Schedules Previous Workshops
First Workshop — 25 to 27 April 2012 — Stockholm (Sweden)
Strategies and Initiatives for the Film Funders [Show/Hide the programme]
| Wednesday 25 April 2012 | |
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| 13.00 | Welcome and Introduction |
| 13.30 — 16.00 | MODULE 1 — Role of Public Film Funds Moderator: Katriel Shory |
| Whatever our structure as a public fund is (independent organization or division within a governmental entity), we are facing new challenges and shared issues (budget cuts, political vs cultural issues, economic benefits…) | |
| How do we understand our mandate? What do we do and why? Do we represent the voice of the public entities or the voice of the audiovisual sector? How can we bridge political and film sector issues? How – as a public service organization – can we be proactive as a leader in policy making? Are there innovative ways of addressing film policy? | |
| 16.00 — 17.00 | Break and late check-in |
| 17.00 — 19.30 | MODULE 2 — Partnership with Industry Moderator: Katriel Shory |
| Part 1: The viability of the audiovisual sector depends more and more on public money, increasing the responsibility of the film funds. | |
| What kind of a relation do we have with the industry? How far can we interfere in the film business? How far can film industry be involved in funds policies? How can funds collaborate effectively? | |
| Part 2: The role of the Producer (Producer as Entrepreneur) | |
| What to expect from the producer in this context? More responsibility? More entrepeneurship? How does it fit in a protected and regulated environment? | |
| 19.30 — 21.00 | Dinner |
| 21.00 — 21.45 | Feedback and consolidation – 3 groups to discuss issues pertaining to Modules 1 and 2 |
| Thursday 26 April 2012 | |
| 10.00 — 13.00 | MODULE 3 — Strategies Moderator: Katriel Shory and Joëlle Levie |
| Part 1: Identifying strategies that best serve the responsibility and control of public support, and that deliver films able to meet and answer the cultural and economic environment and challenges. | |
| How can the dynamics and diversity of national cinema be sustained and strengthened? How can the importance of art-house film funding be conciliated with the necessity of offering mainstream films to European audiences? Do we want to support films or companies (sustaining the film industry)? What are the core activities that would better serve the industry (scriptwriting, development, Production, distribution, promotion, professional development…)? | |
| Part 2: The Definition of National Film | |
| What defines a National Film? From points systems to cultural content tests, what are the positive and negative sides of such procedure? In which way are they obstacle to coproduction? | |
| 13.00 — 14.30 | Lunch |
| 14.30 — 17.00 | MODULE 4 — Continuity and Newcomers Moderator: Petri Kempinnen |
| The number of creative talents is constantly on the increase, as is the number of films being produced. | |
| How to find the right balance in the support of first-feature versus established directors? Different mechanisms for first-time directors? How second-time directors are evaluated when their first feature failed to meet certain expectations? How to deal with the number of films financed and the diversity of national cinema? | |
| 17.00 — 17.30 | Break |
| 17.30 — 18.30 | Feedback and consolidation – 3 groups to discuss issues pertaining to Modules 3 and 4 |
| 19.30 | Dinner |
| Friday 27 April 2012 | |
| 9.30 — 12.00 | MODULE 5 — New Formats Moderator: Sophie Bourdon Expert: Inga von Staden |
| New techniques, new forms of content, new distribution models, new screening devices, and new types of audiences will change all the traditional schemes. | |
| How are we prepared for such changes and transformation? How can we adapt to them and be proactive? What is trans-media or cross-media? What are their specific challenges? How can we benefit from each other's experience? How far are we ready to go in taking initiatives? | |
| 12.00 — 13.00 | Conclusions and Feedbacks |
Second Workshop — 7 to 9 November 2012 — Retz (Austria)
Financing Strategies [Show/Hide the programme]
| Wednesday 7 November 2012 | |
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| 13.00 | Welcome and Introduction Joëlle Levie – Head of Studies |
| 13.30 — 16.00 | MODULE 1 — The Role of Public Film Funds Moderator: Miroljub Vuckovic (Film Center Serbia) |
| This issue has been raised and discussed during the First Workshop. Participants have asked to include it again in the Second Workshop in order to discuss more in depth based on the following questions: | |
| What do we want to do? What do we want to achieve? What ambition do we have? Why do we think we have a role to play? | |
| 16.00 — 17.00 | Break and late check-in |
| 17.00 — 19.30 | MODULE 2 — Co-production, Minority and Agreements Moderator: Danny Krausz (Dor-Films) |
| How can reciprocity among producers be reconciled with co-production treaties having a legitimate need to favor national films? How to preserve the creative and artistic quality of a co-production? How can funds facilitate co-production procedures? | |
| 19.30 — 21.00 | Dinner |
| Thursday 8 November 2012 | |
| 10.00 — 13.00 | MODULE 3 — Financing Tools Moderator: Jean-Baptiste Babin (Back-Up Films) |
| Different forms of funding supports are proposed by public funds (automatic, selective, grant, equity participation, recoupable loans, advance on receipts…) | |
| What is at stake behind the notion of those forms of funding? Different forms of recoupable funding (equity, soft loan, interest free loan, investment…). Why recoup? What is the current level of recoupment? How do they collect their share of revenue? Is a cultural grant old-fashioned? What does it means in terms of follow up? | |
| Performance-based Mechanisms | |
| Different funding mechanisms are based on success (box office, festivals, sales…). Which indicators are used to define "success" and/or "performance"? How do producers use this "currency"? | |
| 13.00 — 14.30 | Lunch |
| 14.30 — 17.00 | MODULE 4 — National Funds / Regional Funds – Friends or Competitors? Moderator: Gregory Faes (Rhone-Alpes Cinema) Assisted by Charlotte Appelgreen (CineRegio) |
