Emerging talents will benefit from advice from and networking with leading industry professionals as part of the 12th edition of the Baltic Pitching Forum (BPF) which will return to Vilnius between 8-11 October. The BPF carries a reputation as one of the region’s premiere industry events with filmmaking talent from the Baltics and beyond being given the opportunity to present fresh new projects to industry experts whilst benefiting from training and networking opportunities.
Whilst the BPF is centered around the selected filmmakers pitching their projects to the attending professionals, the program also includes a number of talks and lectures for both participants and those attending the event as observers. Most of the events will be exclusively for onsite participants, though pitching sessions will be live-streamed and accessible to all registered professionals.
On October 8th pitching expert Gabriele Brunnenmeyer will present Convincing Pitch: How to Talk About Your Story which will focus on the central elements of a pitch that convinces, examining the importance of preparation as well as structuring a presentation that resonates with the audience. Brunnenmeyer will also lead the participants through extensive pitch training.
On Wednesday, October 9th, in partnership with Creative Europe MEDIA Desk Lithuania, scriptwriting consultant Anna Bielak (Poland) will give the presentation Script Consultant in Project Development: Mentor, Ally, or an Antagonist. Script consultants play a crucial role in the development of short films, feature films and series. But what is the nature of this work and why is reading and analysing stories so important in project development. Join Bielak as she explores the philosophy of script consulting and the tools consultants use to create a safe space to work on one of the most intimate and fragile tasks in the world - writing powerful, compelling stories
Also on that day, attending experts will be introducing themselves and their companies in Get to Know the Key Players in the European Short Film Industry, an invaluable session which will examine how industry professionals approach the acquisition, promotion, and distribution of short films across Europe.
10th October will be dedicated to the pitching sessions of 12 projects, three projects from each country. The participants will pitch their work to the panel of industry experts alongside the Baltic Producer’s Jury.
11th October will kick off with the masterclass by Wouter Jansen (Square Eyes, Austria) on Distribution for Shorts in the Long Run, in which seasoned film industry veteran Jansen will explain his way of working with directors, strategising for their films and what you can expect when you go out into the world with your film.
Later, Austėja Milvydaitė, Head of MEDIA Office at Creative Europe Desk, will present Creative Europe MEDIA: Opportunities for Short Film Community which will be followed by the presentation Croatia: Everything You Wanted to Know About Co-production Possibilities by Jadranka Hrga, Head of Department for Development, Film Production and Complementary Activities, Croatian Audiovisual Centre.
The second part of the day will focus on animation – Journey After BPF: Alumni in Focus will introduce three successful BPF alumni: Eglė Davidavičė and Agnė Adomėnė (director and producer of The One Who Knows, Lithuania), Lizete Upīte (director of Riga’s Lilac, Latvia) and Kadriann Kibus (producer of Schrödinger and Pulcinella, Estonia). They will share how they successfully brought their animated short films to global audiences and how all of them secured co-producers in France. Through their presentations, they will reveal the challenges they faced, lessons learned, and offer valuable advice to fellow filmmakers navigating the international market.
Presentations will be followed by the panel discussion on Co-Producing Animation in the Baltics: Navigating Possibilities and Challenges in which Adomėnė, Kibus and Upīte will give tips on how to navigate complex productions and make personal stories into successful films which put the Baltic region on the map of animation.
In celebration of Croatia being the guest country, the Forum will be rounded out by a short film screening Croatian Highlights, curated by the Zagreb Film Festival.
This year’s BPF Panel will consist of Laurent Crouzeix (Euro Connection, Clermont-Ferrand ISFF and Short Film Market, France), Wouter Jansen (distributor, Square Eyes, Austria), Sadhbh Murphy (distributor, Network Ireland Television), Alessandro Giorgio (ShorTO Film Market, Italy), Ben Vandendaele (distributor, sales agent at Radiator IP Sales, Belgium), Sari Volanen (TV commissioning editor, Yle TV, Finland), Gábor Osváth (producer, Boddah, Hungary).
Aside from giving immediate feedback to the pitches, the BPF Panel will award two short film projects (from the Baltic States) with participant rights to the European Short Film Co-production Forum Euro Connection (part of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival), and the ShorTO Film Market and its Pitching Session You Only Pitch Twice.
The Baltic Producers’ Jury will be made up of Elina Litvinova (Three Brothers, Estonia), Līga Gaisa (Air Productions, Latvia) and Rūta Jekentaitė (Baltic Productions, Lithuania). They will select one short film project and award it with the Baltic Producers MEDIA Award – a 1000 EUR cash prize, initiated by the Creative Europe MEDIA Desks in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
One project will be receiving The Radiator IP Sales Distribution Award, which consists of the consultancy and guidance of the filmmakers in creating a bridge between the production and the actual distribution of film festivals and beyond.
The 12th Baltic Pitching Forum will take place on October 8-11 at the National Gallery of Art (Konstitucijos ave. 22 Vilnius). The event is open to the general public and free of charge. For attending event or watching pitching sessions online – pre-registration is required here. More about the programme – here. The full list of selected BPF projects can be found here.
The Baltic Pitching Forum is organised by the Lithuanian Short Film Agency “Lithuanian Shorts” which is financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture, in association with the Riga International Short Film Festival 2ANNAS, Riga International Film Festival and PÖFF Shorts (Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival). The project is financed by the Lithuanian Film Centre, Audiovisual Works Copyright Association “AVAKA” and Vilnius City Municipality. Partners – Creative Europe MEDIA Desks in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Croatia, Italian Short Film Center, Zagreb Film Festival and Vilnius Film Office.
