EPI launches career enhancement programme for female producers of European drama
SERIES' WOMEN is the first career enhancement programme for female producers in the European drama series industry. Through its holistic approach the initiative fosters the producers' access to industry markets, supports the building of professional networks and offers access to top industry experts as mentors. In addition to online workshops and a self-study phase with access to EPI's innovative online courses, the programme stands out by providing curated mentoring and pitching training as well as full-delegate access and exclusive pitching and networking opportunities at Series Mania Forum 2021.
With gender parity appearing on the agenda of many institutions and lawmakers, female producers still seem to lack equal opportunities when it comes to market access, visibility and the growth of careers. Eurimages stresses the necessity and importance of the topic with their paper Gender Equality Strategy (2018-2020) and sets off to "[...] increase the visibility of creative and technical work being carried out by women in the industry by continuing to showcase their achievements" as one of its strategic goals.
SERIES' WOMEN addresses these issues head-on and strives to tackle underrepresentation in the audiovisual industry by boosting individual careers. The broad variety of the programme elements paves the way for a significant increase in industry exposure and business opportunities for the producers and their projects.
"Following the successful start of several female leadership programmes for the German industry and a variety of initiatives for the European drama series industry over the last decade, launching an international initiative for female producers of serial drama was the next logical step for us. We are very grateful to our partners who have believed in the programme from the very beginning and have decided to support us in this exceptional year", says Philipp Künstle, CEO of the Erich Pommer Institut.
"We at WIFTI are working hard to achieve gender balance in the industry through the three pillars connection, knowledge and visibility. Erich Pommer Institut's new initiative SERIES' WOMEN, very much aligns with our goals and how we strive to achieve them. With their extensive experience in setting up high-quality training programmes for the industry and their unique understanding of the industry's needs, the EPI is best equipped to set up a programme that will help promising female producers take the next step in their careers. WIFTI is thrilled to support SERIES' WOMEN", says Helene Granqvist, President of Women in Film & Television International (WIFTI), one of the programme's partners.
The first edition of SERIES' WOMEN will run between March and June 2021. Applications are now open and will be accepted until February 1st, 2021. The EPI will be hosting an online info session on January 19th, 2021 for all interested applicants.
Many thanks to our partners that support this programme: Centre du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel, Creative Europe Desk Austria - Media, FOCAL, ProPro - The Producers' Programme for Women, Screen Brussels, Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds, Wallimage, Series Mania Forum and Women in Film & Television International.
More information and application: www.epi.media/series-women