| The weight of regional funds is becoming increasingly important in film financing; it may represent a real added value and an alternative to more traditional national funds. With variously identical and different goals, how can the two cohabit? | |
| 17.00 — 17.30 | Break |
| 17.30 — 18.30 | "Open space" module for important and / or unexpected issues raised during the previous modules and needing to be discussed further. |
| 19.00 — 20.30 | Dinner |
| Friday 9 November 2012 | |
| 9.30 — 12.00 | MODULE 5 — A diversity of voice… a real challenge Moderator: Anna Serner (Swedish Film Institute) |
| Funds are facing real challenges to reach "diversity" in their decision process. How to deal with gender representativity? Regional production companies and authors? Diversity of genres (thriller, comedy, genre films…)? Diversity of cultural communities? | |
| 12.00 — 13.00 | Conclusions and Feedback |
Third Workshop — 17 to 19 September 2013 — Limelette (Belgium)
Impact of Digital in Film Business and Production Decision Making Processes [Show/Hide the programme]
| Tuesday 17 September 2013 | |
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| 19.00 | Arrival of Participants |
| 19.30 — 21.00 | Welcome Dinner |
| 21.00 — 22.30 | Introductory Meeting |
| Presentation of Participants Summary of First and Second Workshops (lessons learned, options, etc.) Introduction to Third Workshop |
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| Wednesday 18 September 2013 | |
| Impact of Digital in Film Business and Production | |
| Methodology: each module is organized in two parts. The first part will present evidence relevant to the question, drawn from research and case studies, from film and other related industries. The second part will take the form of a PEST analysis asking participants to consider a set of potential responses to the question. | |
| 9.00 — 9.15 | Introduction (The Perfect Storm/the workshop method - PEST analysis) |
| 9.15 — 10.45 | MODULE 1 — Should we support less films for an overcrowded market, or focus on ensuring that the films we select find audiences on new platforms? |
Briefing including facts and figures, covering the following issues
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| Group(s) discussion (PEST analysis of a set of options): Should we:
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| 11.00 — 12.45 | MODULE 2 — How does the dramatic increase in audience data and a demand-driven economy affect our decision-making processes? |
Briefing including facts and figures, covering the following issues:
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| Group(s) discussion: Should we:
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| 14.30 — 15.45 | MODULE 3 — How far do we need to adapt to new business models, and how far can we seek to protect traditional industrial structures? |
Briefing including facts and figures, covering the following issues:
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| Group(s) discussion Should we:
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| 16.00 — 17.30 | MODULE 4 — Conclusions |
| The concluding session will bring together the themes of the day and think about the environment that would need to be taken into account in the decision process. | |
| The session will try to distil the discussion into a set of ideas that will help the discussion of the second day and inform how decisions could be taken. | |
The emphasis will be on finding practical approaches to the big questions, including:
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| 17.45 — 19.00 | Open Space |
| 20.00 — 22.00 | Dinner |
| Thursday 19 September 2013 | |
| Decision Making Processes | |
| Moderator: Bernhard Stampfer | |
| Methodology: each module will start with 2 to 3 case studies and/or experiences presented by participants and/or guest speaker(s). This will be followed by group discussions and a plenary session to share each group's results. | |
| 9.00 — 9.15 | Introduction – Recap of key issues of Day 1 |
| 9.15 — 11.00 | MODULE 5 — Goals and selection processes/methods |
| The decision process is key in the management of public funds. Methods vary from single person (director) decisions to board or committee driven ones. Funding decisions and funding goals are closely intertwined. | |
Case studies presented by selected participants:
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Group(s) discussion:
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| 11.15 — 12.45 | MODULE 6 — Selection criteria |
| Based on the discussion results from Module 2, we have a deeper look into selection criteria now and in the future: selective funds aim to support “quality” projects that will gain public recognition, reach an audience, be selected by the major festivals and most often service broadcast demand. To reach these targets, funds are often opposed to multi- functional selection criteria. | |
Case studies presented by selected participants and comparison of sets of criteria used by funds
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Group(s) discussion:
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| 13.00 — 14.15 | Lunch |
| 14.15 — 15.30 | MODULE 7 — Profiles of experts, consultants, selection committee members |
| Project assessment needs various specialized skill-sets: writing, packaging, legal issues, production, distribution, international marketing et al., hence selection committees most often consist of working professionals. | |
Case studies presented by selected participants based on the following issues:
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Group(s) discussion:
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| 15.45 — 17.00 | MODULE 8 — Relations with higher authorities and producers |
| 1. Relations with the political levels | |
| Politicians expect funding bodies to be successful, funded films to gain high visibility at all levels and the money spent to have equally visible economic and employment effects. What are the experiences regarding political pressures at times of economic downturn and budgetary constraints? | |
