The European Showrunner Think Tank »Social Impact Storytelling & Showrunning« took place on 8 April 2024 – with a panel discussion followed by the screening of the pilot episode of »The Handmaid's Tale«.

Guests:
Matthew Hastings | writer, director, and executive producer (»The Handmaid's Tale«, »Smilla’s Sense of Snow«, »Fallen«, USA/UK)
Tyron Ricketts | actor, writer, and executive producer (»Sam – A Saxon«, »Dogs of Berlin«, Austria)
Moderator: Fitore Muzaqi | Director & Writer, Germany

In recent years, series have become central pillars of social narratives – precisely because they have often found new ways of highlighting existing social issues in their fictionally differentiated narrative worlds.
Because of the large amount of time audiences spend with characters and stories that are told in serial formats, series writers have a great influence – and responsibility – in this regard.
The showrunners amongst these writers are able to extend this influence to the production side of their work. As lead creatives overseeing the entire creation and production process of a drama series, they can have a lasting impact on cast, crew, and audience.

With »The Handmaid's Tale« and »Sam – A Saxon«, two outstanding series were at the center of this first joint session of our two event series »ifs encounters« and »European Showrunner Think Tank«. Both shows have shown an almost prophetic visionary power in their countries of origin and seem to be disturbingly ahead of their time. Against this backdrop, Matthew Hastings (USA) and Tyron Ricketts (Austria) discussed the power of serialised fictional storytelling and production, and the social responsibility that comes with it.

The first European Showrunner Think Tank in 2024 took place on 30 January at the international industry conference TV Drama Vision as part of the Göteborg Film Festival, Sweden.

Event: European Showrunner Think Tank I
Topic: Showrunning in Europe: Spotlight on the HaRiBos (»Kleo«, »4 Blocks«)
Date: January 30, 2024 | Time: 12.15 pm - 1 pm CET
Guests: Hanno Hackfort, Bob Konrad (»KLEO«), Germany
Moderation: Marike Muselaers (Head of International Financing & Coproductions at Nordisk Film Production, Sweden)
Scope: TV Drama Vision Conference @Film Festival Gothenburg
Venue: Draken, Järnbäraregatan 6b, Göteborg, Sweden
Room: Drama Hall

When their latest hit show »Kleo« called for a showrunner-led production, creators Hanno Hackfort, Richard Kropf, and Bob Konrad employed a unique three-person showrunner model. Having worked together for years, the “HaRiBo” trio had created, tested and revised this work method by building on their strong friendship as well as on their extensive knowledge and refined collaboration skills acquired in their successful careers as series writers.
By exploring this journey from the learning-by-doing approach of their first shows as creators to the well-oiled machine their show-run productions resemble today, this session aims to spotlight the collaborative aspect of the writer-led showrunner model – within the showrunner team and beyond. The discussion will focus on the requirements and benefits of this approach as well as on the challenges posed by recent developments in the series market.