Frank Spotnitz, writer and producer of The X-Files, is coming to Romania.

The second creative residency of the first edition of the Full Moon Creative Lab programme, an initiative of the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF), begins. From 7 to 13 March, 12 screenwriters from Europe will gather at Bethlen-Haller Castle in Transylvania, where they will have the opportunity to develop their writing skills alongside international experts from the film industry. The Full Moon Creative Lab (FMCL) programme is dedicated to writers of thriller, horror and fantasy series. The TIFF initiative is co-financed by the European Union.

American writer and producer Frank Spotnitz will come to Romania for the first time as a special guest of the FMCL and will give a masterclass. With a career spanning over 25 years in television production, he is the writer and executive producer of one of the most successful TV series The X-Files, as well as two subsequent films. The X-Files has won three Golden Globes for Best Drama Series, a Peabody Award and was nominated for an Emmy Award for both Writing and Best Drama Series. Spotnitz is also the CEO and founder of Big Light Productions, a London and Paris-based production company that specializes in international television series, including dramas, comedies and documentaries such as Emmy-winning The Man in the High Castle; Doctors: Masters of Florence and two seasons of Medici: The Magnificent (RAI, Netflix, SFR Play); The Indian Detective (Netflix, CTV); Redemption (CBS, Global, TF1, RTL); season three of Crossing Lines (Tandem Productions/StudioCanal); and season two of Transporter: The Series (TNT, M6, HBO Canada).

Drawing on his experience in television in both the US and Europe, Frank Spotnitz will speak in the masterclass about the values that help create and sustain successful storytellers. The projects selected for the first edition of the Full Moon Creative Lab belong to screenwriters Adina Istrate (Romania) - script of the thriller Aurora, Giulio Rizzo (Italy) - horror - fantasy project ICU - Immortal Care Unit and Barbara Skubic (Slovenia) - script of the thriller Negative Split. The 3 headwriters mentioned above are joined by 9 other screenwriters from Romania, Italy, Ireland, Hungary, Slovenia, Poland and Bulgaria. They are: Barry Murphy (Ireland), Rosella di Campli (Italy), Richard Karpala (Poland), Sînziana Cojocărescu (Romania), Nadya Todorova (Bulgaria), Greg Simmons (Ireland), Cristina Iliescu (Romania), Attila Veres (Hungary), Rafael Alberto Garciolo (Germany).

Divided into 3 Writers' Rooms, Full Moon Creative Lab participants will be mentored by three facilitators, professionals from the film industry: Eilon Ratzkovsky (Israel), a producer with over 25 years of experience in film and TV series production, Arnaud Louvet, a French writer and producer involved in series projects for streaming platforms, and writer and director Geo Doba from Romania, a graduate of the prestigious Serial Eyes Program at DFFB in Berlin, where she received the Big Light Writers' Apprenticeship Award (2021). As a reminder, the first edition of Full Moon Creative Lab will conclude with a pitching session at the Transilvania International Film Festival (June 2024), in front of influential industry professionals, fostering opportunities for projects to find market support.

As a reminder, the first edition of Full Moon Creative Lab will conclude with a pitching session at the Transylvania International Film Festival (June 2024), in front of influential industry professionals, fostering opportunities for projects to find market support.The second residency of the FMCL takes place at the Bethlen-Haller Castle in the Baltic Fortress, built between 1560 and 1624.

The castle has become a treasured symbol of Jidvei. Through an extensive restoration process, which began in 2003 and lasted almost 20 years, the castle has been brought back to light and repositioned in the cultural heritage of the community and of Romania.

The Full Moon Creative Lab is an annual creative laboratory that will take place in Transylvania, giving scriptwriters the opportunity to develop their skills surrounded by international industry experts. The project aims to improve the creative process of screenwriters by connecting talented filmmakers from all EU Member States. The lab marks the next step in the development of the Full Moon Script Contest, a programme launched by TIFF in 2020.