26/03/2025 - The 8 x 30-minute project created by Clémence Dargent and steered by Salle Commune Productions was singled out by the jury at the close of the Series Mania Forum’s pitching sessions

(l-r) Producer Jonas Benhaiem, creator Clémence Dargent and producer Jean-Félix Dealberto with their award for Tokyo Crush (© Jérôme Gorin)

From among the 15 projects selected and presented in yesterday’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions which took place in the Series Mania Festival’s professional sidebar, Series Mania Forum (read our article), the jury led by American M-K Kennedy (StudioCanal) and further composed of Denmark’s Henriette Marienlund (DR Drama), Spain’s  José Pastor (RTVE), Germany’s Frank Seyberth (ZDF) and Canada’s André Béraud (ICI Radio-Canada Télé) decided to single out the French-Japanese project Tokyo Crush, explaining that: "We loved the potential we saw for the story IN and OUT of the kitchen. It felt fresh, like a series with multiple entry points for audiences, featuring an ensemble of characters and conflicts ripe for great comedy: a culture clash, tradition versus modernity, competition, a will-they/won't-they romance… All of which made it unique."

Tokyo Crush is being produced by Jonas Benhaiem and Jean-Félix Dealberto (read our interview) on behalf of French firm Salle Commune Productions (which won the prize worth 50,000 euros) in co-production with Hiroko Oda for Japan’s Flag Inc., and was created by Clémence Dargent (previously highly acclaimed for writing the series OVNI(s) and the feature films Bernadette [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Bis Repetita).

The story in this romantic comedy revolves around a bold Parisian chef called Mona who’s hired to reinvent a struggling "izakaya" in Tokyo – if only Toshiro, the founder’s talented (but annoyingly handsome) grandson, would let her…

(Translated from French)