Julia Schulte: "Our genre shows are particularly attracting buyers"

France tv distribution attended Series Mania with two new series: "Annwyn – The Otherworld", produced by Tetra Media Fiction and season 4 of "Parliament", produced by Cinétévé. "'Annwyn' joins our line-up of event series with genre elements that have a high potential in the market as they have the power to attract wide audiences, especially on the digital platforms - as happened with our sci-fi series 'Sea Shadows' earlier this year," said Julia Schulte, SVP of International Sales at France tv distribution. On the other hand, "Parliament" season 4 "proves the potential of this political European comedy," she added.

France tv distribution also introduced a new drama series, still in production, during the Coming Next From France, like the dynamic "Kitchen Hustle", the first series by renowned film producer Charles Gilibert, takes viewers into the ruthless world of French gastronomy and tells the story of three young protagonists who try to revolutionize the world of restaurants in Paris.

For the Schulte, Series Mania has become one of the most important events of the year, especially since MIP TV in Cannes was cancelled. "A lot of our European partners are coming to Lille, the meetings are focused on both content and business and the festival allows us to highlight our new series towards the press as well. So it is a very dense and efficient event for us," she stated.

BUYERS' INTEREST
Schulte asserted that France tv distribution genre shows like "Annwyn" are particularly attracting buyers for their potential, also in terms of marketing. "We also present new light crime shows like 'Curious By Nature', 'High Season' and the new season of 'Bright Minds' that continue to generate strong interest in the global tv landscapes. And of course, landmark series like our 'Zorro' starring Jean Dujardin, which has the potential to travel worldwide," she mentioned.

On the other note, she addressed the main challenges distributors are facing and underlined that the big challenge remains the right coordination between linear and nonlinear partners and rights. "We all have to adapt to the streaming market that evolves quickly and to follow the needs of our more steady linear partners at the same time. It becomes also more complicated to push younger, art house programs to the market, which seems to be leaning more towards mainstream content today."