The second and final day of MEDIA PLAY Sofia delivered another dynamic series of sessions spotlighting co-production strategies, regional successes, and bold new fiction projects.

The day opened with Tereza Bona Keilova of HBO Original Docs CEE, offering valuable insights into co-producing documentaries with major streamers. In parallel, Creative Europe MEDIA representatives from Croatia and Bulgaria shared essential funding guidance for independent producers and content creators.

A notable highlight was Zucchero Media’s deep dive into the format journey of Win Your Country!, one of Romania’s most successful TV exports.

Digital creators took the stage next, as Ivan Zeljkovic, Vanja Džaferović, and Lyubomir Zhechev unpacked how they’ve turned online content into powerful personal media brands.

In Soviet Jeans – Bulgarian Textile for Baltic Success, the screenwriter Teodora Markova traced a unique story of fashion and cultural resonance that transcended borders.

In the afternoon, Entertainment in Times of War offered a moving look at the resilience of Ukraine’s media industry, while the TV Fiction Pitching Session showcased six standout projects, including South Stream (Serbia), Gold War (Bulgaria), The Adventure of a Turbo-Folk Princess by Andrey Volkashin, Good Enough by Jean-Nicolas Gilles Hopfer & Marta Hopfer-Gilles, and Ian Bibian by director Iavor Gardev.

Tim Crescenti, founder of Small World IFT, brought an international perspective with his trademark energy in a focused session on adapting and exporting Central and Eastern European formats globally.

The day concluded with Hristo Hadzhitanev’s overview of current trends, followed by a local industry spotlight and the first in-person edition of CEE Screenings, fronted by Georgi R. Chakarov, President and CEO of TVBIZZ Group, which presented the top fiction titles from across the region.