Rafe Spall (“Trying, “The English”), Oscar nominee Bérénice Bejo (“The Artist”), “Sherlock” co-creator and showrunner Steven Moffat and “Skins” co-creator Bryan Elsley head shows at the 2026 Series Mania Buyers Upfront, an invitation-only event unspooling on March 23 at Series Mania, Europe’s biggest TV festival.
Spall plays opposite Jenna Coleman (“Doctor Who,” “The Jetty”) and Katherine Kelly (“Happy Valley”) in Moffat’s “Number 10,” one of the big highlights of this year’s Upfront. Bejo stars in “Alice,” for HBO Max and French public broadcaster France Televisions, which promises a finely produced period portrait of Alice Guy, one of cinema’s great French pioneers, pretty well erased from history for most of a century. Elsley returns with legal drama “Counsels,” produced for BBC One.
The Buyers Upfront 10 series lineup was announced Friday by Laurence Herszberg, Series Mania founder and general director.
Though it would have to be compared with other key Series Mania industry sections, hints at trends in projects being brought in general onto the international market.
For want of U.S. financing, as players see to bulwark budgets and tap English-language projects, international markets are tapping into Australia. “Gnomes,” for instance, is commissioned by Stan in Australia and picked up by Germany’s ZDF Neo.
International is getting ever more genre, not just crime but horror. “Gnomes” is described as “Gremlins” Meets “Hot Fuzz,” by creator Joel Kohn. “
And the co-production scene is still developing. “Lost and Found” marks Singapore’s first scripted collaboration with Japanese public broadcaster NHK.
Producers are gaining broadcaster backing as they aim to capture a younger crowd. Elsey’s “Counsels,” marking a newer and younger-gen way into legal drama, is also backed by ZDFNeo, currently ZDF’s younger adult channel. Mixing real world settings in Singapore and Japan and a virtual world, “Lost and Found” backed by NHK and Mediacorp Singapore, targets Gen Z audiences.
The Buyers Choice Award, selected by a six-person jury of key buyers, will be presented during an Awards Ceremony on March 24. It kicks off with a Beta Brunch.
“We’re thrilled to bring back the Buyers Upfront following last year’s successful launch,” said Francesco Capurro, director of Series Mania Forum, noting that more than 100 top buyers from around the world have already signed up for the Upront which he described as a “highly curated slate of premium series.”
“We’re confident the initiative will help distributors accelerate international sales,” he added. “With the Buyers Upfront, we continue to strengthen our position as the must-attend spring event for the scripted community, from creation to global distribution.
A closer look at the Upfront titles, chosen for their artistic merit and broad audience appeal:
“Alice”
Format: 6×45′
Country: France, Belgique, Canada
Year of production: 2025
Genre: Drama, Other
International Sales: Wild Bunch TV
Production company: Wild Bunch/Ligne de Front (France); Panache Productions & La Compagnie Cinématographique (Belgium); Sphere Media (Canada)
Synopsis: “From France to the U.S., the incredible journey of Alice Guy, a pioneer and the first female fiction filmmaker in cinema history. The series explores the extraordinary life of Alice Guy—a woman who was an artist, entrepreneur, wife and mother. It delves into her struggles, her thwarted loves, and her quest for freedom and recognition.”
Starring Béjo, produced by Wild Bunch TV and Palermo Production, on the biggest plays at the Upfront, moving from Belle Epoque Paris to New York and early Hollywood, portraying real-life fiction cinema visionary Alice Guy, erased from history. Real recognition has only come this century. Thibaut Evrard (“No Man’s Land”), Oscar Lesage (“The Count of Monte-Cristo”) and Irene Jacob (“3 Colors Red”) co-star.
“Blind,”
Format: 6×58
Country: Switzerland
Year of production: 2025
Genre: Thriller, Other
International Sales: OneGate Media
Production company: Zodiac Pictures
Logline: A blind bartender apparently witnesses a kidnapping no one believes. Until he teams up with a daring journalist and a newly promoted detective. They venture into dark parallel worlds and risk their lives for the truth.
Created by Plino Bachmann (“One Way to Moscow”), directed byChristian Johannes Koch (“Spigot”), Barbara Kulcsar (“Zwiespalt”) and fronted by Lia von Blarer (“Eldorado KaDeWe”) and Sven Schelker (“Davos 2017”) and based on the best-selling book series by Christine Brand, which have sold over 500,000 copies. “This series, like Brand’s novels, is truly ‘made in Switzerland’ – and packed with twists and turns, intriguing characters and psychological depth,” says Zodiak Pictures producer Jessica Hefti. “At the heart of this series is the character of Nathaniel and his visual impairment, adding a unique and powerful element to the story.”
“Counsels”
Format: 8×60′
Country: U.K.
Year of production: 2025
Genre: Drama
International Sales: All3Media International
Production company: Balloon Entertainment, ZDF Neo, BBC, BBC Scotland
Synopsis: “Five young lawyers trained together at an elite law school in Glasgow. Six years later, they’ve spread out across the legal profession. This legal environment is ground level, stylish and sexy, weaving the personal stories of the main characters with propulsive defence and prosecution. Business relationships, friendships and love affairs will be tested to destruction as these young and ambitious lawyers and friends lock horns.”
From “Skins” co-creator Bryan Elsley and Gillian McCormack, a Glasgow-set BBC legal drama, part of the Beeb’s biggest recent single recent investment in drama in Scotland, and part of All3Media Intl’s sales slate at last month’s London TV Screenings.
