How you please introduce the project "Balkan Series"?

Series Balkans birth is based on four observations and assumptions : 

1. The market supremacy of series coming from north-american, south-american and asian continents and and north & western european countries...
2. The insufficient presence of Balkans series production in the international forums, markets and meetings.
3. The need to organise and coordinate the private and institutional national and regional efforts to push forward and promote all series productions, tv, web and new medias, produced in the Balkans area. 
4. The growing number and the emergence of  new creative teams of talented series tv showrunners, scrennwriters and producers from the Balkans.

Thus, it became urgent to set up a strategic « fast-track » project responding promptly and globally to all theses assumptions by launching a large Balkan and european program providing to all Balkans countries the opportunity to organise, structure, coordinate and promote inside and outside Balkans area their own national, regional, local tv productions.

Among the tv formats able to launch this fast track project is, for us the series pilot. Series pilot is, and remains, so far, the very first and «must-to -do» for all series tv channels producers and creators. Series are and have to be based on pilots. Pilots are the essential, indispensable step-phase before taking the decision to write and produce a series. Series Balkans is going to develop four strands : Series Pilots Screenings, Series Pilots Studio , Series Pilots School and Series Pilots Forum.

 Who is involved in the realization of this project?

The  1st TV Web & Mobile Series Balkans Pilots Screenings, in Athens,18-19-20 November 2016 is hosted by Athens design studios of Kassandras (www.kassandras.org) and is supported by the FIPA (Festival International des Programmes Audiovisuels, Biarritz www.fipa.tv) and the on-line information portals Vice Greece (www.vice.com/gr) and Depo.ba (http://depo.ba/depo-tv,

 What is the situation in the Balkans when it comes to this type of production   and whether there is interest among producers, creative artists and authors for this project?

Most people abroad, outside Balkans,  i have to say, sometimes,  rightly ? - because of the recent past dramatic events we all know, Balkans got a synonym for atomization, burst, breakup and separatism. It is, strangely, somehow the first impression someone gets when he is searching to identify series production facts, figures and persons. That sounds amazing but the only global online tool to get some update informations about a Balkan series tv production remains the IMDB american portal ! There is of course number of european portals and on line sources specialised in movie and audiovisual productions informations on but nothing relevant, systematic and update to tv series current and past production. So, when the Balkan originated producers, directors, screenwriters got aware of our project they expressed immediately their enthousiasm and their will to help and support us in our efforts...

What is today, according to you, happens to feature TV production in the world and what the impact has new digital platforms and the opportunities they offer?

It's certain that from now on, no one, among tv writers, directors, producers, channels can ignore the importance of all these new channels of digital making and brodcasting tv contents. And nobody can do his job, in the very close future, without thinking in a radical different way. Video and streaming platforms modified our way of following series and television, in general. People don't need any more enormous huge screens to follow tv show.Young spectators prefer following their series idols, stories and gimmicks on the smart phones. Series is part of their daily-image life, as TV was their parent's generation common support and language. New online medias modified deeply our daily life and tv which was in a large scale part of that life. Smartphone screens and tablets replace or still will coexist with old tv screens till nex media revolution; But storytelling, which is the foundation of series is going to remain for ever, till the next media revolution.. 

Also i 'd like to say something on the difference about movies and series because a lot of people think that its exactly the same thing...You know, it's not enough to pretend that you can write a good series if you are a good screen writer or a good movie director or producer .  Series is not exactly a movie. Some people say that series have nothing to do with movies. The truth is that series is  a « genre à part » . For whom wants to see some basic differences between movies and series, we could propose to show him two pictures, the first one representing  a Series Writer's Room and the second one the office of a solitary movie screen writer... 

You can tell us more about the partnership with DEPO Zona. How and why it came about?

When I discovered «Dobrodosli u Orient Express» on lone without speaking nor understanding a word of your language i felt that i had to deal with a production of an unidentified format. After i had a longue on line call and chat conversation with Jasmin Durakovic by Viber and Linlkedin I realised that Depo Zona TV was playing the role of a  tv channel, a broadcaster and a social mediator by combining all writing, producing and broadcasting codes and tricks that someone can find in both smedias old television and new plateform channels. There are some examples of successful web series bought by tv channels in order to adapt them to their normative series formats of duration and dramaturgy but no examples like Depo Zona TV producing a series like if it was a real classical tv channel. «Dobrodosli u Orient Express» opens new paths of creation and distribution. Digital tv future is multiscreen, or not ! Considering that, It got easy and natural for Series Balkans to propose Depo Zona Tv to be his on line partner in Balkans area and accept  hosting the 1st pilot series competition on line in the frame of our Screenings.  

BIOGRAPHY

Constantin Deliyannis is Born in syros, Cyclades, Greece. Law studies in Athens University. Cinema, audiovisual, literature and Balkans civilization studies in Paris 8, Paris 3, INALCO, EHESS. Free-lance journalist in french, greek, european medias, newspapers, magazines, public and private radios and tv stations.  Experienced digital project manager and counselor in several design and web agencies, cultural institutions, on line plateforms. Teacher and writer of several methods of learning greek for french speaking people. New media expert. Director of conceptaminima (new media productions) and founder of Series Balkans Pilots Project.

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