The second day of MEDIA PLAY Sofia, which took place April 23-25, delivered another dynamic series of sessions spotlighting co-production strategies, regional successes, and bold new fiction projects. The TV Fiction Pitching Session showcased six standout projects, including South Stream (Serbia), Gold War (Bulgaria), The Adventure of a Turbo-Folk Princess by Andrey Volkashin (North Macedonia), Good Enough by Jean-Nicolas Gilles Hopfer & Marta Hopfer-Gilles (Norway-Poland), and Ian Bibian by director Iavor Gardev (Bulgaria).

The first presented project was crime thriller South Stream – a Serbian-Bulgarian production by Concept Studio, created by Marko Popovic and Iva Mitrovic. As Hristo Hadzhitanev, the program director of the Festival noted during the presentation of the project, South Stream immediately attracted the support of United Group and United Media during its development stages and this week it was officially selected to take part in the Sarajevo Film Festival. The project was selected for the 2022 Series Mania Writers Campus.

Hadzhitanev also revealed that “the person who is going to co-produce the series, providing the investigation work for the real events, and guaranteeing its exposure to the wider global audience, is our own Bulgarian hero of international open-source journalism, Christo Grozev. The Oscar winner, now targeted by Putin's assassins, will join forces with our Serbian creators and with Concept Studio in order to deliver what I would love to be one of the most remarkable political thrillers of our time. Christo Grozev's support and participation in the development and the production of South Stream will immediately make this series quite attractive on the international market.”

South Stream is the name of the controversial gas pipeline, which was built under the pressure of Putin in order to circumvent Ukraine, providing an alternative route for the Russian gas, and ultimately enabling Russia to invade Ukraine and to start the war. South Stream, in countries like Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Greece, has actually become a remarkable symbol of corruption, because at almost every stage of the construction of the gas pipeline, we find really remarkable stories, corruption, extortion, illicit pressure, abuse, and even several murders.

The storyline of the project: Florin (33) and Simona (28), a Romanian couple, travel to the island of Crete, Greece, for a vacation. But when Simona suddenly vanishes, Florin’s world is turned upside down. That same night, the bodyguard of the Serbian Minister of Energy is murdered on the island, and Simona quickly becomes the prime suspect. Desperate to find the woman he loves, Florin, an ex-con, taps into his underground connections back home. Meanwhile, Greek police inspector Amalia (55) uncovers a link between the murder and a corruption scheme surrounding a controversial EU proposal to drill for gas near Crete's shores.

The second project presented was The Gold War period drama series coming from Bulgaria. The project is penned by Teodora Markova (Glass Home, Under Cover, Soviet Jeans, The Last Divorce of Communism, etc.) and is produced by Martichka Bozhilova (Touch Me Not, Palace for the People, Exemplary Behaviour, Georgi and the Butterflies, The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories) and her prod co Agitprop.

The 6x55' sports drama focuses on the competitive world of gymnastics. During the Cold War, the battle for supremacy was transferred to sports. Hundreds of athletes have been subjected to mental and physical pressure to allow the Socialist bloc to show its superiority. In this impossible political atmosphere, Vera, a rhythmic gymnastics coach from a small satellite country has created a team that becomes a world champion and has taken away medals from Soviet gymnasts. The Russians are trying to eliminate Vera, her enemies are sabotaging her, the secret services are following her closely. Her gymnasts love and hate her and are about to betray her but the dream of an Olympic medal gives them the will to continue... Until the USSR made a surprising decision to boycoƩ the games and the communist countries were forced to obey. Vera’s Golden Girls remain without the Olympic gold.

The “anti-fairytale for a generation raised on illusions and cheap lyrics” called The Adventures of a Turbo-Folk Princess was the third project presented at MEDIA PLAY 2025.

CEETV reminds that the Bulgarian/North Macedonian series was also pitched earlier this year during the Series Mania Forum in Lille.

The 10x30' series focuses on Vaska, a small-town Macedonian girl with a golden voice, who is trapped between stage fright and her mother’s belief that only marriage can secure her future. Engaged to a charming businessman—secretly a gangster—her world shatters when she accidentally poisons him. Fleeing, she meets turbo-folk legend Kuraima, who offers her a shot at the Balkavision contest. With the help of Ebony, a fiery stripper-prostitute posing as a professional dancer, and a crew of misfits, Vaska embarks on a wild Balkan adventure—dodging danger, chasing dreams, and battling her deepest fears. The Adventures of a Turbo-Folk Princess is created by Andrey Volkashin and Peter Vulchev and produced by OXO Productions. The project which is based on a short film by the creative duo has received notable recognition, including the Croatian Audiovisual Center Drama Award at Cinelink Drama, Sarajevo Film Festival 2023, and the Council of Europe Development Award at Conecta FICTION & ENTERTAINMENT 2024.

OXO Productions are also working on another project which was presented at the event – the 6x50' political drama Las Veles. The series presented by producer Pece Taleski and coming from North Macedonia is written by Sasho Kokalanov and directed by Marija Apchevska. In 2016, the small Macedonian town of Veles becomes an unexpected global hotspot when hundreds of fake news websites supporting Donald Trump emerge from its digital shadows. A decaying industrial city turns into a gold rush frontier—where teachers, teenagers, ex-cons, and mobsters chase viral headlines and easy profit. As the fake news factories grow, local mafia demands a cut, foreign agents arrive with hidden agenda and personal lives spiral out of control. Las Veles is a gritty, character-driven drama blending political intrigue, organized crime, and moral collapse in the age of misinformation—where every click carries a price, and truth is just another product.

The pitching session included the steamy, R-rated dramedy about a Polish expat navigating love, perimenopause, and identity in Norway's unforgiving landscape called Good Enough. The 8x25' project, which comes from Marta Hopfer-Gilles - Producer and Screenwriter and Jean-Nicolas Gilles Hopfer - Creative Co-Producer and their Autoriverse Productions, tells the story of Pola, a Polish expat living in Oslo, trying to fit into the life of her Norwegian partner, Øystein. While their love is strong (at least it seems so), his teenage twin daughters, his ex-wife, his country, and its job market are not necessarily welcoming. And then there is the perimenopause that hits her out of nowhere and makes things, well, even more complicated. Along the way, they’re trying to navigate their identity crisis with passion, love, honesty and humour. Occasionally breaking their legs (literally), fucking other people, finding unexpected friends, finally coming of age with a little help from a 16-year-old and becoming a revolutionary meme. At the end of the day, Pola is just trying to understand who she is. Maybe a bit late, but who said that you need to know everything from the get-go?

The pitching session concluded with the presentation of a feature film project coming from Concept Studio, directed and written by Javor Gardev and based on the popular Bulgarian novel Ian Bibian by Elin Pelin. The “Faust for Adolescents” movie focuses on the caught between his good heart and wicked wit Ian Bibian who runs away from home and meets the Archdemon of the Lower realm, who has a special mission for the boy. Rushing to save his father’s life, Ian embarks on a dangerous journey through the underground realms, but with the help of the little demon Füt and the enchanted crow Ia, he finds his way back to goodness. The film has already attracted a couple of Bulgaria's most-popular actors: Zachary Baharov and Samuel Finzi.