PARIS, FRANCE – April 20, 2017 – Ms. Laurence Herszberg, general director of Forum des Images and founder of Series Mania, announced this evening that of the 16 projects selected and pitched for this year’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions, part of the Co-Production Forum, the industry arm of the Series Mania Festival, the five-member jury team selected the Israël/France submission of the drama series Fertile Crescent as winner of the Series Mania Project Award. The jury, including president Francesca Orsi, co-head of drama, HBO; Thomas Bourguignon, producer, KWAI; Piv Bernth, head of drama, DR; Henrik Pabst, managing director, Red Arrow International; and Pilar Perez Roel, head of acquisitions, DCD Rights, had the distinct honor of presenting the team from Fertile Crescent, including Maria Feldman (Masha Productions), Eitan Mansuri (Spiro Films), Caroline Benjo, Carole Scotta and Simon Arnal (Haut et Court TV) with a check for €50,000 to help finance its development. This marks the first year that a monetary prize has been given to the winners.
“We were thrilled by the quality of projects this year and the intensity of the meetings between the producers, broadcasters, sales agents and project holders. Never have we reached such a high level of networking amongst the key television industry decision- makers,” commented Ms. Herszberg. “I am proud to congratulate the team from Fertile Crescent for this tremendous honor. With the prize of €50,000, Series Mania is reinforcing our goal of giving a significant financial boost to the development of the winning project.”
“It’s timely political conversation and emotionally daring and unique narrative makes Fertile Crescent a very exciting winner this year. I know I speak for the whole jury in saying we are greatly looking forward to seeing this globally important series come to life,” stated Ms. Orsi.
About Fertile Crescent
Genre Drama/ Action/ Thriller
Original scriptFormat 8×52’
Producer(s) Maria Feldman (Masha Productions), Eitan Mansuri (Spiro Films), Caroline Benjo, Carole Scotta and Simon Arnal (Haut et Court TV)
Writer(s) Maria Feldman and Karine Tuil, based on an original idea by Maria Feldman and Eitan Mansuri
Development stage Treatment
Shooting dates 2018
Shooting locations Israël, France
Antoine’s sister Nathalie has been declared dead for several years after a suicide bombing in Jerusalem and yet he is convinced she is the woman he saw on TV on a story on Female Kurdish Fighters. Despite his family’s protests, he will travel in search of his sister to the Fertile Crescent, a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, where Female Kurdish Fighters are currently fighting the deadliest terrorist organization in the world and where chaos brought by the Syrian war is reshaping the whole world.
About The Producers
Masha Productions was founded in Tel Aviv by Maria Feldman in 2016. The company is currently producing the second season of the acclaimed series False Flag co-created by Maria, and a new TV series, Absentia, currently in post- production, for Sony Pictures Television Networks.
Spiro Films was created in 2013by Eitan Mansuri. Spiro is one of the fastest growing production companies in Israel, developing, producing and co-producing films in collaboration with emerging Israeli writers and directors as well as established leading directors.
Haut et Court TV produced critically acclaimed series’: The Returned for Canal + (season 1 & 2) (8x52’) (winner of the International Emmy Awards for Best TV Series), Last Panthers nominated for Best Drama Series BAFTA Awards, in co- production with Warp Films, for Canal + and Sky Atlantic and co- produced The Young Pope by Paolo Sorrentino with Wildside for Sky, Canal + and HBO.
For more information about the Co-Production Forum, please go to:
