In an effort to foster connections between Baltic series and the European market, the Series Mania Institute launched Serial Bridge Baltics, a new workshop for Baltic scriptwriters and series producers, held in partnership with Institut Français and Industrie@Tallinn & Baltic Events.
The first session, scheduled to be held from November 13th to 17th at the TV Beat Forum in Tallinn, will reunite six writer/producer duos, including some of the Baltic states’ hottest names in drama serials. They include Estonia’s Raul Svi, screenwriter of the Berlinale Series Market 2025 title My Dear Mother, and the acclaimed Traitor, as well as Latvian writer and director Julis Krsietis (Soviet). Jeans’, ‘The Exhalted’, ‘Oleg’) and Lithuanian actor/writer/producer Gabija Siurvite (‘Troll Farm’).
“We are happy to be able to organize such a workshop in Estonia for all Baltic talents,” said Pierre Ziemniak, program director of the Series Mania Institute, which oversees other international workshops under the banner “Serial Bridges”. “Despite tighter budgets than in Western Europe, the Baltic series is increasingly recognized and appreciated in the international market, as exemplified by the Latvian “Soviet Jeans” presented at Seriesmania 2024. This is a dynamic we want to support. ” he said.
“Building the bridge between TV Beats and Series Mania Institute has been a quick, but smooth and exciting process,” added Petri Kempinen, co-chair of the TV Beats Forum, who welcomed the chance for the creators of the Baltic series to be internationally recognized. “We believe that the workshop format, which brings together several experienced professionals and includes a final pitch in front of experts, will help develop new skills and open the door to future collaborations.”
Mentors assigned to the Baltic duo will include Hungarian writer and producer Gabor Krigler, a former HBO Europe creative executive, and Finnish writer Gemina Jokisalo (“Moneyshot”). Additional expertise will be provided by About Premium Content Co-CEO Emmanuel Guilbard, former Media One Rights Vice President of Acquisitions Emmanuel Eckert, and French-Swedish producer Patrick Neve (Whiskey on the Rocks).
Regarding the first batch of Serial Bridges Baltics projects, Ziemniak told Variety: “I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity of projects submitted, especially in terms of series genre. Thrillers and dramas reflecting the geopolitical situation were well represented, while I also enjoyed reading comedies, fantasy novels, and horror novels.”
He added: “Several entries showed ingenuity in connecting local stories to international markets by targeting the right partners. This is perfectly in line with the spirit of Serial Bridges: building bridges while respecting local DNA, overcoming local market constraints with limited funds, partnering with other European companies, and aiming for universality while remaining true to cultural specificity.”
On November 17, the last day of the workshop, Baltic teams will pitch their projects to a professional jury, and the winning show will receive admission to the Series Mania Forum 2026.
Serial Bridges Baltics is supported by the Estonian Ministry of Culture, the Estonian Film Institute, the Estonian platform Elisa Eesti and the Latvian pubcaster LRT.
Detailed overview of the Serial Bridges Baltics project:
“Aurora Newsroom” (“Aurora.Redakcija”, 6X52′, Latvia, Estonia, Finland)
Created by Ginz Grube
Written by Julis Crusietis, Katri Manninen, Osvald Zebris, Martin Argus
Directed by Julis Kourshetis
Produced by Gintz Grube, Inese Boka Grube and Elina Gedisha Dussena of Mistrus Media, with partners Leena Schildos of Estonia and Petri Kempinen of Finland.
A modern spy thriller from “Soviet Jeans” co-director Julis Koursietis. He shares a writer’s room with fellow countryman Osvalds Zebris, Finland’s Katri Manninen (“Shadow Line”) and Estonia’s Martin Argus (“Traitor,” “Caleb”). Guna Vilka, a journalist working for the media Aurora under the pseudonym Lynx, is investigating an explosion at a newly opened wind farm in Latvia. There, an Estonian teenager from a nearby youth camp was killed. Grube said the program “explores behind-the-scenes politics, intelligence and media in the context of today’s hybrid warfare and focuses on processes that can be affected at the political level.”
