TV Beats Forum, the drama series strand of Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, will launch the Honorary TV Beats Producer Award, which will be presented in 2024 to Ukrainian independent producer Kateryna Vyshnevska. 

“This award is meant to spotlight a prominent and inspiring figure from our region, covering the Nordics, Baltics and Central Eastern Europe, who has made a significant impact in the field of TV Drama production. Kateryna Vyshnevska’s role in building and growing the internationalisation of Ukraine’s Film.UA has been remarkable, culminating in executive producing the show Those Who Stayed, a contemporary landmark series co-produced and financed with several European countries,” Petri Kemppinen and Roosa Toivonen, Co-Heads of TV Beats Forum say.

Kateryna Vyshnevska is an independent producer and consultant specialising in international co-productions. She recently served as Head of Development and Co-productions at FILM.UA (Ukraine). Her credits alongside the award-winning TV series Those Who Stayed (co-produced with SVT, YLE and NRK) include Moloch (Czechia/Slovakia/Ukraine for Canal+), now in post production, Citizens at War (UK/Ukraine/Australia) and Koza Nostra (Ukraine/Italy). 

"I am deeply honoured to receive the first-ever Honorary Award from TV Beats. This recognition holds special significance for me. It highlights the growing impact of global TV drama production in our region and acknowledges what has truly been my life’s mission: getting the remarkable creators from Ukraine, the Baltics and CEE to work together more, to push the boundaries of CEE storytelling, and put our region on the global map. I am hugely thankful to the team at TV Beats and Black Nights FF, who once again prove that they have cold nights, but warm hearts, and look forward to celebrating this milestone together with them in Tallinn," Kateryna Vyshnevska says.

The award will be presented at the opening of the TV Beats Forum on 18 November, followed by a fireside chat between Kateryna Vyshnevska and Marike Muselaers. The discussion will cover successes and challenges, the do's and don'ts of co-production and understanding the market.  

After the talk, the two-day conference TV Beats Forum will continue with its programme that addresses several burning issues in the drama series industry such as challenges in financing, audience engagement and takes a closer look at the case studies of many series to be screened during the TV Beats Screening Day. 

To tackle one of the biggest challenges in drama series production — securing necessary financing — industry experts including Patrick Fisher (Creativity Capital), Meg Thomson (Global Gate), and Sebastien Janin (Media Musketeers) will join the panel discussion, “State of Play in Series Financing” that focuses on funding options and emerging models. “They will look for answers to the questions like how to pivot agilely, nurture creativity and serve the needs of audiences and commissioners, and how to maintain sanity as you seize opportunities and ride out the ups and downs of the market," says Toivonen.

The programme also includes some future-oriented sessions. One of those, "Future Is Here - AI You Can Use (& Abuse?)", allows us to witness a face-off between AI and professional scriptwriter, real-life TV executive Steve Matthews to find out which one can create a better series pitch? Another forward-looking session, "The Future Is Here: Practical Tools" will present the new equality tool for audiovisual productions and the European VR Writers' Room programme. 

One of the highlights of the programme is a panel discussion "Writing for Diverse Platforms: Engaging Audiences In a World of Endless Choices” by the European Writers Club will focus on bridging generations and its importance in today's storytelling emphasising why it’s more crucial than ever to create shared stories between generations and across formats. Two industry experts from different storytelling worlds – acclaimed Norwegian director Per-Olav Sørensen (Nobel, Quicksand, The Playlist), and Jim Ashilevi, an Estonian actor and game writer known for Disco Elysium share their unique perspectives. They will explore how their different experiences in television, film, and gaming converge to create powerful stories, providing practical lessons for creators navigating diverse storytelling platforms. 

Reflecting the festival's focus on Germany, the TV Beats Forum programme includes two presentations. The first will focus on the Apple TV+ series Constellation, exploring the highs and lows of making the psychological sci-fi thriller. The second country-specific event is a panel discussion led by Johanna Nunnu Karppinen on Germany's identity as a hub for series development and production.

The TV Beats Forum also includes two masterclasses. Five pre-registered writers will be invited to participate in Words Across Europe's 1,5 hour hands-on VR writers' room session, with VR headsets for the experience. “Working in VR Writers' Room” masterclass will be led by Joachim Friedman, an experienced screenwriter and serial storytelling expert. In the masterclass "The Art of Developing Compelling Stories for a Broad International Audience", acclaimed director, writer and producer Per-Olav Sørensen will share his expert storytelling process, honed over years of experience creating several hit series. 

Check out the full programme here

TV Beats Forum takes place on November 18th & 19th in Tallinn in Nordic Hotel Forum and also online, as part of Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, North Europe’s busiest platform for audiovisual professionals, where professionals from the Baltics, Central Eastern Europe and the Nordic converge to collaborate. On 18 November, TV Beats Co-Production Market will showcase exciting new drama series projects with international sales and distribution potential. The first ever TV Beats Screening Days, occurring on 19 & 20 November will showcase five fresh drama series to sales agents, distributors and local TV and film industry professionals.