New8, the major new North-West European drama collaboration launched today, will be heading to Content London next month to detail the partnership and its content plans.
In an extended Content Strategies session, Elly Vervloet, international drama expert at VRT, and Hans-Jørgen Osnes, head of international drama financing at NRK, will speak about the New8 partnership, while heads of drama from ZDF, NPO, VRT, YLE, SVT, DR, RÚV and NRK will reveal New8’s first slate of original content and detail their content plans and opportunities going forward.
Promising yet again to be a major draw this year, the Drama strand at Content London has confirmed more top international execs for its scripted speaker line-up.
Newly joining their ranks are Yi Qiao, director of drama at ZDF Studios; Marc Helwig, head of TV at Miramax TV; Christian Vesper, president of global drama at Fremantle; and Timo Argillander, managing partner at IPR.VC, all of whom will be discussing the increasingly tricky business of funding for scripted content as part of Content London’s Fundamentals track.
You can find out more about Content London 2023 by CLICKING HERE.
Tier 2 tickets at £999 are running out! Register now by CLICKING HERE.
The New8 speakers are:
Elly Vervloet
International drama expert
VRT
In her role at VRT, the Flemish public broadcaster in Belgium, Vervloet has been responsible for commissioning shows including Beau Séjour, Team Chocolate and, more recently, Arcadia and This is Not a Murder Mystery. Vervloet combines her work for VRT with being an international drama expert for the European Broadcasting Union.
Hans-Jørgen Osnes
Head of international drama financing
NRK
Having joined NRK in 2021, Osnes works strategically and builds networks to secure financing so the Norwegian pubcaster can create world-class drama. Osnes previously worked as a producer and executive producer of feature films and drama series for independent production company Motlys.
Simone Emmelius
Senior VP, international fiction coproduction and acquisition
ZDF
At Germany’s ZDF, Emmelius is responsible for the main ZDF channel plus youth-skewing ZDFneo, cultural channel 3sat, Franco-German network Arte and non-linear youth offering Funk. Until May 2018, she was senior VP at ZDFneo, responsible for one of the top 10 channels in Germany.
Hans Schwarz
MD, fiction acquisitions
NPO
Since 2008, Schwarz has been part of the management team at Dutch public broadcaster NPO, overseeing international fiction acquisitions for all Dutch public platforms. He has also been acting as a commissioning editor, Dutch fiction and coproductions, since 2018.
Wim Janssen
Head of drama
VRT1, VRT Canvas and VRT Max
Janssen has been head of drama at VRT1, Canvas and VRT Max since the beginning of 2022. He arrived at the Belgian pubcaster 13 years ago, joining as an executive producer on daily soap Thuis.
Jarmo Lampela
Head of drama
YLE
Having worked as a director, scriptwriter and producer across numerous productions for cinema, television and theatre, Lampela has been head of drama at Finnish pubcaster YLE since 2015. From 2007 to 2014, he was a professor of film directing and head of the film, television and scenography department at Aalto University, Helsinki.
Anna Croneman
Head of drama
SVT
After 20 years as a producer of TV drama and feature films, Croneman has been head of drama at Swedish pubcaster SVT since 2018, commissioning such titles as Caliphate, Thin Blue Line and Blackwater. Her previous industry positions include vice-chairman of the Swedish Film Institute and president of the Swedish Film and TV Producers Association.
Henriette Marienlund
Head of fiction and development
DR Drama
As well as her role in Danish pubcaster DR’s drama department, Marienlund is head of development at DR Kultur, Børn og Unge (Culture, Children and Youth). She is responsible for productions at DR Drama and for acquiring Danish drama for adults and youths. Marienlund’s previous roles at DR include media director and channel manager for DR1. She holds a degree in journalism and has had a long career in management for DR, fellow Danish broadcaster TV2 and in the private production sector.
Skarphéðinn Guðmundsson
Head of TV
RÚV
Guðmundsson is the head of TV, programming and publishing for RUV, the Icelandic pubcaster. Prior to this, he was director of programming for Channel 2 in Iceland. Guðmundsson has commissioned internationally acclaimed series such as Trapped, Valhalla Murders, The Minister and Blackport, and was part of the team that initiated and set up the N12 collaboration between Nordic pubcasters.
Marianne Furevold-Boland
Head of drama
NRK
Furevold-Boland was appointed chief of Norwegian pubcaster NRK’s drama division in 2022. Before that, she was an executive producer in the same department, overseeing series such as Exit, State of Happiness, For Life and I Am Earth. Furevold-Boland also producer web drama series Skam and oversees the various Skam remakes that are being produced in more than eight countries around the world.
Speaking in the Fundamentals track:
Yi Qiao
Director, drama
ZDF Studios
Qiao joined ZDF Studios, the commercial arm of the German public broadcaster, in 2020. She is responsible for sales and acquisitions of scripted projects across North America, the UK & Ireland, Australia & New Zealand, and Scandinavia. Her remit covers identifying and developing scripted projects at an early stage for coproduction and co-financing opportunities, as well as initiating pre-sale conversations and sales of finished content into these markets. Prior to joining ZDF, Qiao worked as a senior sales manager for Red Arrow Studios International.
Marc Helwig
Head of worldwide television
Miramax
Helwig oversees teams in LA and London, and a slate of over 50 projects in active development, including both US and global-facing content. Current series either on air or in production include The Turkish Detective for Paramount, Project Greenlight for Max and Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen for Netflix. Helwig has extensive experience in the international TV industry, previously acting as exec VP of scripted programming for NBCUniversal International Studios.
Christian Vesper
CEO, global drama
Fremantle
Vesper’s role sees him build on Fremantle’s portfolio of scripted drama, films and dailies throughout the world, with direct oversight of Fremantle’s founder-led scripted labels. He oversees Fremantle’s roster of talent partnerships and deals, which includes Chernobyl director Johan Renck and Michael Paret’s Sinestra, plus Michael Winterbottom’s Revolution Films. Vesper joined Fremantle in 2016 as executive VP and creative director, global drama.
Timo Argillander
Managing partner
IPR.VC
Argillander is also co-founder of IPR.VC, an investment fund manager specialising in global media and entertainment content investments. He has a long background in media and tech industries as an entrepreneur, Apple executive and management consultant.
