The inaugural edition of the Seriesly Berlin festival (16-18 September) has concluded on a high note with the German premiere of the Spanish drama series Dressed in Blue. Over the course of two days, more than 300 international TV industry professionals gathered at Berlin's Fotografiska venue under the theme “Let’s Talk Seriesly!” to participate in a variety of panels, workshops, talks and master classes as part of the Seriesly Berlin Conference.

Among the festival’s highlights was the Seriesly Pitches competition, where ten international series projects vied for a €2,500 prize (see the news). Additionally, the Seriesly Berlin Screenings showcased six new international shows, premiering ahead of their German television or streaming debuts. Notably, the screenings kicked off with Der Upir, Germany’s first vampire comedy, starring well-known actors Fahri Yardim and Rocko Schamoni, in the packed Hackesche Höfe cinema.

Eike Faecks, co-founder and director of the festival, mentioned: “We are delighted with the successful first edition of Seriesly Berlin. The combination of conferences at Fotografiska and cinema screenings was very well received. Our visitors took advantage of the numerous opportunities for fruitful exchange and discussion, even despite a compact programme. We would like to thank all speakers, talents, guests, participants and our team. We already have numerous ideas for the further development of the format and ‘season 2’ in 2025!”

The Seriesly Berlin team is now actively inviting further dialogue with creatives and industry professionals to shape the festival’s future. This move aligns with a key takeaway from the panel “Breaking the Cycle: Innovating Conference Programming”, which stressed the importance of ongoing, direct contact with stakeholders for driving innovation and adding value to the industry.

Helge Jürgens, managing director of New Media Funding at Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, praised the festival’s debut. “By supporting the festival, we wanted to establish a new, attractive event for the national and international industry to exchange creative ideas. With panels on genre as a Trojan Horse, the overlaps between gaming and social media, the position of female characters, the programming prospects of Prime Video, and personal rights, the programme provided a good overview, and you could tell that everyone shared a passion for serial storytelling. Thanks to the Seriesly team for their commitment – we are looking forward to the next edition!”

In the Seriesly Pitches competition, the science-fiction mystery series Existence (Austria/Germany), created by Michael Griessler, won the top prize. The jury, composed of industry experts including Josie Cyrus from The Ink Factory, Isaure Pisani-Ferry and producer Solmaz Azizi, lauded the project for its ambition and imaginative scope. “We hope that by rewarding this project, we will encourage the writer to dare to feed his imaginative world directly with his very own pains, joys and hopes,” the jury commented. Additionally, the social drama-thriller Medium (Germany) by Emre Mirza received a Special Mention for its exploration of community and the deep, complicated fears facing the world today.

The conference featured an extended line-up of speakers, including Emmy-winning producer Jenji Kohan (Orange Is the New Black, Weeds); creative consultant Tatjana Samopjan, who delivered the opening keynote titled “Real Imagination”; and Emmy-nominated Spanish writer Alvaro Carmona (Show Yourself). The panels explored a wide range of topics, from the representation of women in TV series to the integration of gaming and social media in modern storytelling.

Other notable speakers included Christian Beetz (Beetz Brothers Film Production), Francesco Capurro (Series Mania Forum), TikTok influencer Theo Carow, Mel Eslyn (Duplass Brothers Productions) and Christoph Schneider (Prime Video), among others. The event was hosted by Yolanda Rother (The Impact Company) and Ukrainian stand-up comedian Pavlo Voytovych.

Seriesly Berlin is funded by the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and won the sponsorship prize in the “innovative event formats” competition of “Project Future”, run by Berlin’s Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises.