B’EST consists of two workshops, which will take place on September 11-15 in St. Petersburg within the framework of St. Petersburg International Film Festival and November 26-29 in Tallinn, within the framework of Baltic Event. The workshop will bring together 10 producers with feature film projects from the European Union (5 participants) and the CIS countries and Georgia (5 participants) and will offer the selected participants:
- 5-day workshop-training, which includes plenaries on the script development process, financing in the Eastern and Western Europe, legal aspects of co-production, marketing strategies, as well as individual meetings with script, pitching and finance/marketing consultants
- meetings with decision-makers and potential co-production partners in St. Petersburg, Russia
- online sessions with the producers and tutors concerning the development of the scripts and the projects during the 2-month gap between the workshops
- 2-day follow-up session regarding the development of the projects and the final preparation for pitching at Baltic Event
- presentation of the projects at Baltic Event and meetings with potential financiers, co-producers, sales agents, and distributors
Target group:
- experienced feature film producers wishing to work on an international scale and create long-term creative and business relationships between Western and Eastern Europe
- interested producers should apply with a feature film project in development stage
Project criteria:
- full-length feature film with potential for theatrical distribution
- suitable for an international co-production and looking for co-producers
- preferably national support in place
- projects from the European Union and Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldavia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are accepted
- projects should have a link to the other region (thematic, cultural, technical) and the producer should be motivated to work with / in the other region
Special conditions:
- participation includes an accreditation fee of 200 Euros
- once a project is selected, the producer should be present at both workshops
- the programme covers travel and accommodation costs
- finalized films must mention their participation at B’EST in the credits
- all documents have to be sent in English – the working language of the workshop is English
- submission of the project is considered as acceptance of special conditions
Requested materials for submission:
- completed application form (please find the form here)
- synopsis (1 page) in English
- treatment in English
- screenplay in English (first draft)
- director’s note on aesthetics and structure (1-2 pages)
- biography/filmography of the director
- biography/filmography of the producer
- production company profile (max. 300 words)
- budget outline in English
- financing plan
- motivation letter from the producer
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: June 15, 2013.
The selection will be made by a selection committee and will be published by the end of July 2013.
Please send all the requested materials to:
For applications from the European Union: Riina Sildos, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For applications from the CIS countries and Georgia: Natalia Drozd, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
