Female producers from Ireland, Romania, Spain, Bulgaria, Germany and Ukraine were the winners of the first-ever series competition with results provided by Netflix and European Producers Club (EPC) Friday.
The pitch competition, run by EPC and Netflix with support from the Netflix Creative Equity Fund, aims to create new opportunities for underrepresented communities in the entertainment industry.
1st prize with $50,000 (€50, 000), went to Anna Mannion, a producer at Tri Moon Films in Ireland. The second prize and funding of $20, were awarded to Ada Solomon of Microfilm, Romania. Netflix and EPC also selected four third-place winners: Mariela Besuievsky of Tornasol Media, Spain, Martichka Bozhilova of Agitprop, Bulgaria, Gabriele M. Walther of German production company Caligari, and Olena Yershova of Ukrainian/Turkish company Tato Film. All four will receive $5, 000 to help them develop their idea into a series.
“In the framework of the publication of the EPC Gender Charter, we have established this programme exclusively for female producers through Netflix’s Creative Equity Fund,” said Gudny Hummelvoll, President of the European Producers Club. “In general, female producers are more scarce. We see a need to open up new opportunities and improve their access to the market. We are delighted that the result of the programme has allowed producers from Romania and many countries, including Bulgaria, Ireland, Germany and Spain. Female producers get a lot of visibility.”
Netflix and EPC launched a series campaign at Series Mania in March. The competition is open to EPC producers working for women-owned companies. Following a selection process by an independent jury consisting of Cia Edstrom, Francine Raveney and Olivier Kohn, the finalists of the competition gathered at Netflix’s European headquarters in Amsterdam to pitch their projects to Netflix’s content team.
“Congratulations to the winners!” said Chris Mack, Director of Netflix Grow Creative. “It’s great to see the advocacy of female producers from all over Europe, and it’s a pleasure to work with the European Producers Club to empower women. We know how important what’s behind the camera is to what’s on-screen, that’s why we support things like Netflix such initiatives as the Creative Equity Fund.”
