Two co-productions involving Asia are among the 15 projects that will compete in this year’s €50,000/US$52,300 co-production pitching competition at Series Mania in March. 

The 15 projects were selected from 406 applications from 72 countries. New territories this year were New Zealand, the Philippines, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Uganda and Eswatini. 

Announcing the final project list, Series Mania Forum director, Francesco Capurro, said co-financing in the “Post Peak-TV era” was more crucial than ever. 

“It’s the key to securing higher budgets, boosting sales, and staying competitive on the global stage,” he said, outlining themes ranging from racing pigeons, insects, an unorthodox chaplain, and a revolutionary knitting collective to more traditional subjects such as abductions, murders and troubled pasts. 

One of the two projects involving Asia is crime comedy, "Nest", an eight-episode U.K/Belgium/Taiwan series produced by David Vermander (Cartouche), Anouk Mertens (Neo Studios) and James Chia-Hao (Reel Asia Pictures). 

The second project is French/Japanese romcom, "Tokyo Crush", produced by Jonas Ben Haiem and Jean-Félix Dealberto for Salle Commune, and Hiroko Oda for Flag Inc.