“Codename: Lighthouse” (“Sarasona: Majakas”, 6X42′, Estonia)
Created by Thomas Illi
Written by Raoul Suvi
Produced by Jahn Roigamots of Downtown Pictures
The latest television work from the creators of the blockbuster hit Traitor (Leetur), which won the Serial Killer Award and Best Series at Estonia’s EFTA Awards. “The collapse of the Soviet Union is a well-known and landmark period in European history, but it is still shrouded in many secrets and mysteries. Add to this the nuclear briefcase and it is guaranteed to be an interesting roller coaster,” says producer Jahn Roigamots, who will also screen Ove Masting’s completed drama series In Darkness in Tallinn.
“Midnight Stories” (“Šiurpnakčio istorijos”, 8X25′, Lithuania)
Created and written by: Gabija Siurbytė, Ernestas Jankauskas
Directed by Ernestas Jankauskas
Produced by Viktorija Limkute and Gabiya Siurbite of Dansu Films
Dansu Films co-founder, actor and showrunner Gabija Siurvité, co-producer of Netflix’s Clerks and TV4 Sweden’s We Come in Peace, has re-teamed with Troll Farm director Ernestas Jankauskas to create a young adult thriller about a seemingly idyllic youth scout farm with a dark underbelly. “Midnight Stories” offers an unusual blend of psychological horror and Lithuanian folklore, creating a fresh, cinematic anthology for a teenage audience,” says Viktorija Limkute.
“Shadow of the Swamp” (6X52 minutes, Latvia)
Created and written by Raitis Abele, Zanda Zeidaka, based on the story of Guntis Tālers
Director: Lauris Abel, Rightis Abel
Produced by Raitis Abele and Sebastian Weyland of Tritone Studio
A drama about crime and paranormal phenomena told by the up-and-coming Abele brothers behind this year’s Latvian entry into the international Oscar race, the animated film “Dogs of the Gods.”
“In a misty Baltic village, people disappear into the swamps every year, including fishermen, hikers, and even millionaires. Detectives and psychics uncover Nazi atrocities during World War II. Methamphetamine-fueled soldiers massacre the local population. The villagers hide dark secrets, and something ancient and invisible still drags the living into the swamps,” the logline continues. “Balancing crime investigation and supernatural mythology, this show lives precisely in the tension between the rational and the macabre, and that’s what a week spent in the wet, wintry forests of the Baltics is like,” quips Laitis Abel.
“Surbia” (“Nomare”, 8 x 50 minutes, Latvia)
Created by Lerde and Vlaz Kobarovy
Screenplay/Director: Vlaz Kovalovs
Works produced by Lerde Kovalova
Thriller, mystery drama. A family vacationing in a seemingly perfect secluded forest hotel quickly discovers that no one checks out except those willing to cross a deadly moral line. The series is “inspired by my favorite series ‘The Squid Game,’ ‘Lost,’ and ‘White Lotus,’ and ‘Outskirts’ combines survival drama with psychological and moral depth,” said Kovarova, co-creator of recent Latvian hit detective show ‘The Uninvited Guests.’ “Beyond mystery,[the show]explores the illusion of freedom and what’s left of humanity when all the certainties of modernity disappear.”
“Therapy” (“Terapijos”, 7X30 minutes, Lithuania)
Created and written by: Birte Kapustinskaite
Director: Kapustinskaite, Mariya Kavtaradze, Egle Vertelite
Produced by Dagnė Vildžilungaitė for Just a Moment
A drama about a poisonous professor who is admitted to a remote hospital in hopes of peace and privacy during chemotherapy. But she ends up admitted to a six-bed cancer ward filled with boisterous women, including an old colleague. The show, which bravely tackles cancer, does not avoid pain, but actually brings it closer through “a combination of warm humor and irony,” says Dagne Virginait.
