Running from May to July 2026, the ten-week paid programme places participants in fully immersive VR writers’ rooms to develop and collaborate on original series concepts in a professional broadcast environment. The virtual sessions are interspersed with expert industry masterclasses, talks, and networking, culminating in participants pitching their work directly to senior European TV producers and commissioning executives.

Words Across Europe brings participants into direct contact with senior figures across European and international television. Past and present speakers and mentors have included Paul Testar (Commissioning Editor, Paramount), Hattie Burles (Senior Acquisitions Manager, Fremantle), Christiane Ruff (CEO, ITV Studios Germany), René Jamm (Managing Director, Warner Bros. International TV Production), Robert Franke (Managing Director, Intaglio Films, formerly VP Drama at ZDF Studios), Brian Tannenbaum (Roku), Johnathan Young (May One / formerly HBO Europe), and writer-producer Andre Bormanis (Star Trek, The Orville), among others. Robert Franke, Managing Director, Intaglio Films (formerly VP Drama, ZDF Studios) says of the programme that it’s “a genuinely valuable initiative for the European drama ecosystem.”

Nathalie Lichtenthaeler of Wide Eye Films said, “European writers are often trained to work alone. Words Across Europe exists to change that. We want to give them the experience of creative collaboration and show them what becomes possible when you build a story together.”

THE COHORT 2026

The nine writers selected for the 2026 edition represent a broad sweep of European voices and national perspectives:

• Sofia Rimskaya (Russia): A Riga-based screenwriter with an MA from the London Film School and an alumna of Eureka and the TFL Series Lab. Her comedy series Honey, bye! was selected for Writers Campus at Series Mania 2026.
• Ioana Bogdana (Romania): A scriptwriter and producer based in Berlin, with credits spanning international film festivals and CEE VoD platforms across all stages of production.
  
• Andrija Ilić Prša (Serbia): A Cologne-based screenwriter, director and producer with a background in dramaturgy and serial storytelling, focused on visually powerful narratives that transcend borders.
• Carlos Robisco Peña (Spain): A writer and director from Barcelona with experience across theatre, film and television.
• Katie Murphy (Ireland): A screenwriter with a decade of experience in high-end TV and script development, most recently attached to Netflix’s upcoming Grown Ups, based on the novel by Marian Keyes.
  
• Maksim Nikiforovski (North Macedonia): A screenwriter whose work explores contemporary Europe from a distinctly underrepresented perspective.
  
• Hanna Stock (Germany): A filmmaker trained in screenwriting at HFF Munich, with a background in documentary filmmaking across film and television.
  
• Eve Tisler (Estonia): A screenwriter and creative producer with a background spanning journalism, communications and marketing.
  
• Jonathan Farrelly (Ireland): A writer of audio drama, television and film, known for his dedication to the craft of writing.