| How do public funds establish and maintain good communication with politicians in charge and their respective administration? | |
| A brief discussion about the current state of public funding in Europe. | |
| 2. Relations with the producers | |
| Relationships with producers (applicants) before, during and after the application process are of significant importance as funding decisions can have a massive impact on the production companies, their collaborators and employees. If negative, funding decisions can provoke frustration, anger and aggression. | |
Case studies presented by selected participants based on the following issues:
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Group(s) discussion:
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| 17.00 — 18.15 | Conclusions on Day 1 and Day 2 (Bernard & Michael) |
| 18.30 | Cocktail followed by Closing Dinner |
Fourth Workshop — 16 to 18 September 2014 — Štiřín (Czech Republic)
Promotion, Distribution and Success Evaluation [Show/Hide the programme]
| Tuesday 16 September 2014 | |
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| Evening | Welcome and networking dinner |
| Presentation of newcomers, review of the agenda, presentation of the moderators and guests. | |
| Wednesday 17 September 2014 | |
| 9.00 — 11.00 | MODULE 1 — The Role of Public Funds in Promotion |
| Public funds have adopted a variety of positions and tactics to promote the films they support. Some funds avail themselves of their website, newsletter and/or other means to promote and inform professionals, politicians and other parties. Others have created a specific entity to actively promote their industry and projects at festivals, on the market and/or for special events. | |
| Is it the role of public funds to be pro-active as a “promoters” of the projects they support, and/or of the professionals active in their country? To what extent can they become involved? Who are the persons concerned? Do their actions bring concrete results (political level, sales, selection for festivals, etc.)? What are their relations with sales agents and distributors? | |
| 11.15 — 12.45 | MODULE 2 — Release Windows |
| The question of release windows has become unavoidable. Access to content has changed radically since the appearance of VOD platforms and the decrease in box office revenues. Even if theatrical releases remain the best option for feature films, the pressure to change the rules for film releases must be considered. | |
| What kind of an influence can a film fund have over its own release? How can other market responses (straight to DVD or TV and, soon, to VOD) be dealt with? What about the holdback periods? | |
| 13.00 — 14.00 | Lunch |
| 14.30 — 16.15 | MODULE 3 — VOD Platforms as Potential Friends of the EU Cinema |
| The first day of the Third MEDICI Workshop was devoted to the impact of digital means on film business and production. Participants discussed the need to share knowledge with the industry about new distribution platforms, and a desire to see European films – mostly art-house films – attract more people and find an audience. With the arrival of VOD platforms, they expressed concern over whether people would watch art-house online. | |
| What will happen five years from now? Can what has happened to music be an example for films? Do film funds support VOD platforms in their own country? Is it the role of the funds to initiate the creation of national VOD for their indigenous productions (all categories)? | |
| 16.30 — 18.15 | MODULE 4 — Distribution: Who and What to Support? |
| Responsibility for distribution no longer lies with the distribution companies alone. Today, the distribution of a film (VOD platforms, theaters, producers, etc.) involves newcomers on the scene: a different expertise and a specific distribution strategy must be adapted to each film. Who to support and what kind expenses to finance? |
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| 18.30 — 19.45 | Open Space |
| 20.00 — 22.00 | Dinner |
| Thursday 18 September 2014 | |
| 9.00 — 10.45 | MODULE 5 — Finding and Addressing Audiences |
| Films are made to be seen and to find their target audience. Today, this represents a real challenge, given the market's fragmentation and the changes in consumer behavior. Indeed, nowadays the choice of both a film's content and its support is up to the consumer. | |
| What tools are required for funds and the film industry to gain better knowledge of the audience and the market? At what moment do funds ask producers whether they are taking the audience into account in the development or production of their projects? | |
| 11.00 — 12.45 | MODULE 6 — How to Evaluate Success? |
| Success evaluation is the key for film fund managers. It is a matter of accountability, not only with regard to the politicians and other instances, but also as to their own management and decision process. It can influence not only the subsidy level for a given project or producer but, in some cases, also determine their very eligibility, their evaluation criteria, the genre of the films for which support is sought, etc. | |
| Which tools can a film fund develop to evaluate its strategies and policy? How to make best use of success evaluation results? What data should be used: that of the European Audiovisual Observatory? Or the European film audience report drawn up for Creative Europe? Still other data? |
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| 13.00 — 14.30 | Lunch |
| 14.30 — 17.00 | Fourth MEDICI Workshop: List of Results |
| Each workshop draws up its own report but without any conclusions and/or statements. The decision to leave such closing remarks until the four-workshop series in its entirety comes to its end has been made deliberately by the participants thereof. Has everything been covered? To what extent have skills been transmitted to, and acquired by, the participants? Has there been any impact on the management of funds, programs and processes and/or procedures? Has a network of film funders creatively active in the defense and improvement of European films been established? To what degree have participants gained any expected professional benefits? |
