| Foundation for professional training in cinema and audiovisual media | |
PRESS RELEASEFOCAL PROUDLY PRESENTS THE FIRST FILM WORKSHOP INITIATED IN SWITZERLAND WITH THE SUPPORT OF MEDIAFor the first time since Switzerland became a full member of the European Union’s MEDIA Programme, on 1 April 2006, FOCAL( Foundation for Professional Training in Cinema and Audiovisual Media) has been awarded a generous grant for one of its professional training projects. In collaboration with its partners – the Erich Pommer Institute (Berlin), the National Film and Television School (Beaconsfield, UK) and the Norwegian Film Development (Oslo) – FOCAL is launching an ambitious international workshop entitled “Production Value”. Under the heading “Make the Best Out of Your Budget”, that workshop will offer line producers and first assistant directors the expertise they need to budget and develop a feature film. Sixty-eight interested parties from all over Europe applied for this workshop, due to hold its first session at Yverdon-les-Bains, from 27 January to 3 February, 2007. In a few days from now, eight of those candidates, from various countries, will have a chance to improve their skills and expertise by working on four European films currently being developed, under the direction of renowned and respected professional assistants directors and prodution managers. The invited specialists are: José Luis Escolar ("Kingdom of Heaven", "Perdita Durango"), Stuart Renfrew ("Bridget Jones' Diary", "Vanity Fair"), Pascal Salafa ("The Da Vinci Code", "Joyeux Noël") and Mathias Schwerbrock ("Die Nacht singt ihre Lieder", "Wolfsburg"). The real-life film projects on which they will be working are the following European co-productions: ("Think about Disney", directed by Alex de la Iglesia) from Spain, ("Serviam", directed by Ruth Mader) from Austria, ("Lyn Derek") from Norway and ("White Fever", Catpics Coproductions, directed by Sabine Boss) from Switzerland. This workshop was instigated by the Swiss film director Denis Rabaglia ("Azzurro", "Grossesse nerveuse"), Head of the fiction film department at FOCAL. Given the unusually large number of applications, “Production Value” will undoubtedly be repeated in 2008 and 2009. FOCAL organizes professional training in cinema and audiovisual media in Switzerland and Europe. The Foundation encourages professionals to develop their talents and skills. Its seminars, colloquiums and workshops are practice-oriented; they offer thinking space in which to question customary models, ways of thinking and work methods; they play an important role in the networking between Swiss film and audiovisual professionals and in the integration of Swiss film into the European scene. www.focal.ch List of participants Contact |