MIPTV and Canneseries have opened a worldwide search for the next big global drama hit, selected by a jury of industry experts. ‘In Development’ is a two-day event dedicated to fast-tracking drama series’ productions at an international level. It will be held from April 10-11, 2018 alongside MIPTV and Canneseries. Canneseries is the new television festival set to launch alongside MIPTV.

After a first round by a pre-selection committee, an international jury of drama experts will select the 10 projects that will be pitched on stage. The deadline for project submissions is 8 January 2018, and the selected projects will be announced by the end of February.

On the sidelines of DIFF 2017, BroadcastPro ME met with Ted Baracos, Director of Market Development at Reed MIDEM, organiser of MIPTV and MIPCOM – the entertainment content markets held every six months in Cannes, France.

Looking forward to entries from the MENA region, Baracos said: “This competition is notably around fiction. And this has been born out of the fact that audiences love drama series and fiction. It is very much a new art form and popular for ratings. The city of Cannes proposed the Canneseries. The added value  is that our regular buyers get to look at globally curated content.  At the same time the public can go to the theatres and view the best of drama series from around the world.”

The event will aim at screening new half-hour and one-hour series from all around the world, preferably world premieres, and will only consider first seasons of shows.