“The Dark Book: The Secret of the Egerias” (working title)
Format: 6×45′
Country: Spain
Year of production: 2026
Genre: Thriller
International Sales: Studio TF1
Production group: Studio TF1
Synopsis: “Unai, a former top criminal profiler, left the police after his daughter was kidnapped and now lives quietly as a professor in Vitoria. “His life is turned upside down when two rare book owners are murdered and he receives an enigmatic call: his mother, Ithaca, presumed dead for forty years, is alive. To save her, he must find a legendary medieval book, one that could expose secret societies of obsessive collectors, and ultimately reveal the truth about his own family.”
“Gnomes”
Format: 6×30′
Country: Australia
Year of production: 2025
Genre: Comedy, Other
International Sales: Happy Accidents
Production company: Total Fiction, Screen Invaders, Happy Accidents
Synopsis: “Set in a fading small-town on the eve of their first annual Gnome-a-Palooza festival, Senior Sergeant Arnold Kipps is reunited with his ex-partner from the force (and ex-love) Senior Constable Ellie McKay, who has returned to shut down his beloved station. But when the town’s gnome population is brought to life by an ancient evil, the pair must lead a motley crew of locals in a desperate fight to save their home from the coming gnome-apocalypse.”
Fronted by Asa Butterfield (“Sex Education”) and Megan Smart (“Class of 07,” “Black Snow” Season 2), “a delightfully deranged new horror-rom-com about second chances and a group of unlikely heroes who are forced to step up and save their town,” creator Joel Kohn tells Variety. Australian comedy writers Tegan Higginbotham and Paul Verhoeven are penning the scripts; Matthias Hoene (“Theodosia,” “Cockneys vs Zombies”) set to direct the pilot. A buzz title a late 2024’s Content London Drama Pitch Competition, scoring second place.
“In Vitro”
Format: 6×45′
Country: Spain
Year of production: 2026
Genre: Drama, Comedy
International Sales: Beta Film
Production company: Moiré Films, Rodar y Rodar, and Bullfrog Pictures, in co-production with 3Cat, with the participation of HBO Max
Synopsis: “A heartwarming, innovative, and witty look at how babies are made: When 37-year-old microbiologist Blanca takes on a job at a fertility clinic, she is forced not only to get to the bottom of the needs and risks of her clients, but her own, as well.”
Bruna Cusi (“Merlí”) plays Blanca, SXSW and Goya winner David Verdaguer (“Jokes & Cigarettes”) also stars in the latest from Rodar y Rodar, behind “The Orphanage,” “The Body” and “The Photographer of Mauthausen.”
“Lost and Found”
Format: 6×48′
Country: Japan, Singapore
Year of production: 2025
Genre: Drama
International Sales: Empire of Arkadia
Production company: Empire of Arkadia and Mocha Chai Laboratories (Singapore), TV Man Union (Japan)
Synopsis: “Young gamer Richie (played by Shawn Thia) travels to Tokyo in search of his online girlfriend only to discover that she has mysteriously vanished. In his quest to find her, he teams up with his new-found friend, Japanese gamer Yuka (played by Anna Yamada). Together, they embark on a journey into the unknown and unwittingly become embroiled in the underbelly of this metropolis – world of scams, trafficking, and illegal workers.”
Toplining Asian hearthrobs Anna Yamada, Shawn Thia and Nijiro Murakami, and set to bow on Japan’s NHK on March 18.
“We’re often asked whether we considered the story first or the cross-border collaboration The truth is that the current harsh globally realities organically made this project happen, as young people everywhere face such complex futures,” says creator-producer Fotini Paraskakis.
Number 10
Format: 6×60′
Country: U.K.
Year of production: 2026
Genre: Drama
International Sales: ITV Studios
Production company: Hartswood Films
Synopsis:
“There’s a Prime Minister in the attic, a coffee bar in the basement, and a wallpapered labyrinth of romance, crisis and heartbreak in-between….We’ll never know which party is in power, because once the whole world hits the fan it barely matters.”
Produced by Hartswood Films for Channel 4, starring Jenna Coleman, Rafe Spall, and Katherine Kelly, and described by Channel 4’s Gwawr Lloyd, as a “bold, brilliant and witty new drama.”
“R91”
Format: 6×52′
Country: France
Year of production: 2026
Genre: Thriller, Action
International Sales: SND Groupe M6
Production company: Next Episode
Synopsis: Mediterranean Sea. “France’s nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (an R91) has just set sail on a strategic mission. When a crew member is found dead and another goes missing, military investigator Paul Fischer is rushed aboard. With second-in-command Helena Duval, they must hunt for the truth before the killer strikes again. In a floating fortress of 2,000 souls, suspicion spreads and a murder investigation turns into a global security crisis.
Set on France’s first nuclear-powered surface vessel, from Next Episode, launched in 2020 by UGC and ex-Empreinte Digitale exec Henri Debeurme, and behind Netflix romcom “Christmas Flow,” NBCU action thriller “J’ai Tué Mon Mari” and La Rochelle winner “Septième Ciel.”
“The Traitor Within”
Format: 4×45′
Country: Norway
Year of production: 2026
Genre: Drama, Thriller
International Sales: Fremantle
Production company: Miso Film Norge
Synopsis: “A gripping WWII thriller based on the true story of Norway’s most notorious Nazi collaborator and the man sent to kill him. In occupied Norway, two young men choose opposing paths. Salesman Henry Rinnan becomes the Gestapo’s deadliest agent, dismantling the resistance through lies, betrayal and murder. Resistance fighter Odd Sørli is tasked with assassinating Rinnan, triggering a relentless cat-and-mouse pursuit.”
The latest from Norway’s part of Scandinavia’s Miso Film, a Fremantle company, also with offices in Copenhagen and Stockholm and behind iconic event Nordic series such as “The Rain,” “1864” and “Faithless.”
English (US) ·