Magnetic Series 2020

The day-long conference on the future of drama series took place in hybrid form, with participants on the ground in Riga and online via video.

With US studios seeing their production pipeline slowed down and global viewership of non-English content up, Magnetic Series’ two panels and two case studies honed in on the potential for episodic content in the Baltic Sea region including Russia, the Nordic countries and Germany.

Christian Ditter

Christian Ditter is currently is working as showrunner, executive producer and director on the second season of his Netflix series “Biohackers”.

Scott Roxborough

European Bureau Chief / The Hollywood Reporter, Germany

Scott Roxborough is a media journalist with more than 20 years of experience covering the international film and television industry.

Leonid Godik

Vice president of international sales and acquisitions / Beta film, Germany. Sales agent of “Dead Mountain”

Leonid Godik has been vice president of international sales and acquisitions at Beta Film since 2020.

Evgeniy Nikishov

Managing partner, producer / 1-2-3 Production, Russia. Director of “Dead Mountain”

Entered media industry as Editor-in-Chief at Mosfilm company. Later joined TNT national broadcaster as producer.

Valeriy Fedorovich

Managing partner, producer / 1-2-3 Production, Russia. Director of “Dead Mountain”

Entered media industry as producer at STV Film Company. Contributed to creation of 20+ feature films including “Mongol”.

Gabrielle Rozing

General Manager / Fortissimo, the Netherlands

Gabrielle Rozing joined Fortissimo Films in 2006, first as assistant to the MD, later in several functions in sales and finance, and as a producer liaison.

Xavier Rashid

International Sales Agent / Film Republic, UK, Estonia

Xavier Rashid has run Film Republic since 2012, a film sales company based in London that handles arthouse feature films.

Julia Fidel

Head of Berlinale Series, Germany

Julia Fidel is a film and festival professional and has been working with the Berlinale Film Festival since 2006.

Christian Vesper

President of Global Drama / Fremantle, UK

As the Executive Vice President and Creative Director for the Global Drama division at Fremantle, Christian Vesper has creative oversight across Fremantle’s network of global drama producers

Artem Vasilyev

Producer / Metrafilms, Russia

Artem Vasilyev is the Founder and CEO of film company Metrafilms, which was founded in 1993, and is one of the most influential independent filmmakers in Russia.

Alexander Rönnberg

Producer / Northern Fable, Sweden

Alexander Rönnberg is a founding partner of Northern Fable. He is currently in post-production on the second season of horror TV-series 12:13 for SVT.

Ani Korpela

Head of Content / Elisa, Finland

Ani Korpela leads the content and streaming services department at Elis, one of the largest producers of Finnish drama.

Tom Grater

International Film Reporter

Tom Grater joined Deadline in 2019 as part of its expanding international team to cover the film and TV industry. He is a regular at film markets and festivals around the world.

Valeria Richter

Co-Creator / Next of Kin, Denmark

Valeria Richter has worked internationally since 1997 writing, developing, coaching and consulting in the areas of feature film and TV series, and held workshops and labs on ideation and innovation.

Inga Alika-Strode

Entertainment and Media Director, Tet

Inga Alika-Stroda is an executive with 20 years experience exploring the future of technology, media and entertainment. She has strong strategic and commercial skills

Dita Rietuma

Director of the National Film Centre of Latvia

Dita Rietuma has worked as an Editor and film critic for the leading Latvian newspaper Diena for more than twenty years. Rietuma is the author and co-author of numerous books about film history.

Kaspars Rožkalns

Director of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia

Subordinate to the Minister for Economics of Latvia, LIAA aims to increase export and the competitiveness of Latvian companies,

10.30 - 11.00 Opening speeches

Opening speech by

Kaspars Rožkalns, Director of Investment and Development Agency of Latvia

Dita Rietuma, Director of the National Film Centre of Latvia

Inga Alika-Stroda, Entertainment and Media Director at Tet
11.00 - 12.30 Future perspective - how to produce independent non-english drama series

Moderator: Tom Grater, Editor / Deadline, UK

Valeria Richter, Co-Creator / Next of Kin, Denmark

Ani Korpela, Head of Content / Elisa, Finland

Alexander Rönnberg, Producer / Northern Fable, Sweden

Artem Vasilyev, Producer / Metrafilms, Russia

Christian Vesper, President of Global Drama / Fremantle, UK
14.00 - 15.00 Launching Non-English Drama Series

Moderator: Tom Grater, Editor / Deadline, UK

Julia Fidel, Head / Berlinale Co-Pro Series, Germany

Xavier Rashid, International Sales Agent / Film Republic, UK, Estonia

Gabrielle Rozing, General Manager / Fortissimo, the Netherlands

Ilkka Matila, Co-Owner / Matila Röhr Production, Finland
15.00 - 16.00 A conversation about: Dead Mountain - The Dyatlov Pass Incident

Moderator: Scott Roxborough, European Bureau Chief / The Hollywood Reporter, Germany

Valeriy Fedorovich, Managing partner, producer / 1-2-3 Production, Russia. Director of “Dead Mountain”

Evgeniy Nikishov, Managing partner, producer / 1-2-3 Production, Russia. Director of “Dead Mountain”

Leonid Godik, Vice president of international sales and acquisitions / Beta film, Germany. Sales agent of “Dead Mountain”
16.15 - 17.15 A conversation about: Biohackers

Moderator: Scott Roxborough, European Bureau Chief / The Hollywood Reporter, Germany

Christian Ditter, Showrunner, executive producer and director on the second season of “Biohackers”
17.15 Networking