Scheduled this year from 4 to 6 August, Industry Days will present an original program of industry screenings (including a Digital Library), a work in progress session, forums and roundtables focused on sales and distribution issues. We are pleased to introduce exciting new initiatives and services; and would like to thank the MEDIA Programme of the European Union for their kind support of these new developments.

The newly-created Industry Home Base at the Ramada Palma au Lac Hotel will be the ideal location for industry events and a convenient meeting point for fi lm professionals. Most of the larger events, such as panels discussions, roundtables and workshops, will take place in two comfortable conference rooms, while the hotel terrace, overlooking the lake, is the perfect spot for more spontaneous, informal meetings.

With Step In, we are launching an initiative designed as a platform to discuss and develop new strategies for sales, distribution and exhibition of auteur cinema. In its inaugural year, Step In will focus on teh visibility of European auteur cinema in Eastern and Central Europe, where the business of arthouse cinema seems to be particularly challenging. A dozen independent players from the sector, distributors and exhibitors selected in collaboration with Europa Distribution and CICAE, representing the Eastern and Central European countries that are part of the MEDIA Programme, will be invited to Locarno for Industry Days and meet with sales agents (mostly members of Europa International) to debate and work on new approaches to distribution and marketing. Film New Europe will signifi cantly contribute to the event by providing an overview of the markets in the region, country by country. To round off the Step In Initiative, a slate of recent fi lms from Eastern and Central Europe will be presented in cooperation with Festivalscope at the Digital Library and made available for viewing to sales agents, distributors and festival programmers.

Nadia Dresti, Head of Industry Office

 

 

Carte Blanche 2012: Focus on Mexico

The Festival del fi lm Locarno's Carte Blanche is this year dedicated to Mexico. Started in 2011 with Colombia, this now annual initiative aims to offer a showcase for a number of fi lms in post-production, from a different country each year, in Asia, Africa, Latin America or South-East Europe. Carte Blanche is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). Thanks to IMCINE, the Mexican Film Institute, Carte Blanche will show seven fi lms in postproduction, each introduced by its producer, to the various international sales agents and festival programmers who will participate in Industry Days.
At the end of the program, a jury composed of three professionals will offer the best fi lm a prize of CHF 10,000, to be used to complete the fi lm. This initiative completes the range of opportunities the Festival offers specifi cally tailored to the needs and interests of professionals in the sector: buyers (Industry Screenings), producers (Open Doors) and sales agents (Carte Blanche).

The Carte Blanche program will start on Saturday, 4 August. The presentation will be moderated by Leonardo GarcíaTsao, Mexican journalist (La Journada) and former General
Director of the Cineteca Nacional México. The selected fi lms will be announced before the beginning of the Festival.

 

Industry Events

Designed to give an update of the present situation and to offer a discussion platform for professionals on the current and future trends of the fi lm industry, new challenges and new initiatives, especially in terms of sales, marketing and distribution.

Saturday, 4 August 2012

Europa Distribution Workshop on Marketing

Europa Distribution will host a workshop on marketing, PR and social networking in the digital age, with the support of the MEDIA Programme of the European Union. Europa Distribution, which now represents more than 120 leading independent distributors, has created the workshop to take a hard, practical look at the opportunities and challenges of viral marketing for indie distributors. Around 30 marketing managers from European distribution companies will get a chance to learn more about the newest Internet marketing tools and to benefi t from the advice of experts in the fi eld.

Step In.ch

Jointly organized by the Festival del fi lm Locarno the Dipartimento dell' educazione, della cultura e dello sport (DECS), the Swiss Federal Offi ce of Culture, Swiss Film and SSR-SRG, Step In.ch is a new initiative to discuss the state of distribution of Swiss Cinema in Ticino and to develop strategies to increase its presence and market share in the region.
At the presentation in Locarno, Step In.ch will be introduced to and discussed with Swiss
distributors and local exhibitors.

 

When CrossMedia Promotes Cinema: The Walloon Case Study

How can cinema continue to captivate the "Digital Generation?" The answer is simple: by seeking young audiences out on their own turf! If we want to continue to tell stories, we should do so on the big screen, but also using smart phone applications and social networks, the tools, the new generation is so passionate about. Moving onto Transmedia, though, is a cultural revolution for most of the so-called "Digital Immigrants". Providing support for fi lm production is a good thing. Helping the fi lms we've
supported fi nd an audience is an even better thing. The regional fund Wallimage (in the South of Belgium) is one of the fi rst public bodies to fi nance a Crossmedia investment line with up to €1M. Ten projects have already found an online home. Philippe Reynaert, CEO of Wallimage, will make a fi rst evaluation in Locarno.

 

"InVitr0: The Talent Incubator", a New Content Production and Distribution Platform and Network

In Vitr0 is working with a plethora of emerging talents by inviting young fi lmmakers to produce short fi lm content around specifi c themes. The hybrid nature of InVitr0 coupled with innovative production and collaboration tools will facilitate the enrichment of InVitr0 short fi lm compilations with transmedia elements. InVitr0 as an international network of production and distribution partners builds wide audiences by generating exciting online marketing campaigns and new revenue streams. InVitr0 is supported by MEDIA Programme Pilot Projects.

