Paris, France– For the 2017 edition which has now expanded from three to four days and has become the springboard for the series, the Co-Production Forum, the industry arm of the Series Mania Festival, has received over 300 projects from 39 different countries as submissions for this year’s event which will take place April 18th-21st in Paris.

As such, it was announced by Laurence Herszberg, general director of Forum des Images and founder of Series Mania, that 16 projects have been chosen for its Co-Pro Pitching Sessions with the goal of helping these high-end European drama projects find appropriate financial partners, mainly through co­production deals or presale agreements. The four-day Forum also includes a rich program of conferences, presentations, panels, and top-rate networking.

In addition, Herszberg unveiled the names of the five leading industry executives who will serve as this year’s jury for the Co-Production Forum and will have the distinct honor of presenting the producer of the Best Project with a grant of €50,000 to help finance its development as previously announced.  The members include, jury 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.