Press

THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN MIDPOINT TV LAUNCH AND HBO EUROPE RESULTED IN A HBO EUROPE AWARD AT THE FINAL WORKSHOP OF THE 2016 PROGRAM, GRANTED FOR THE FIRST TIME. MIDPOINT TV LAUNCH IS DEDICATED TO DEVELOPMENT OF CONTENT-RICH COMPELLING AND INNOVATIVE STORIES. THE WINNING PROJECT IS THE GERMAN-BULGARIAN PROJECT HAUSEN, WRITTEN BY TILL KLEINERT.

The projects from the 2016 edition were first developed at the Workshop 1 in during April 15 – 21, 2016, within the framework of the Finále Plzeň FF in Czech Republic. Three of them were selected to continue with further training at Workshop 2, taking place during November 3 – 10, 2016, in Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia.

“HBO Europe is proud to be associated with the MIDPOINT program and its commitment to nurturing new talent in the fast developing and exciting arena of European TV series. As we had expected the standard was extremely high, and selecting a winner was a very difficult decision,” Tereza Polachová, the producer of HBO Europe and Steve Matthews, the executive producer of HBO Europe Drama Development say.

HBO Europe, however, decided to grant the award for Best Television Project to Hausen, written by Till Kleinert (Germany) and produced by Anna Stoeva (Bulgaria), as “Hausen stood out for its strong and coherent ongoing series concept; its highly imaginative use of genre dealing with very real and current social issues of disenfranchisement and alienation in today’s Europe filtered through the metaphor of modern urban horror fables; its excellent high quality atmospheric writing fueled by a very personal vision.”

Hausen tells the story of a recently widowed father who takes up the long-vacant position as building manager in a rundown housing complex. Soon after moving in, his teenage son Juri starts to sense something vicious permeating their new home: a sinister force that has taken possession of the decrepit panel walls, secretly feeding on the spirits of the block's inhabitants. To fight it, Juri needs to initiate a revolt against the house itself – even if that means confronting the stoic regime of his father, who has already fallen deep under the building's corrosive spell.

MIDPOINT TV Launch was also hosting its first workshop of the 2017 edition simultaneously at the same venue (November 4 – 10, 2016). The 2017 projects will continue with their development at Workshop 2 (April 2017, Finále Plzeň FF, Czech Republic) and Workshop 3 (August 2017, Sarajevo FF, Bosnia and Herzegovina).

MIDPOINT TV Launch is supported by the Creative Europe MEDIA program, Ministry of Culture of Czech Republic, Czech State Cinematography Fund, Slovak Audiovisual Fund and International Visegrad Fund.

MIDPOINT TV LAUNCH 2016 (WORKSHOP 2) PROJECTS

/ 1989 / Slovakia – Poland
/ For the Love of Prague / Czech Republic
/ Hausen / Germany – Bulgaria

MIDPOINT TV LAUNCH 2017 PROJECTS

/ 10 Bullets / Greece
/ American Dream / Slovakia
/ Fractures / Iceland
/ Gamblers / Czech Republic
/ Nuts / Croatia
/ The Midnight Shift / Cyprus
/ THE TRIBE / Poland

MIDPOINT TV LAUNCH 2016 AND 2017 TUTORS

/ Alan Kingsberg / Head of Studies – Core Tutor
/ Rumle Hammerich / Core Tutor
/ Yvonne Grace / Core Tutor
/ Ben Harris / Guest Tutor
/ Michael Sardo / Guest Tutor
/ Steve Matthews / Guest Tutor

photo: MIDPOINT TV LAUNCH 2016 - HBO Europe Award, from left: Anna Stoeva, producer / Till Kleinert, writer / Steve Matthews, HBO EuropePhoto: Source & Copyright: MIDPOINT

source: FILM NEW EUROPE