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| 17.00 — 17.30 | Departure for airport |
Fifth Workshop — 29 September to 1 October 2015 — Santpoort (The Netherlands)
International Co-productions, Development, Gender and quotas [Show/Hide the programme]
| Tuesday 29 September 2015 | |
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| Evening | Welcome and networking dinner |
| Presentation of newcomers, review of the agenda, presentation of the Moderators and Guests | |
| Wednesday 30 September 2015 | |
| Coproductions, an Unavoidable Way to Finance Films | |
| 9.00 — 11.00 | MODULE 1 — Coproduction landscape (volume, coproduction treaties, cinema vs television, financial, non official) |
| Presentation of data by Karin Schockweiler, Luxembourg Film Fund and Emmanuel Roland, Wallonia Brussels Federation | |
| The first step to start the day is to have an overview of the coproduction landscape from the funds point of view. What is the portion of film supported by the funds that are coproductions with international countries (majority and minority, financial, service deals)? What are the limits of the coproduction treaties? Who and how to decide to sign a coproduction treaty? What is the experience of those countries for the funds that have already signed a treaty with them? What about coproduction treaties for TV productions and distribution? | |
| 11.15 — 12.45 | MODULE 2 — Financing issues: for the producers, for the funds (specific programmes, decision timeline, recoupment, financial coproduction) |
| Guest speaker: Roberto Olla, Eurimages | |
| Majority coproductions are considered as national productions and are financed at the same level. The financing of minority ones is a real challenge for the funds. Some of them have created specific programmes dedicated to minority coproductions. Is it the solution? What is the reasonable level of funding per project? What are the selection and decision criteria? Does it really help producers to develop partnership and reciprocity partnership? How much does it affect the production budget? | |
| 13.00 — 14.00 | Lunch |
| 14.30 — 16.00 | MODULE 3 — Legal issues: what documents or specific requirements to ask and what for? Can the majority producer take the lead? Do producers have enough coproduction knowledge? |
| Guest speaker: Pierre Emmanuel Mouthuy, lawyer Belgium | |
| Coproduction means to put together different business practices and requirements from all partners (incl. funds, distributors, private funds, etc.). It means for producers and funds a lot of paperwork and sometimes hard negotiations (mainly recoupment). What are the minimum essential requirements that funds could ask to producers? Could the fund that finances the majority producer be the leader in terms of approval. | |
| 16.15 — 17.30 | MODULE 4 — Distribution: coproduction opens the access to other countries, does the audience follow? |
| Coproduction Treaties allow projects to have different nationality and to have access to public funds in each country including distribution subsidies. What are the audience results for those projects in the coproduction countries? At what stage of the production to require a local distributor on board? For what market? Given the difficulty to access audience for national films, how are those films promoted and released? How to attract audience? Could other distribution platforms be allowed in this context? | |
| 17.30 — 19.45 | Open Space |
| 20.00 — 22.00 | Dinner |
| Thursday 1 October 2015 | |
| Development, Gender/Quotas Issue | |
| 9.00 — 10.45 | MODULE 5 — Development, an underestimated stage in the production process? |
| Guest speaker: Claud Ladegaard, Danish Film Institute | |
| Most of the projects applying for production subsidy are considered by evaluation committee members or commissioners as not ready for production. There are few reasons, like: the necessity for producers to produce in order to "earn" money for their company, the access to feedback that they can communicate to their director and scriptwriter, the pressure from their director to go into production as soon as possible, etc. What is the level of money dedicated by funds for development? What do funds consider as development expenses? Are coproductions eligible to those funds? What about co-development fund initiatives? | |
| 11.00 — 12.45 | MODULE 6 — Gender / Quotas issue |
| Update on funds strategies: Anna Serner, Swedish Film Institute and Isabel Castro, Eurimages | |
| During the Second MEDICI Workshop, the last module was devoted to "gender". Since then, various funds set up working groups or, may even be, specific programmes to allow women to be more supported and present in the film industry. This module will provide an opportunity to share statistics, views and steps already performed by the funds. Does this mean that "quotas" should be implemented to achieve the objectives? These quotas would apply only the gender issue? | |
| 13.00 — 14.00 | Lunch |
| 14.30 — 17.00 | MODULE 7 — What to foresee in the next ten years based on what’s going on now? |
| Why not spend some time to look to what is happening within the funds? Are they new initiatives, issue of funding, future changes that would be useful to share with their colleagues? How do funds see their role evolving in the next ten years? | |
| 17.00 — 17.30 | Departure to airport |
Sixth Workshop — 27 to 29 September 2016 — Warth (Switzerland)
The Development of Content: Challenges and Opportunities – Public Funds as Pawns or Players? [Show/Hide the programme]
| Tuesday 27 September 2016 | |
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| Evening | Welcome and networking dinner |
| Presentation of Newcomers, review of the agenda, presentation of the Moderators and Guests | |
| Wednesday 28 September 2016 | |
| 9.00 — 11.00 | MODULE 1 — Evaluation of funds' portfolio |
