“After a good amount of debate, we chose Tokyo Crush because we loved the potential we saw for the story IN and OUT of the kitchen. It felt fresh like a series with multiple points of entry for audiences. Featuring an ensemble of characters and conflicts that are ripe for great comedy: clash of cultures, tradition versus modernity, competition and will-they/won't-they romance. All of which made it singular,” commented Kennedy.

“The Co-Pro Pitching Sessions are one of the most anticipated parts of the Series Mania Forum and we are delighted to be giving the €50,000 prize to Tokyo Crush. In the difficulties of today’s world, I’m delighted to see that a romance comedy took the top prize. This is just what the audience needs during this time,” added Herszberg.

Along with Kennedy, the jury included André Béraud, Head of Scripted, Programs and Feature Films, ICI Radio-Canada Télé (Canada); Henriette Marienlund, Head of Drama, DR Drama (Denmark); José Pastor, Head Of Drama And Fiction, RTVE (Spain) and Frank Seyberth, Head of Coproduction, International Fiction, ZDF (Germany). Together they had the honor of presenting the check for €50,000 to the Tokyo Crush team.

At the ceremony, Series Mania Forum also honored Isabelle Degeorges, President of Gaumont Television, with the fifth annual “Woman in Series Award”. This award is given to a remarkable woman from the audiovisual industry to honor her vision and leadership.

Here is a list of all the projects at this year's Co-Pro Pitching Sessions which took place today, March 25:

ANTIPAROS
Greece, Comedy

CECILIE MARS
Denmark, Thriller

CONSULTANTS
Drama, Thriller

HEIST
France, Thriller

INTIMACY
Israel, Drama, Thriller

INVISIBLE
Drama

MASQUERADE
Drama, Thriller

NEST
Taiwan
Comedy, Action

NUCLEAR SUNSET CRUISE
Comedy, Drama

PHENOMENA – THE SERIES
Italy, Thriller

RUTH’S GHOSTS
Thriller

THE CHAPLAIN
Australia, Comedy, Drama

THE INSTITUTE
Denmark, Thriller

THE LOTTERY TICKET
Comedy, Drama

TOKYO CRUSH
France, Japan, Comedy

WOOL
Serbia,Drama

Details about all projects can be found here.