In a move to boost series from the Baltics and their ties to Europe’s market, the Series Mania Institute has launched Serial Bridges Baltics, a new workshop for Baltic screenwriters and series producers, staged in partnership with the Institute Français and Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event.
The inaugural session, due to roll out Nov. 13-17 at Tallinn’s TV Beat Forum, will reunite six writer/producer duos, including some of the Baltics’ hottest names in serialised drama: Estonia’s Raoul Suvi, writer of the Berlinale Series Market 2025 title “My Dear Mother” and the acclaimed “Traitor,” Latvia’s wrier/director Juris Kursietis (“Soviet Jeans”, “The Exhalted,” “Oleg”), as well as Lithuania’s actor/writer/producer Gabija Siurbytė (“Troll Farm”).
“We are delighted to be organising such a workshop in Estonia for all Baltic talent,” said Pierre Ziemniak, director of programs at the Series Mania Institute who oversees other international workshops under the ‘Serial Bridges’ banner. “Despite tighter budgets than in Western Europe, Baltic series are increasingly recognized and appreciated by the international market, as exemplified by “Soviet Jeans” from Latvia, which was presented at Series Mania in 2024. This is a dynamic that we want to support,” he said.
“Building this bridge between TV Beats and Series Mania Institute was a quick but smooth and exciting process,” added Petri Kemppinen, co-head of TV Beats Forum who also welcomed the chance for Baltic series creators to be recognized internationally. “I am convinced that the workshop format, bringing together several experienced experts and including a final pitch in front of professionals, will help develop new skills and open doors for future co-productions.”
Mentors assigned to the Baltics duos take in Hungarian writer/producer Gabor Krigler, former HBO Europe creative executive, and Finnish writer Jemina Jokisalo (“Money Shot”). Further expertise will come from Emmanuelle Guilbart, About Premium Content co-CEO, as well as Emmanuel Eckert, former deputy director of acquisitions, Mediawan Rights, and French-Swedish producer Patrick Nebout (“Whiskey on the Rocks”).
Speaking to Variety about the first batch of Serial Bridges Baltics projects, Ziemniak said: “We were pleasantly surprised by the diversity of the projects submitted, particularly in terms of series genres. While thrillers and dramas reflecting the geopolitical situation are well represented, we also had the pleasure of reading comedies, fantasy stories and horror stories.”
He added: “Several submissions showed a certain ingenuity in seeking to connect local stories with the international market by targeting the right partners, which is entirely in line with the spirit of Serial Bridges: building bridges while respecting local DNA, overcoming the constraints of local markets with limited funding, by partnering with other European companies and aiming for universality while remaining faithful to cultural specificities.”
On the closing day of the workshop Nov. 17, the Baltic teams will pitch their project to a professional jury and the winning show will get an entry ticket to Series Mania Forum 2026.
Serial Bridges Baltics is backed by the Estonian Ministry of Culture, the Estonian Film Institute, the platform Elisa Eesti in Estonia and Latvian pubcaster LRT.
A fuller rundown of the Serial Bridges Baltics projects:
“Aurora Newsroom,” (“Aurora.Redakcija,” 6X52’, Latvia, Estonia, Finland)
Created by Gints Grūbe
Written by Juris Kursietis, Katri Manninen, Osvalds Zebris, Martin Algus
Directed by Juris Kursietis
Produced by Mistrus Media’s Gints Grūbe, Inese Boka-Grūbe, Elīna Gediņa-Ducena, with partners Riina Sildos from Estonia and Petri Kemppinen from Finland
Contemporary spy thriller from “Soviet Jeans”’ co-helmer Juris Kursietis, who shares the writers’ room with co-national Osvalds Zebris, Finland’s Katri Manninen (“Shadow Lines”) and Estonia’s Martin Algus (“Traitor,” “Kalev”). Journalist Guna Vilka who goes by the undercover name of “Lynx” and works for the media outlet “Aurora,” investigates an explosion at a newly opened wind farm in Latvia, where an Estonian teenager from a nearby youth camp has died. Grūbe says the show “explores the behind-the-scenes world of politics, intelligence services, and media in the context of today’s hybrid warfare, highlighting processes that can be influenced at the political level.”