| The main goal of the funds is to support projects through different funding schemes covering the value chain. The decisions taken depend on different factors: objectives of the fund (political, cultural, and economic), volume of projects, sustainability of the audiovisual industry, diversity and, above all, the quality of the submitted projects. If the funds had the opportunity to estimate their portfolio in terms of quality of the projects only, what would their appreciation, their “personal” evaluation be? Satisfactory? Unsatisfactory? What would they like to improve (schemes, skills …)? What would they do if they had the possibility to redesign their project supporting processes? How to define quality? |
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| 11.15 — 12.45 | MODULE 2 — Scriptwriting and Development Support: funding landscape, co-development initiatives and development strategies, successful or unsuccessful stories |
| Almost all funds have schemes dedicated to the development of projects. Some of them have a specific scriptwriting support scheme dedicated to script development. There are also more and more co-development initiatives between funds from different countries to favor an earlier cooperation between coproduction partners. What do funds expect as outcomes of those schemes? What do they consider as the most important activities to be achieved during this stage of production? Do they consider themselves as a development partner? What experiences and practices give good results? |
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| 13.00 — 14.00 | Lunch |
| 14.30 — 16.15 | MODULE 3 — Automatic schemes: more to sustain production companies than develop quality projects? |
| Funds have implemented automatic schemes to emphasize on success and/or return on investment. The money generated by the producer through those schemes can be used to finance the development and production of future projects without going through the selective process. Do those schemes meet the funds' expectations? Do they contribute to the reinforcement of production companies? Does this contribute to the financing of quality films? | |
| 16.30 — 18.15 | MODULE 4 — VoD platforms as commissioners and distributors of original content. For good or for bad? |
| VoD platforms have started to commission content (TV series and feature films) they tend to distribute exclusively on their networks. They position themselves also as distributors by buying worldwide rights and ask to “premiere” the film before theatrical release. Those strategies raise many questions: what will be the impact of those new players on content? How will new business models challenge public funds not only in terms of financing but also on distribution strategy? |
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| 18.30 — 19.45 | Open Space |
| 20.00 — 22.00 | Dinner |
| Thursday 29 September 2016 | |
| Other Types of Projects to Support | |
| 9.30 — 11.00 | MODULE 5 — Talent development initiatives (support to experimental films, micro-budget, wild card, genre projects, etc.) |
| The digital era gives to filmmakers new tools for low costs production. The competition among young and experienced filmmakers for access to public funds becomes fiercer and fiercer. Short films support is an option but there is a time when long feature corresponds to the development of a filmmaker's career. How to encourage talents to develop themselves? How could funds take more risk at a lower price? |
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| 11.15 — 12.30 | MODULE 6 — Hybrid contents: the mix of different artistic disciplines |
| There are new ways for artistic content creators to develop, finance and distribute their audiovisual works and to engage with audiences in both classic screenings and exhibition environments and beyond. How to support professionals of media and art industries creating content in the borderland between art and film? How do the production and the institutional contexts influence the creative process? What is the future of artistic cinema? Does it lie in the hands of the film industry or in the hands of the art world – or in between? How can best practices from the art world be adapted by the independent film world, or vice versa? | |
| 13.00 — 14.30 | Lunch |
| 14.30 — 16.30 | MODULE 7 — Is Training part of funds professional development strategy? |
| Professional training has become part of the industry's tools and plays a role in the maintenance and growth of an economically and culturally valuable audiovisual sector in Europe. It nurtures creativity and innovation in the development and production processes, critical reflection, collaboration and networking among professionals, activity based research, etc. It is time to compare and share experiences to reinforce this segment for the good of the industry. Have funds identified gaps in the actual training offers? Do they have a training strategy and consistent financial resources? What is the dynamic between funds and training organizations? What are the successful and unsuccessful initiatives in terms of impact on the industry? |
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| 16.30 — 17.30 | End of the Workshop – Departure for airport |
Seventh Workshop — 27 to 29 September 2017 in Norway
The Role of the Film Funds in the Future [Show/Hide the programme]
| Thursday 28 September 2017 | |
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| 9:00 – 10:30 | MODULE 1 – What are the essential and relevant values of public funds? |
| To talk about the role of the funds in the future, it is essential to identify the core values that support their actions and should continue to do so. The constant demands of the sector to adapt to its needs, the pressure of "political" environment and its financial contributors to achieve different objectives and the arrival of new players, may divert funds from their original function. Is it not them who, with their global vision and constant relationship with the industry, are likely to be the driving force of the audiovisual sector?tele | |
| 10:45 – 12:15 | MODULE 2 – How to design funding programs today? |
| Presented by the Swedish Film Institute and FFA | |
| The revision of support programmes is a recurring and necessary exercise for funds; firstly, because the environment is changing and evolving, and secondly, because financial and admi- nistrative constraints may be imposed them on funds. Which method to use to review the programmes, and what are the values to be considered? Are there ways to simplify their functioning in order to make their management and administration easier and put them on the same level shared by professionals? | |
