Adina Sadeanu
About Me
I am a writer, producer and most recently film director born and raised in Transylvania, a land of many mysteries and untold stories. Needless to say, I believe in the power of storytelling to shape minds, touch souls, and break down the barriers between human beings.
I was at the Berlinale 2020 when I told Kirsten Peters my idea - a TV series about the defection of a famous Romanian general to the United States during the Cold War and the last days which lead to it. She loved it. We agreed that I would go back to Romania and put it all on paper - my plan was to apply to a screenwriting competition held by the Bucharest-based NGO Cinemascop and HBO Europe.
I went home and wrote a concept and a scene as required by the competition rules and, two days before the deadline, I sent them to Kirsten. I still recall her enthusiastic reply: "I would love to be a part of this, if you still want me."
This is how it all began. At the end of four months of intense work and a lot of back-and-forth with the competition jury, our project won the HBO-Cinemascop competition. And so, another journey began. For two years, we frantically wrote the Spy/Master. The fact that our series is having its world premiere at the Berlinale 2023 - as the first Romanian TV Series selected here and the only one from the entire Central and Eastern Europe in this competition - is an honour that brings me a tremendous joy. It has been a tough yet amazing journey and I am grateful to every single person who made this possible!
"Spy/Master" came to life after years of writing spec scripts, producing films and theatre plays. My sci-fi spec script “Life Code” was placed among the top 20% of the 15,400 entries at the Nicholl Academy Fellowships (2017). My drama-thriller “Golden Ashes” was a Quarterfinalist at Shore Scripts competition (2016). and now I am turning it into a miniseries. At the end of 2019, I finished a black-comedy, “Vera”, which I am also working on to turn into a miniseries.
I am also joggling with new ideas and concepts inspired by real events with female-leads and international appeal.
On the directing side, I am currently in post-production with my debut feature documentary - “Please, forget me!“ - which was acquired by Reservoir Docs, the reputable French based sales agent with two Oscar nominated documentaries in its portfolio.
On the production side, my most recent projects as a producer are two wonderful films – “Thou Shalt Not Kill” (2019), distributed by the French-based company Indie Sales, selected in many European festivals (IndieLisboa/Warsaw) and “4:15 The End of the World”, an independent short-film that I produced together with Alex Craciun, which travelled the world, being selected in the official competition at Cannes (2016) and in over 35 international festivals.
My passion for great stories has its roots in a decade of journalism in Romania, the US and the UK. I covered Romania’s most egregious cases of financial fraud, writing many stories about spooks and crooks that have shaped my country’s post communism era. My experience both in communist and post-communist Romania has taught me a lot about both worlds - one in a dictatorship and another one in a free yet mad brave new world. After years of journalism in Romania, I moved to NY as the US correspondent of a major business publication and TV network. By 2008, I got a Master in Journalism at Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University and a Master in International Affairs at the Fletcher School, Tufts University. During my time in the States and the UK, I wrote for MarketWatch, Biloxi Sun Herald, Illinois Times, The Banker and Business New Europe. Last but not least, being an Alumni of the Marshal Memorial program of the German Marshal Fund of the United States added new and unique experiences to my professional and personal journey.