Lille Dialogues Speakers Announced by Series Mania
By John Hopewell
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Margrethe Vestager, European Commission EVP for a Europe fit for the Digital Age, will open Series Mania’s Lille Dialogues, a one-day summit which this year debates regulation and commercial practice in a streaming platform age.
Keynotes on the need – or not – for regulatory change will be delivered by Fremantle COO Andrea Scrosati and Giorgio Stock, president, WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks, distribution and advertising sales, EMEA and APAC.
Grabbing another industry bull by the horns, Delphine Ernotte-Cunci, CEO, France Télévisions, and Gilles Pélisson, CEO, France’s TF1 Group, will discuss TV channels’ entering the streaming era and how best to remain competitive and attract high-end projects.
They will be joined on a panel by Nicolas de Tavernost, chairman of the executive board and CEO at France’s M6 Group; Ulrich Wilhelm, CEO of German public broadcaster ARD; and Christoph Mainusch, co-CEO of the Czech Republic’s CME.
The risks and opportunities for the circulation of European works online will be discussed at another session by Netflix’s Madeleine de Cock Buning, VP, public policy EMEA, Jan Mojto, CEO, Beta Film, Lucia Recalde, head of unit, European Commission, as well as Justine Ryst, executive director, YouTube, France and Alan Sim, a Finnish producer.
French Minister of Culture Franck Riester will close the Dialogues.
Now in their third year, the Lille Dialogues, which take place on March 26, join together major political decision makers and leading industry executives for a day of reflection, announcements, and debates.
2019’s inaugural edition, for instance, saw Reed Hastings, Netflix chairman-CEO, reach out to both the Cannes Festival and European Commission, signaling that Netflix would accept local regulation in the E.U. and may have committed “errors” in its stance on the Cannes Festival. At the same edition, Ernotte-Cunci talked an audience through the logic of the Alliance, announced the same day at , which joined France Télévisions, ZDF and RAI in a production partnership to scale up on high-end drama series creation as an alternative to U.S. streamer output.
“Our global and changing TV world needs an informal summit to discuss future business trends and antagonist positions. These dialogues can help to bridge the differences for a better mutual understanding,” commented Laurence Herszberg, Series Mania founder and general director.
She added: “We are delighted to be welcoming this esteemed group of individuals to Lille and look forward to a stimulating day of dialogue and debate.”
A creation of Series Mania president Rodolphe Belmer and Herszberg, the Lille Dialogues 2020 sessions also take in a panel asking if series can save democracy and debate the impact of Brexit, climate change and improving gender balance and inclusiveness in TV series.