| 12:30 | Lunch |
| 13:45 – 15:30 | MODULE 3 – How to take risk and experiment? |
| Case study: Antoine Le Bos / Le Groupe Ouest (legroupeouest.com) | |
| New forms of content and distribution platforms have emerged offering a multitude of different contents that are very different from the traditional forms. How to meet this demand? Isn’t it the role of the funds to "push" the writers and producers to take more risks? For whom? Why? How to support them? When? | |
| 15:45 – 17:30 | MODULE 4 – Diversity, essential to reach audiences? Are there tools to better evaluate the diversity of audiences? |
| Guest speaker: Anna Mansi, Head of Certification / BFI | |
| Today it is the viewer who decides what he/she wants, where and when. His/her choice will depend on personal taste, culture, age, his/her desires ... This requires that the works which are created, produced and funded represent a diversified offer meeting his/her demands. How to define this diversity (cultural, gender projects, forms of content, duration of the works, etc.)? Are there ways to better understand the potential audience? To access data to measure the success of new platforms thus acting with better knowledge? | |
| 17:30 – 18:15 | Presentation of the study “Current state of investment of national and regional public funds in Europe for professional training - The role of funds in professionalizing actors in the audiovisual industry“ |
| Presentation: Joëlle Levie, consultant for FOCAL | |
| The support of public funds is the key to financing European audiovisual projects. The question is whether their role goes beyond that of being solely a financial partner and also consists in offering tools to accompany and professionalize the sector enabling it to remain competitive in a market increasingly open to the world. | |
| Friday 29 September 2017 | |
| 9:00 – 10:30 | MODULE 5 – How to integrate new technologies and players in the value chain |
| Case study: Elisabet Gretarsdottir / DICE (Sweden) (www.dice.se) | |
| Finding an audience became inseparable from the creative process. How is it that other sectors of the entertainment available on various broadcast media perform as well? Are there any strategies that the audiovisual sector, and in particular cinema, can adopt? | |
| 10:45 – 12h15 | MODULE 6 – Comparison of distribution and promotion schemes |
| Case studies: Axel Scoffier, Head of Finance - Financial and Legal Department / CNC | |
| How to support the distribution and promotion of works? How to take into account new forms of distribution? This module will be dedicated to sharing various support programs for distribution and promotion already in place or those they wish to implement. | |
| 12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch |
| 14:00 – 15:30 | MODULE 7 – Engaging with the Future |
| Presentation: Johanna Koljonen, consultant for the EFAD’s working group | |
| This workshop provides an opportunity for MEDICI participants to look forward at how bigger strategic issues in the changing screen industries might affect their work practically in the next ten years. | |
| The issues in the workshop are selected based on the research for an EFADS vision paper about the future of public fund to be presented in Tallinn in late November 2017. | |
| 15:45 – 16:30 | Debriefing |
Eighth Workshop — 26 to 28 September 2018 in Royaumont Abbey
Cooperation between public funds in an increasingly complex and international environment: opportunities, actions, ideas [Show/Hide the programme]
| Wednesday 26 September 2018 | |
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| Arrival of participants | |
| 20:00 | Welcome dinner |
| Thursday 27 September 2018 | |
| Moderator: Inga von Staden | |
| linkedin.com/in/ivstaden projectscope.de |
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| 9:00 – 9:30 | Introduction |
| 9:30 – 11:00 | MODULE 1: Cooperation between funds means mainly supporting coproduction |
| Impulse speaker: Roberto Olla (Eurimages) | |
| And panel with Anna Serner (SFI), Michel Plazanet (CNC), Jacques-Henri Bronckaert (Versus Film Production), Lene Børglum (Space Rocket Nation) | |
| Coproductions involve funding partners from different countries. The support of public bodies in those projects represents more than 50% of their financing. The funding bodies have different cultures, different funding processes and sometimes require for the projects they support to be coproduced under official coproduction treaties. The modules 1a and 1b will take a closer look how to work with those treaties and what it means to work without such treaties. | |
| 9:30 – 11:00 | MODULE 1a: Do funds need coproduction treaties? |
This 1st part of the module discussed the significance of co-productions and will allow the participants to share their experience on supporting co-productions:
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| 11:15 – 12:30 | MODULE 1b: Are there possible alternatives? |
| What would be the alternatives be to co-production treaties and requirements? Should there funds use cultural tests, co-development and co-production agreements for themselves? Could it be possible to have the same definition of co-production for all public funds? | |
| 12:45 | Lunch |
| 13:45 – 15:30 | MODULE 2: How to access smart data to better reach the audience? |
| Impulse speaker: Raimo Lang (YLE/ Creative Content division product development for VOD, AOD, TV, radio and on-line.) | |
| linkedin.com/in/raimolang/ | |
| A new regulation is taking place in Europe for VOD and SVOD platforms to respect the requirements of each country in terms of supporting local projects and European content. They will have to contribute to the financing of projects and give access to their data. It will be a long process. | |
| In order to create highly relevant content for different audience segments a better understanding of the recipients is needed. How can producers and funds gain a better understanding of the respective audience? There is some quantitative data available that could be used by the industry and funds to get to know better their audience. How can funds access that data? Is it not time for action? How could funds cooperate on creating their own data as well as getting access to existing data? | |
