Attendees of connecting cottbus and guests from the study focus countries who are members of Eurimages but not of the MEDIA Programme (Turkey, Russia, Albania, Macedonia, Georgia, and Serbia) will participate in the workshop which is a closed event. The workshop will look at the MEDIA Programme’s implementation in countries with different film industry backgrounds. The consulting agency ‘peacefulfish,’ which is specialized in the development of financing concepts for creative industries, was responsible for the execution of the study.

The opening day panel is a presentation of the European film funding landscape, covering the first experiences with the newly founded Hungarian Film Fund (www.filmalap.hu), the German-Russian Co-Development Fund and the Russian Cinema Fund, as well as current opportunities for coproduction with France – in particular, the new Aide aux Cinemas du Monde /World Cinema Support – and Scandinavia.

Other panels cover the music licensing issues for film soundtracks, with Czech producer Pavel Bercik of Evolution Film (www.evolutionfilms.cz), and a workshop on marketing strategies, including digital marketing.