The comedy romance series Tokyo Crush has been awarded the prestigious Best Project Award at the Series Mania festival, held this week in Lille, France. Selected from 15 projects, the series earned the €50,000 prize, one of the highest honors at the Forum, the festival’s industry section.
Produced by Jonas Ben Haiem and Jean-Félix Dealberto of France’s Salle Commune, which launched in 2022 with support from Charades, along with Hiroko Oda of Japan’s Flag Inc., Tokyo Crush was written by Clémence Dargent.
The series tells the story of Mona, a bold Parisian chef tasked with revamping a struggling izakaya in Tokyo. However, her efforts are complicated by Toshiro, the talented and frustratingly handsome grandson of the restaurant’s founder, who is reluctant to change.
The Co-Pro Pitching Sessions jury, which selected Tokyo Crush, was chaired by M-K Kennedy, executive managing director of TV series at Studiocanal. The jury also included André Béraud, head of scripted programs and feature films at ICI Radio-Canada Télé; Henriette Marienlund, head of drama at Denmark’s DR Drama; José Pastor, head of drama and fiction at Spain’s RTVE; and Frank Seyberth, head of coproduction at Germany’s ZDF.
Kennedy praised the project, stating, “After much debate, we chose Tokyo Crush because of its fresh potential, both in and out of the kitchen. It’s a series with multiple points of entry for audiences, featuring a rich ensemble of characters and conflicts ripe for comedy—clashes of cultures, tradition versus modernity, competition, and the classic will-they/won’t-they romance.”
Laurence Herszberg, founder and general director of Series Mania, expressed her delight at the outcome, adding, “In these challenging times, I’m thrilled to see a romantic comedy take the top prize. It’s exactly what audiences need right now.”
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