 

Short Film Festival Madagascar

At this occasion, Festival del fi lm Locarno will give the opportunity to Laza Razanajatov, Director of the Short Film Festival Madagascar, to introduce his festival for creative shorts and explain the benefi ts for its local audience and the fi lm industry as a whole.

 

Sunday, 5 August 2012

 

The Step In Day

Overview of the market situation in Eastern and Central Europe In the morning, Anna Franklin (Film New Europe), the moderator of this interactive session, will give a concise and comprehensive update on distribution and exhibition of European films in the region, country by country. Local players will be on hand to share concrete experiences with their peers and begin identifying key trends, issues and challenges to be addressed later in the day.
At this occasion, Festival del fi lm Locarno will provide the opportunity for Alessandro Gropplero, Head of International Relations of the FVG Audiovisual Fund, to introduce When East Meets West, a co-production forum organized in collaboration with the Trieste Film Festival and EAVE. The initiative aims to encourage cooperation between Eastern Europe, Italy and one selected Western European region: the upcoming 2013 edition will focus on Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

 

Step In Working Session

The afternoon session, will be the working/brainstorming part of the Step In Day, gathering distributors, exhibitors and sales agents, in majority members of Europa Distribution, CICAE and Europa International, as well as some festivals and coproduction markets.
After a short introduction of the key issues, participants will break into groups to each work on a specifi c challenge facing the future of distribution of European fi lms in the region. In a debriefi ng session, each group will present its results and discuss suggestions, new ideas and concepts to explore and test out in the region.

 

MEDIA Seminar: Financial Reports for Project Development Support

MEDIA fi nal fi nancial reports are not always easy to deal with. To help the professionals, Anne Spangemacher from the MEDIA Programme in Brussels will briefl y present, explain the forms to be used for the Development scheme and answer individual questions. The seminar will be useful to companies with a current MEDIA contract, but also to companies which wish to submit an application in the future and want to inquire on the best way of establishing a MEDIA budget.

 

Under the Milky Way Working Meeting

In parallel with its VoD aggregation activity, Under The Milky Way designs and develops a software solution called Waveback, which is supported by MEDIA as a Pilot Project for 2012. Waveback is an online tool for European fifi lm distributors to manage their Social Media Marketing campaigns.The aim of this meeting in Locarno is to lay the foundations of the book of specifi cations according to the experience of professionals using the tool in its current version and their needs regarding social media marketing campaigns.

 

Monday, 6 August 2012

EI/ED Workshop

Europa International and Europa Distribution will hold their third workshop on digital material delivery, in order to update the guidelines signed between European sales agents and distributors at the beginning of the year at the Berlinale.

Eye on Film: what's up ?
Eye on Films will give a short presentation of its unique, global network of fi lm professionals, its fi rst results and plans for the future.
The network guarantees the circulation of a selection of fi rst feature fi lms for festivals partnering with Eye on Films and the commercial exploitation of these fi lms by distribution partners in Europe and outside Europe. Supported by MEDIA Mundus, this new business model enhances the cinematographic diversity, promotes fi rst fi lms and highlights emerging authors.

 

Lekino.ch

LeKino.ch, a member of EuroVoD (European federation of Video on Demand platforms), will be presented for the fi rst time at Festival del fi lm Locarno. This new Swiss Video on Demand Platform aims to offer the best independent fi lms. Thanks to its detailed search options, recommendations and favorites, the multilingual platform is user friendly and offers in addition to independent fi lms, special features such as articles and spotlights on Swiss, European and international independent cinema, ¨making of¨ segmentsand bonuses. LeKino.ch respects author's rights and has strong partnerships with Swiss Film
Archive, SSR SRG, Solothurner Filmtage, Visions du Réel as well as the Festival del fi lm Locarno.

 

From Producers to Producers Seminar: "How can a creative producer build a sustainable independent business?

An annual invitation by the Swiss producers for a peer-to-peer exchange of experiences with European producers. This producers' meeting is divided into two parts - a thematic debate around testimonies of experienced European producers (Miléna Poylo and Gilles Sacuto / TS Productions - France, Jacques-Henri Bronckart / Versus Production - Belgium), and a reception to encourage contacts between professionals. Event proposed in English (without simultaneous interpretation) by the Swiss producers' associations SFP, GARP, IG,
At the initiative of Festival del fi lm Locarno and FOCAL,
In partnership with the MEDIA Desk Suisse,
In co-operation with the MEDIA Antenne Berlin- Brandenburg and the training organizations
ACE, EAVE, NIPKOW Programm, SOURCES 2, and Berlinale Talent Campus.

 

Oscar Rules: What's New ?

Torene Svitil, Awards Coordinator at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will tell us all we need to know about the Academy Awards rules, with a special focus on the recent changes regarding the submission of foreign language fi lms, documentaries and short fi lms.

 

Teaching Cinema

The Festival del fi lm Locarno has always had a special relationship with leading fi lm schools around the world. As part of this round table discussion, representatives from Swiss and Eastern European fi lm schools will discuss their particular approach to teaching fi lm, objectives, and possible forms of collaboration between their respective national cinemas.
Confi rmed for the round table discussion are:
Lionel Baier - ÉCAL - Switzerland
Jean Perret - HEAD - Switzerland
Domenico Lucchini - CISA - Switzerland
Lucie Bader - ZHdK - Switzerland
Bojidar Manov - National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA) - Bulgaria
Marcin Malatynski - Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School (Lodz Film School)