Tallinn Industry Head Marge Liiske on What’s New, TV Drama Growth, AI, and Hollywood Guests
The 24th edition of the Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, a part of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF), is set to kick off on Friday, bringing together film professionals and emerging talents for eight days of panels, masterclasses, case studies, workshops, project presentations, screenings, and networking events. Dubbed 'Northern Europe's busiest business platform for audiovisual professionals', the event promises to showcase a record number of projects this year.
Marge Liiske, head of the Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, has curated a diverse range of offerings, including the Baltic Event Co-Production Market, Script Pool, Works in Progress, and the European Genre Forum showcase. Meanwhile, Tallinn's drama series market, TV Beats Co-Financing Market, will highlight eight selected series projects, with six titles developed through the Series Bridges Baltic workshops. Participants of the Midpoint Series Launch program will also present their nine projects, and the TV Beats Screening Day returns for its second edition, featuring five fresh series.
On November 17th and 18th, the TV Beats Forum will gather key international players in TV drama from the Baltics, Nordics, and Central and Eastern Europe to explore current trends, financing challenges, and success stories in today's fast-evolving series landscape. The third edition of the Just Film Industry Days, running from November 19th to 21st, will again focus on children's and youth content, offering pitching sessions, panels, and case studies.
This year's Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event will also feature the Focus: Catalonia and Spotlight Country Austria programs, including a masterclass with Jessica Hausner. At the heart of the program has always been the training and promotion of Baltic film and TV creatives, allowing them to connect with industry professionals worldwide. However, the event has been expanding its offerings for up-and-coming creators, kids and family youth movies, short films, and TV drama series.
Liiske emphasizes the need for constant innovation due to the rapid pace of industry change. The team has been building out the program for the last few years, adding new elements like children and youth films at the co-production market and the Industry Academy. This year, they've expanded the drama series part, adding two exciting new initiatives: the first-ever Serial Bridges – Baltics workshop, targeting writer/producer duos from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and 'Coming Soon From the Baltics', which will spotlight three series projects further in production or post-production but still seeking distribution.
The event also attracts industry professionals from countries like Catalonia and Austria, with Liiske hoping to foster exchanges and connections between them and the Baltic industry. Attendance numbers are roughly maxed out, with a focus on ensuring focused interactions and sustainable crowds. Last year, the event attracted 850 delegates, with 750 on-site and 100 participating online. This year, at this stage, there are only 16 people online, indicating a strong desire for physical attendance.
The panels and sessions program will tackle key issues and hot topics facing the industry. Last year, distribution was a core focus, while this year, financing is a major emphasis due to current funding challenges. Technological advancements, including AI, will also be discussed. Liiske highlights that the Tallinn program will explore AI not as a threat but as a tool to shape the future, helping filmmakers integrate it into their productions for cost efficiency.
The event will also feature Hollywood speaker power, including costume designer Debra McGuire, known for her work on Friends and The Morning Show, and top Hollywood hair stylist Nina Paskowitz, who will discuss her 30-plus-year career. Liiske emphasizes the long-term benefits of the event, with the PÖFF industry section team proud to have supported around 15 projects in the past that have since premiered at prestigious film festivals and been nominated for awards.
