Six Part Played Web Series (as yet untitled) Erasmus Project

Project Title

Six Part Played Web Series (as yet untitled)

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Social dialogue; Gender equality / equal opportunities; Creativity and culture

Project Summary

This project was to make a six-part web mini series about an Icelandic woman in her late 20s who moves to Berlin. The series is female focused, written entirely by women and directed by a woman. Through the characters in the series we have aimed to challenge social norms and gender roles, as well as confront stereotypes of women of this age and minority groups including the queer community. A large part of the series is the main character’s life as an ex-pat in Berlin (three of the six episodes), and although fictionalised we based plot points on the real life experiences of the participants, and in particular those in the writing team. We hope the series points out the relative ease of moving between European cities as a young person. The participants have diverse backgrounds, coming from Germany, Iceland, England, Colombia and Italy, which proved invaluable in script development and later with subtitles, which includes translations into Icelandic, English, Spanish and German. Each participant has a particular skill set that has benefited the project. We included film makers/technicians, an artist/product designer, anthropologists (Masters and Bachelors level), journalists, a photographer, a creative writer, actors, a public administrator, a musician and a film school graduate. We learned a great deal from each other’s disciplines to widen each of our skill sets, while together learning how to make a web series from concept to publication/end promotion. In total we were 11 participants, four in the Icelandic group and six in the Berlin group. During the project participants formed an administrative team, a writing team, a pre-production/shooting team, a marketing team and a post-production team (all of these teams were transnational) with a set of responsibilities which were defined by those in administrative roles at the beginning of the project. Targets were assigned to teams and individual participants for the duration of the project in the form of deadlines and these were evaluated in an ongoing basis by the administrative team and by the participant’s self-assessment to help the project get completed within budget and on schedule (although as will be explained we have been delayed as a result of Coronavirus). The teams met in person on seven transnational trips over the 24-month project as well as in more frequent online meetings. An online chat featuring all participants was available throughout the project and the writers had access to a cloud sharing script writing software, which kept them updated on progress in real time and able to make comments or suggestions directly. In addition we had monthly meetings of country groups to further share ideas, concerns and to pick up on any potential problems. By the end of the project we have achieved a six episode web series, which is both entertaining and provocative. It will be published online for free and available in the three languages spoken in the series – Icelandic, English and German, as well as additionally Spanish. Although the series is not yet published, we are still working on the final stages of post-production and soundtrack, our rough cut of the episodes can be viewed on Vimeo (the videos are not yet public but a link will be shared with you so you can see our accomplishment). We have also created a supporting webpage and social media profiles for publicity and we are finalising a trailer. We have a target of 4,000 views of the web series within the first year online, but we are also pitching the series to Rúv and submitting it to web series film festivals for more exposure. Once published online, the series will remain available after the project is over and we hope it will continue to generate views. We believe the series has wide appeal, in particular among people in their 20s and 30s and also with anyone thinking about or with experience of relocating and travelling between European countries. In addition, participants gained knowledge and experience of making a web series, either developing existing skills or learning entirely new ones, this will benefit each of them in the future as they all plan to undertake more film making projects after this project has finished.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 32440 Eur

Project Coordinator

Reykjavik film group & Country: IS

Project Partners

• Berlin film group