“Codename: Lighthouse,” (“Salasõna: Majakas,” 6X42’, Estonia)
Created by Tomas Ili
Written by Raoul Suvi
Produced by Jaan Laugamõts for Downtown Pictures
Latest TV effort from the creators of the smash hit “Traitor” (“Reetur”), best series at Serial Killer and Estonia’s EFTA awards. “The fall of the Soviet Union is a well-known landmark period in European history, still covered with many secrets and mystery. If you add a nuclear device briefcase to it, an entertaining roller-coaster is guaranteed,” says producer Jaan Laugamõts who will also showcase in Tallinn the completed drama series “In Darkness” by Ove Musting.
“Midnight Stories,” (“Šiurpnakčio istorijos,” 8X25’, Lithuania)
Created and written by Gabija Siurbytė, Ernestas Jankauskas
Directed by Ernestas Jankauskas
Produced by Viktorija Rimkutė and Gabija Siurbytė for Dansu Films
Dansu Films co-founder, actor-showrunner Gabija Siurbytė, co-producer of Netflix’s “Clark” and TV4 Sweden’s “We Come in Peace,” has teamed up again with “Troll Farm” helmer Ernestas Jankauskas on a young adult-oriented thriller about a seemingly idyllic youth scout farm hiding a dark underbelly. “Midnight Stories” offers a rare blend of psychological horror and Lithuanian folklore, creating a fresh and cinematic anthology for a teenage audience,” says Viktorija Rimkutė.
“Shadows of the Swamp,” (6X52’, Latvia)
Created and written by Raitis Abele, Zanda Zeidaka from a story by Guntis Tālers
Directed by Lauris Abele, Raitis Abele
Produced by Raitis Abele, Sebastian Weyland for Tritone Studio
Crime and supernatural drama from hot up-and-coming Abele brothers, behind this year’s Latvian entry in the international Oscar race, the animated “Dog of God.”
“In a misty Baltic village every year people vanish into the swamp ― fishermen, hikers, even a millionaire. A detective and a psychic uncover a WWII Nazi atrocity, where meth-fueled soldiers massacred locals. Villagers hide dark secrets and something ancient and unseen still pulls the living into the bog,” runs the logline. “Balancing crime investigation with supernatural myth, [the show] lives precisely in a tension between the rational and the uncanny; that’s exactly what a week spent in the Baltics’ winter swampy forests feels like,” quips Raitis Abele.
“The Outskirts,” (“Nomale,” 8×50’, Latvia)
Created by Lelde and Vlads Kovalovi
Written, directed by Vlads Kovalovs
Produced by Lelde Kovalova
Thriller, mystery drama in which a family holidaying in a seemingly perfect remote woodland hotel, soon realises that no one ever checks out, except those willing to cross a deadly moral line. The series is “inspired by my favorite series “Squid Game,” “Lost,” and “White Lotus,” “The Outskirts” fuses survival drama with psychological and moral depth,” says Kovalova, co-creator of the recent Latvian hit detective show “The Uninvited Guests.” “Beyond the mystery, [the show] explores the illusion of freedom and what remains of humanity when all modern certainties vanish.”
“Therapies,” (“Terapijos,” 7X30’, Lithuania)
Created and written by Birutė Kapustinskaitė
Directed by Kapustinskaitė, Marija Kavtaradzė, Eglė Vertelytė
Produced by Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė for Just a Moment
Drama about a sharp-tongued professor who checks into a remote hospital, expecting peace and privacy during chemo. But she ends up in a six-bed cancer ward full of loud women, including an old colleague. Bravely addressing cancer, the show doesn’t avoid the pain but actually brings it closer through “a combination of warm humor and irony,” says Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė.
Leave a Reply