RTL Hungary and Paprika Studios choose alien drama as winner of the Hyperwriter main prize | News

RTL Hungary and Paprika Studios will develop a scripted series about a woman who claims to be an alien after its creator Anastasia Hoppanova won a pitching competition.

Earthling won this year’s Hyperwriter Grand Prize, taking place in Budapest and supported by RTL Hungary and Paprika Studios.

The jury that chose Earthling as the winner consisted of Virág Zomborácz, creative producer at RTL Hungary; Péter Kolosi, Chief Content Officer at RTL Hungary; Kristoffer Rus, producer at Paprika Studios Poland; and Bence Trunkó, creative director of Paprika Studios.

Hoppanova beat seven other authors to win a prize of €10,000 (US$10,930) and the opportunity to further develop the project in collaboration with Paprika Studios and RTL Hungary.

“Earthling” begins when a quirky woman claiming to be an alien appears in a quaint small town. Only a conspiracy theorist and single father of three believes her.

As rumors spread and the government closes in on her, she must navigate the chaotic human world, build a new family life, and secretly repair her spaceship, all while keeping everyone guessing whether she’s truly alien or just quirky is and a little crazy.

It was the sixth edition of the Hyperwriter Competition, where nearly 250 authors/creators from 40 countries across six continents submitted entries.

In the first step of the two-stage selection process, fifteen works were selected to participate in an online workshop and a semi-final. Of these, eight creators or pairs of creators presented their ideas to the jury and the audience on October 8th in Budapest.

“Although there was some uncertainty in the domestic and international fiction series markets at the beginning of this year, we at Paprika Studios have never been discouraged by the adverse developments,” said Ákos Erdős, CEO of Paprika Studios.

“Regardless of the current mood, we firmly believed that good stories will always ultimately overcome economic fears and negative market trends.

“In the middle of the year, interest in fictional series content came to the fore again and it became clear that the power of human stories remains unbroken. It was a refreshing experience to see such strong stories from the Hyperwriter finalists again this year.

“The competition was fierce and the entries presented the jury with a difficult decision. Congratulations to the winners; Anastasia Hoppanova’s concept rightly won the main prize.”

Péter Kolosi, Chief Content Officer at RTL Hungary, said: “Series is an incredibly important genre that offers endless possibilities; It’s no coincidence that even the most serious filmmakers have turned to this genre in recent years.

“We specifically looked for ideas that we could imagine working in both linear television and streaming and that would work well in both formats. Another important aspect for us was that the idea had to be original, and we found that in the winner.”