| 15:45 – 17:30 | MODULE 3: How could funds help each other to make the projects they co-finance visible? |
| Raimo Lang (YLE/ Creative Content division product development for VOD, AOD, TV, radio and on-line.) | |
| linkedin.com/in/raimolang/ | |
| A certain number of films funded by public bodies are very briefly distributed on the local and international markets or not at all. The main reason for this is not by default the quality of the films but the competitive markets and the difficulty to find an adequate platform. Are there some examples of successful strategies? Are there some distribution concepts that could be proposed to funds and/or producers/distributors? What role could online platforms (VODs, SVODs etc.) play in this scenario? | |
| 17:30 – 18:15 | Open space |
| Friday 28 September | |
| Moderator: Inga von Staden | |
| linkedin.com/in/ivstaden projectscope.de |
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| 9:00 – 12:15 | MODULE 4: How to simplify and make life easier for funds and producers in terms of paperwork |
| Each public fund involved in a project has specific and common requirements, including the chain of titles, contracts, financing plan, budget, list of cast, projection of pre-sales, distribution deals or LOI, etc. Those requirements correspond to a bunch of documents for evaluation and analysis at different stages (from eligibility to payment schedules). | |
| 9:00 – 10:30 | MODULE 4a: Overview of what each participating fund requires and analyzes |
The issues to be discussed during this module will be:
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| 10:45 – 12:15 | MODULE 4b: Would it be possible to simplify those requirements and delegate responsibilities? |
| Impulse speaker: Ulrich Dessouassi (Groupe Média TFO) | |
| Could the use of a block chain platform be a solution? What would be the impediments? How could it work? Could the funds share responsibility for the analysis of the documents? What about a common financing plan and production budget? | |
| 12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch |
| 14:00 – 15:30 | MODULE 5: How to assess the performance of funding programs dedicated to international co-operation |
| Many funds have put or intend to put in place schemes to support the development of relationships between local and foreign producers, i.e. minority coproduction support schemes, co-development and/or co-production schemes. Each of these programs have different objectives i.e. encouraging the cooperation among professionals from different countries, give space for newcomers outside of their conventional funding schemes, consolidate production companies, give work to their local professionals. What are the objectives? Have those objectives been reached? | |
| 15:45 – 16:30 | Debriefing |
Ninth workshop — 25 to 27 September 2019 — Potsdam, Berlin (Germany)
The public film funds’ experiences with new players and forms of content, their impact on funding schemes and their responsibility towards the industry in the 21st century [Show/Hide the programme]
| Wednesday 25 September 2019 | |
|---|---|
| Arrival of participants | |
| 20.00 | Welcome dinner |
| Thursday 26 September 2019 | Morning | |
| 9.00 — 9.15 | Introduction |
| MODULE 1 — Platform economy | |
| In this first module, we will give an overview of the current situation of the media platform economy and the developments that we can expect in the coming years. We will follow up with discussions on how the national funds could or should react and what role the European Commission should play in this area. | |
| 9.15 — 10.45 | A map of the platform economy |
| The emergence of Netflix (more than 140 million subscribers) and other streaming platforms could be considered as a tsunami in the audiovisual environment. They are profoundly changing audience behaviour and have a deep impact on film production, financing and distribution. The lecture will give us a map showing where the platform economy stands today and where it is going. | |
| 9:15 – 9:45 | Lecture and Q & A: Overview of the platforms’ landscape Patrizia Simone, EuropeanFilm & TV analyst / Audiovisual Observatory |
| 9:45 – 10:15 | Lecture and Q & A: How the platform landscape is evolving Fabio Lima, Digital Sofa and Filmillier, Brazil |
| 10.15 — 12.30 | How do public funds experience the emergence of platforms? How do funds reposition themselves in the changing media environment? |
| The emergence of platforms has an impact on project financing. Which producer does not dream of selling his/her project to Netflix, Prime Time, YouTube, etc.? A great deal of money and resources go into the creation of original content for platforms. What does this mean for “standard” released projects like Arthouse Cinema? | |
| 10:15 – 10:45 | Case study: Experience with platform content Norwegian Film Institute and other participants |
| 10:45 — 11.00 | Break |
| 11:00 – 11:30 | Lecture and Q & A: Doing business with platforms Constraints, opportunities, actions to be taken by public funds regarding platforms as a financing partner William Page, CEO / FilmDoo-Eurovod (UK) |
| 11:00 – 12:30 | Open discussion: Sharing the experience with SVOD/VOD platforms |
| 12.30 — 13.30 | Lunch |
| Thursday 26 September 2019 | Afternoon | |
| MODULE 2 — Formats – What are we talking about? Why this question today? | |
| As we shift from linear programming in cinemas and broadcasting to catalogue-based media on platforms, defining and designing the format to reach out to a global audience has become an integral part of the content development process. How does this change the development process? What viewing habits must be taken into consideration – screens, locations, duration, 2nd screen activity? What exactly does “designing for the binge” / “integrating social media strategies” / “acknowledging the long tail” mean? Are there any common definitions that public funds could use to differentiate between new forms of content? | |
