Do you have a captivating/engaging/thought-provoking tv series idea? Tell us your story – and we will listen carefully and help your dream come true!
Hypewriter, the leading fiction concept pitching forum for CEE is back again. We seek the next great idea for a television series without genre restrictions. The winner will receive a prize of 10,000 EUR and the concept will be turned into a professionally produced pilot episode that can evolve later into a complete tv series.
Eight finalists will be invited to pitch their stories to an international jury of prominent film and media industry representatives. The forum takes place in Budapest, Hungary. We will cover travel and hotel expenses for all finalists.
So, show us some real, bold ideas and blow our socks off!
Application deadline: 7 July, 2023
Notification of Finalists: 30 August, 2023
Pitch Forum in Budapest: 10 October, 2023
HOW TO ENTER
We are looking for a series with a potential of multiple seasons; minimum 6 episodes/season, maximum 12 episodes/season. 40-50 minutes/ episode.
Please submit all of the following materials in ONE PDF file via Filmfreeway (there is no submission fee):
1. Synopsis
A concept for the series in two pages. General and short description of the story of the series. (max 4000 characters.)
2. Season Arc
Describing the narrative construction of the series.
3. One completed scene
From the pilot episode, in standard screenplay format. With optional dialogues
4. CV of the applicant
5. Declaration of non-infringement
The project will not infringe on any third party's intellectual property rights, copyrights, moral rights, patents, trademark or other rights.
You can submit your PDF in one of seven languages: English (preferred), Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Slovak or Slovenian. However, the language of the pitch forum is English so the Finalists will have to pitch in English (without translation).
WHAT HAPPENS THEN?
An international jury of industry professionals will read all submissions and choose the finalists, who will be duly informed.
Creators of the best eight stories will be invited to Budapest (travel and accommodation on us, please see Terms and Conditions for details), where they will present their ideas to the jury and an audience live.
Each finalist will have a maximum of 8 minutes to introduce their story in English, accompanied by a visual presentation. A 7 minutes QA follows this pitch. The finalist that the judges select will be awarded and receive a prize of 10,000 EUR for developing the concept to a pilot script and season arch. From the pilot script, a professional pilot episode will be produced by Paprika Studios.
The Hypewriter Forum is scheduled as a live event on 10 October 2023. There will be two online preparatory workshops to develop the concept with the help of accomplished script doctors and screenwriters. The day before the pitching event, the Hypewriter team organizes a professional coaching workshop to help Finalists advance their presentations at a Hypewriter workshop in Budapest. All finalists are invited and expected to attend.
OUR STORY
Established in 2018 by Paprika Studios in collaboration with RTL Hungary, Hypewriter was the first international TV Series Pitch Forum held in Budapest and became the leading pitch forum of CEE.
Paprika Studios, as one of the largest production companies in Central Eastern Europe and the Baltics, has been producing and developing international titles since 2007 for more than 30 broadcasters in 10 countries.
Paprika Studios is passionate about creating great TV shows that inspire and give good entertainment and offer unique opportunities for scriptwriters to pitch in a great TV show idea – and help them break into the entertainment industry's front line.
RTL Hungary is a commercial television broadcaster in Hungary and a significant participant in the Hungarian television market and film production. RTL Hungary is part of RTL Group, Europe's leading entertainment network, which is present in several countries worldwide and engaged in producing well-known television programmes such as talent shows, contests, films, and series.
Paprika Studios and RTL Hungary aim to evolve in high-quality television series content production – to achieve that, Hypewriter seeks to discover aspiring talents and offer them a chance to realize their unique ideas, thus bringing more original projects and fresh content into production.
In 2023 the fifth edition of Hypewriter will be organised. More than 60 finalists have participated in the events with several hundreds of industry professional guests. The pilot episode of the winning project of 2022, "The Rise And Fall of Zolika Pásztor', is in development and scheduled for filming in the Summer of 2023. Previous year's winner, 'Angel's Trumpet' was, successfully premiered at Hypewriter 2022 and will be released on RTL's streaming platform.' Golden Age', our winner in 2019, received a straight-to-series commission and currently, the scripts for the full season are in development. Also, the winner of the first season of Hypewriter already, 'The Butcher,' has its pilot episode produced and is currently available on RTL Most+, the streaming platform of RTL Klub. Many other titles that received special mention by the jury are in the development pipeline of Paprika Studios, and other Finalist concepts became series in different countries of CEE.
What is Your Story?
The main prizes in the competition will be
• 10.000 € award for writing; and
• The pilot episode of the winning project will be developed, produced and filmed by Paprika Studios. RTL Hungary will premiere the pilot episode on one of its platforms. Paprika Studios will be involved in showcasing the pilot episode to broadcasters worldwide.