Latest in Series Mania

Annette Bening’s first major TV series role has won the five-time Oscar nominee the Best Actress prize at this year’s Series Mania. Bening was awarded in the past few minutes at the prestigious Lille event for her leading role in Peacock series Apples Never Fall, an adaptation of a novel by Big Little…

Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here. We’ve been out in force in France this week. To read about our travels, plus plenty more, scroll down, and sign up here. All That Mania ‘So Long, Marianne’ star Alex Wolff (left) with Series Mania…

Oscar-winning actress Patricia Arquette chaired a career masterclass this afternoon at Series Mania in Lille, France, where she served as this year's guest of honor.  Topics up for discussion during the session ranged from Arquette's childhood growing up on a "hippie" commune with her parents in…

The boss of one of the world’s biggest TV distributors has predicted streamers will return to commissioning originals in bulk once they “break even.” Cathy Payne, who runs Big Brother and Black Mirror seller Banijay Rights, said there is “no doubt” the deep-pocketed U.S. giants are currently ordering…

The wait for Max’s European launch is nearly over. The Warner Bros Discovery streaming service will launch in the Nordics, Iberia, and Central and Eastern Europe — where HBO Max is already available — on May 21, with launches in Poland, the Netherlands, France, and Belgium following closely after. Hou…

French commercial broadcast giant TF1 is taking its streaming service international. CEO Rodolphe Belmer told Series Mania on Thursday that TF1+ will start rolling out in the middle of this year before a wider series of launches in 2025. "We will roll out TF1+ in the French-speaking world," Belmer…

Delphine Ernotte-Cunci, the CEO of France Télévisions, has called the collapse of the French broadcaster-backed streamer Salto “a strategic mistake.” Salto — a subscription streaming venture between France Télévisions, TF1 and M6 — dissolved last year after failing to attract subscribers amid fierce…

Scottish actor Peter Mullan, whose credits include The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Westworld, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, passed through Series Mania in Lille this week, where he participated in what turned out to be one of the festival's most raucous masterclass…

Nicolas de Tavernost, the outgoing boss of M6, did not hold back today during what will likely be his last on-stage appearance after a near-40-year career with The Traitors France network. De Tavernost used his Series Mania keynote to slam the French competition laws that prevented M6’s merger with…

Jeremy Irons and double-Palme d’Or winner Bille August are gearing up for their highly-anticipated Count of Monte Cristo series but when offered the chance to work on the project, they had certain red lines. “I wouldn’t have taken it if it was a movie, it had to be TV,” Danish director August told…

HBO was built on the back of showrunners such as David Chase, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and Jesse Armstrong but is now facing a new dilemma involving directors. Drama boss Francesca Orsi lifted the lid on the "consistent tussle" over who is charge of a series as more and more "esteemed" directors…

EXCLUSIVE Narcos creator Chris Brancato is developing a Peaky Blinders-style series about Irish gangs in New York. Brancato has revealed the project in the past few minutes at Series Mania, and it is under working title The Westies. Deadline understands the project is in early development for…