological skill.