Portuguese TV Forum ONSeries Lisboa Launched by Conecta Fiction Producers
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Inside Content, the company responsible for the organization of Spain’s Conecta Fiction TV meet and marketplace, will host its first edition of ONSeries Lisboa, a Portugal-based showcase for TV series to find international buyers, sales agents and exhibitors.
ONSeries Lisboa will run April 28-29 at the Belém Cultural Center in the Portuguese capital city. Additionally, projects currently in development will be offered opportunities to seek out funding from international partners.
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While attendance will be open to major industry players from around the world, the two-day even will offer a platform for showcasing local talent while promoting Portuguese facilities and shooting locations.
It will also be an opportunity for Portuguese producers to interact with their international counterparts and learn ways that others are staying competitive in the current content market, while seeking out new business opportunities and collaborators.
“This is an excellent opportunity for the Portuguese companies and creators to show the potential of our creativity and diversity to a highly-qualified and relevant audience for the future of our audiovisual industry,” said Luis Chaby Vaz, president of the Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual (ICA) in a statement.
He added: “This is the reason why the ICA, together with the Portugal Film Commission, are associated with this event, proceeding with the Portuguese cinema and audiovisual internationalization plan, which has been implemented with good results.”
Financed in part by the Portuguese Government through the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Lisbon, OnSeries Lisboa will receive additional support from a slew of institutions, suggesting a consensus that such an event is needed.
Backers include Independent TV Producers Association (APIT), Copyright Collective Management and Cinematographic and Audiovisual Producers Association (GEDIPE), Belém Cultural Centre Foundation (CCB), the Portugal Film Commission, Lisboa Film Commission, the Institute for Cinema and Audiovisual (ICA) and public broadcaster RTP.
“We believe it’s a great initiative, at the right moment, in the right place, in the right industry,” said Gonçalo Reis, president of RTP.
He went on to say that audiovisual production in Portugal, especially fiction, is building strongly with increasing quality level and diverse and interesting slates.
“With a growing global ambition, RTP has led several international co-productions and we will keep investing in this fashion,” Reis said. “In this context, an event such as ONSeries can be an excellent example of the national creative capacity and an opportunity for the development of international partnerships.”
Conecta Fiction, Inside Content’s Spain-based counterpart to ONSeries Lisboa, is a Europe-Latin American co-production forum which is Spain’s biggest TV industry event, which will take place for the second year running in Pamplona, capital of the northern Spanish region of Navarre, June 22-25. Launched in 2017, in Galicia at the time, the event has become one of the year’s most important get-togethers for the Spanish TV industry.
Géraldine Gonard, director of ONSeries Lisboa and Conecta Fiction explained: “We want to connect key industry decision makers directly with the incredible resources of Portugal. This showcase plays a vital role in making Portugal a viable option for many actors in the international industry.”
She added: “ONSeries Lisboa will promote the facilities and versatility of Portugal and its professionals by showing what they are capable of doing and the richness and variety of the physical environment. We think it is the best way to see the viability of a co-production and of course, this will attract foreign investment to the country.
Gonard noted the cultural link between Portugal and Navarre. “As organizers of Conecta Fiction, we will generate a fast physical link between the producers of Portugal and Navarre. Both parties feel that it is the right time to put together the first project exchange program between them.”
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