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A European Film
Development Initiative
celebrating Europe's cultural diversity

Feature Project Development 2008

Application Form

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Development Workshop Rotterdam

28-31 January 2008

Writers/directors/producers of full-length fiction or creative documentary feature film projects are invited to apply for:

An intensive three-day project development workshop hosted by the Goethe Institut Rotterdam in association with Mira Media. The workshop takes place at the stylish Goethe Institut offices close to the IFFR festival centre the Doelen.

In group and individual sessions, each of the successful projects receives in depth analysis and discussion, covering the following areas of script development:

• Story development
  
• Character-building
  
• Creating audience identification
  
• Design and structure
  
• Genre as marketplace ally
  
• Pitch, package, financing
  
• Forward plan to next stage
  

Alongside script development, producers will receive in-depth coverage of such issues as:

• Teaming director and writer (if appropriate)
• Casting and packaging
• Finance
• Low-budget and digital options
• Distribution and marketing

Our proximity to Cinemart, Rotterdam's highly regarded worldwide film market, allows participants invaluable contact to industry decision-makers. The workshop includes contributions from key industry speakers, including case histories.

A Babylon reception, attended by participants and industry players such as funders, producers, sales agents and distributors, enables relationship-building with potential colleagues to take place in a relaxed but intensive creative atmosphere.

Access to IFFR industry screenings and informal screenings and discussion of participants' work contributes to a unique cross-cultural creative atmosphere.

Online Aftercare

During February/March, writers will work on their second draft script (or first draft if treatment selected). They should submit these electronically and receive further commentary, in collaboration with the producers.

Should the projects by this stage be working in development with a third party producer or broadcaster, their needs will be taken into account.

Personnel

The feature project development programme will be led by Gareth Jones of Scenario Films, an award-winning director and screenwriter with a European filmography and a long track record of international script consultancy. He has worked across Europe as regular script consultant to Sarajevo Film Festival's Cinelink film market; as jury member of Amiens Film Festival's world film development awards (FADS); as consultant for Euromed's southern and eastern Mediterranean script development programme (MFD) based in Marrakech, and as personal consultant to broadcasters and production companies across Europe, besides film academies such as DFFB, La Fémis and LFS.

Apart from his own UK multicultural output, he has collaborated as script consultant on projects from nations as diverse as Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Romania, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Albania, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine and the countries of the Maghreb.

For more information visit www.scenariofilms.com