The 18th Meeting Event organised by TorinoFilmLab (TFL) is showcasing a slate of in-development projects from its SeriesLab programme in front of an audience of around 350 industry professionals. The projects will be assessed by a seasoned jury of TV veterans (Francesco Capurro, Malin Nevander and Petra Strašek) who will award two prizes worth €20,000 to the best projects.

As in 2024, the nine projects taking part in the programme were overseen by Head of Studies Eszter Angyalosy and curator Eilon Ratzkovsky, who devised a programme dedicated to innovative TV series projects. It consists of a nine-month training course followed by European creative teams or international teams working on a project with European co-production potential. Participants focused primarily on writing, guided by four tutors over a nine-month period, as well as by a dedicated production tutor and pitching tutor. Another strand of SeriesLab is devoted to aspiring story editors and the three selected participants are Benjamin Cantu (Germany/Hungary), Lizzie Cater (Australia) and Adriana Rossetto (Italy).

Introducing the projects, Eszter Angyalosy stressed how the participating producers and writers “weren’t afraid to tackle life’s essential questions from different angles” and that this “should be television’s role”.

Here’s a brief overview of some of this year’s projects:

Buffalo Johansson - Lars Damoiseaux (Belgium)
Production: David Vermander (Cartouche)
The tagline for Buffalo Johansson is “History is written by the winners”. The project is a ten-part, 25-minute animated series that blends sci-fi adventure and dark comedy to satirise myth-making and media manipulation, following a wildly popular yet inept treasure hunter and the team propping up his façade. Describing the project, Belgian producer La Damoiseaux called it “Rick and Morty making love with South Park”. With regard to the visual style, the director described it as “pop culture meets street art and the graphic novel”. The aim, say the creators, is not to shock but to deliver a comedy that’s “as smart as it is mischievous”.

Cockpit - Jay Riedl (Australia/France)
Production: Marion Cécinas (Station Fiction)
According to Australian creator Jay Riedl, pilots in Australia are like gods, given how much people fly in Oceania. Cockpit is an eight-episode, 60-minute drama set in the world of commercial aviation. After an emergency landing, a troubled pilot is turned into a media hero to save a merger between an Australian and a French airline. The project sprang from the question, “In a world where weakness isn’t tolerated, is it better to win by lying or to lose by telling the truth?” Exploring the cost of appearances and the mutual blackmail between its protagonists, the series is seeking Australian co-producers and European distributors. Script and pitch deck are available.

Connection Lost - Maja Costa (Germany/Italy)
Production: Melina Voss (Unframed Productions, Titanus Production, UFA Fiction)
In the 1960s, Lia Stein, a young mathematician, discovers she is Adriano Olivetti’s daughter and moves to Ivrea to get to know him. She infiltrates the secret lab developing the first personal computer, finding herself at the heart of family intrigue and the Cold War. After her father’s mysterious death and the disappearance of the project lead, Lia inherits not only a groundbreaking invention but also the enemies determined to destroy Olivetti’s humanist legacy. A historical family drama with thriller elements, the series follows her struggle to assert herself in a man’s world and reclaim the future that was stolen from her, showing how technology has a profoundly human heart. Its Piedmont setting underscores how TorinoFilmLab keeps an eye on its home turf.

Merkin - Mia Nikoloska (North Macedonia/United Kingdom)
Production: Sofia Rimskaya
In 1861, young Theodore Paine inherits the unusual business of making pubic wigs (merkin) from his father. Torn between the urges of puberty and the pressure to save the family firm from bankruptcy, Theodore convinces himself he must find a wife to produce an heir to the business. His traditional worldview is upended when he meets Josephine Lemon, an upper-class feminist fighting for sexual emancipation. Set in a Dickensian era and seeking producers and streamers, the creators promise something “dirty, filthy and with just the right dose of repressed sexual tension”.

Spring - Leonardo Guerra Seràgnoli (director and co-writer), Francesca Nozzolillo (writer) and Mattia Caprilli (writer) (Italy)
Production: Santiago Fondevila Sancet (Cinedora)
Producer Santiago Fondevila Sancet (Vermiglio [+lee también:
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The Tulip Era - Alexandra Burke (director) and Ari Ercivan (writer) (Australia/Turkey)
Production: Alexandra Burke (Midnight)
The Tulip Era is a melodrama tinged with comedy which follows Aylin, a young Turkish producer determined to save her faltering Ottoman soap. She makes the bold move of hiring Suzie, an unpredictable Korean star, to boost the ratings. The series becomes a battleground between Aylin and her producer father who’s looking to sink the show, while on set cultural clashes erupt between fading stars and new ambitions. This underdog story brightly explores the tensions between tradition and innovation, where personal struggles mirror those of a ruthless TV industry. Inspired by Ted Lasso and Glow, The Tulip Era aims to be one of viewers’ guilty pleasures.