| 13.45 — 15.45 | A short guide to format and their development (lecture and exercise) |
| Why is there now a need to design formats? How do format and content development blend? What parameters do we need to consider when we define a format? What work stages are part of format design? How do we know what format to develop? When do we begin defining a format? When should we be done with formatting? What skills and criteria are needed to facilitate and assess the development and production for platforms? | |
| 13:45 – 14:15 | Lecture and Q & A: A short guide to format development Inga von Staden |
| With the evolution of serial content and a multitude of audiovisual formats, the development phase is preceded by a so-called predevelopment in which the story universe is created and audience research conducted. We will take a short dive into the pleasure of creating worlds from which to derive stories for films and actions for games to better understand how the development process for audiovisual media is changing. | |
| 14.10 — 15.00 | How can funds support the creation of relevant and accessible content? How to define relevance, and for whom? |
| Some funds, e.g. the Danish Film Institute, have adapted its strategy and opens up its financing schemes to transmedial and new media projects in development and production. What are the reasons for not doing so? Even those who do not consider transmedial formats to be of relevance to them, what strategies do he has for the development of new formats such as series for streaming platforms? How does he react to audiovisual storytelling taking place at all times and on every device? How does that impact the cultural objectives of the fund? How does that impact film making? What could be the framework for programmes addressing formats beyond cinema and traditional TV? | |
| Lecture and Q & A: Claus Ladegaard, CEO and Head of Film Funding Danish Film Institute |
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| 15:00 – 16:00 | Exercice in groups Format development |
| 16:00 – 16:15 | Break |
| 16:15 – 16:15 | What are our insights for the funding schemes? Presentation by the working groups |
| 16:45 – 17:30 | Open discussion Sharing of the experiences with new format development |
| MODULE 3 — Free Flow… and a glass of wine! | |
| 18.00 — 19.00 | Let us know what you want to talk about |
| Participants are invited to have a glass of wine offered by the Medienboard Berlin Brandebourg, network, share and post on a wall the issues they would like to discuss with their colleagues, but also leave their impressions of the day and make proposals for the following day and/or future workshops. | |
| 20.00 | Dinner |
| Friday 27 September 2019 | Morning | |
| MODULE 4 — Digitisation from application to distribution | |
| As presented in the previous MEDICI workshop, the blockchain could be adapted to public film funding. That is possible because the blockchain technology correlates with the process of digitisation which most of the public film funds currently use to digitise their funding documents, and because most of the public film funds produce, co-produce, acquire and distribute content. They have to deal with a wide variety of different types of contracts and stakeholders. That implies a great deal of administrative work and burdens that could be reduced by implementing blockchain architecture. | |
| 9.00 — 10.30 | The digital track record of funding |
| Various funds are currently synchronising and digitising their documentation. In this discussion, we will be sharing our experiences with the implementation of and work with digitised funding processes. What do we need in order to go forward if blockchain were to be THE solution to the burden of administrative work for the funds and the industry? Are the needs identical? Is there a possibility to share any of these technological developments rather than create them anew for each funding body and thus lose time and money? | |
| 9:00 – 9:30 | Lecture and Q & A: Digitising workflows in public organisations Florian Glatz, blockchain lawyer – President and Founding Member of Blockchain Federal Association (Germany) |
| 9:30 – 10:00 | How we digitised our workflow Case studies presented by selected participants |
| 10:00 – 10:30 | Open discussion |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | Break |
| 10.45 — 12.30 | Blockchain: bringing digital into relationships |
| We will take another look at blockchain to further explore its potentials and challenges. Is its implementation as simple as announced? How does blockchain differ from the digitisation that funding bodies have implemented? How can the different funding bodies synchronise their efforts to make sure that their blockchains enable international co-production? | |
| 10:45 – 11:15 | Lecture and Q & A: Block chain as a part of the workflow Vincent Choukroun, Project Manager Cascade 8/Logical Pictures (France) |
| 11:15 – 12:00 | Exercise in groups Block chain as a part of a new funding scheme Supporting new formats and platform distribution |
| 12:00 – 12:30 | What are our insights for the funding schemes? Presentation by the working groups |
| 12.45 — 13.45 | Lunch |
| 13:45 — 14.30 | Continuation: MODULE 4 Digitisation from application to final evaluation Open discussion |
| 14.30 — 14.45 | Break |
| Friday 27 September 2019 | Afternoon | |
| MODULE 5 — Sustainability | |
| Surviving in the 21st century | |
| Never have we produced nor consumed as much audiovisual content as today. The industry is growing by the minute. New technologies, the opening of borders, and new distribution windows have made audiovisual storytelling a very attractive profession. Public funds are unable to keep track of the increased number of producers and studios. How do we deal with this complexity? | |
| 14.45 — 15.45 | Are there any strategies in place? Case studies presented by selected participants Open discussion |
| 15.45 — 16.45 | MODULE 6 — Free flow — What do you think? |
| Before leaving, participants are invited to have a glass of wine, network and share their impressions of the workshop and make proposals for future workshops. | |
| 17.00 | Departure |