While The Men Are Away co-creator Alexandra Burke and Easy Tiger development producer Lizzie Cater will hone their craft across workshops in Belgium, Spain, and Italy after being selected for the TorinoFilmLab (TFL) SeriesLab.
Burke’s collaboration with Turkish writer Ali Ercivan, The Tulip Era, was one of nine projects selected from 91 applications for the initiative, while Cater was among three international script editors picked to join the sessions alongside Benjamin Cantu and Tiny Mungwe.
Set against the chaos of an unraveling Turkish period drama, The Tulip Era follows two fallen stars of Aussie reality TV as they chase fame, fortune, and a second act in the unlikeliest of places.
Among the other projects is the French-Australian co-production Cockpit from New York-based Australian writer Jay Riedl and French producer Marion Cécinas. The story follows Tom, a suicidal airline pilot, who miraculously lands a crashing plane. Dubbed a hero by the press and with no memory of what happened in the cockpit, he’s thrust into the spotlight. But as haunting memories resurface, threatening his second chance at life and love, Tom must confront the dark truth behind the crash before the life he’s rebuilt begins to crack.
Burke, working under her newly launched Midnight production and distribution banner, Ercivan, Riedl and Cécinas will attend residential workshops in Leuven, Madrid, and Turin between June and November, working with program curator Eilon Ratzkovsky and a team of international tutors.
Cater, whose credits include feature film The Greenhouse and short film Birdie, will take part in the project development sessions, working under the guidance of French producer, writer, and director Anne Feinsilber as part of the Story Editing component.
The program culminates with the TFL Meeting Event, a co-production market where projects are pitched to top industry professionals and vie for the SeriesLab Development Award.
This year’s Meeting Event will also feature a first-time collaboration between TFL and the European Writers Club’s Bridging Generations program, which brings together writers and broadcasters from across Europe, including TV2 (Denmark), ZDF (Germany), SVT (Sweden) and NRK (Norway).
In a statement, TFL head of studies Eszter Angyalosy said the initiative was “not here for ideas that live only on paper”.
“At SeriesLab, we’re looking for creators with strong, personal visions — and the drive to get those stories made,” she said.
*Updated