Summary
Neighbouring MEDIA meeting of banks and film producers at the 21st Ljubljana International Film Festival
18 and 19 November 2010
Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana
The third neighbouring co-production meeting which focused on banks and film producers from five countries (Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy and Slovenia) took place on 18 and 19 November in the Cankarjev dom cultural and congress centre. It was opened by short speeches of the representatives of two institutions, closely connected to films: Irena Ostrouška from the Ministry of Culture, who presented the new features of the Slovenian Film Centre, which is to become operational with the new year, and Nataša Goršek Mencin, head of the European Parliament Information Office for Slovenia, who shed light on the Lux Award of the European Parliament, which takes the award-winning film on a tour of all EU countries and equips it with translations into all the languages for this purpose. The meeting took place in a pleasant atmosphere and secured results in two fields:
1) For the first time, the international meeting of banks and film producers
brought the Slovenian banks and the film producers closer together at the
discussion on the needs of both sides.
Two mechanisms of the MEDIA programme of
the European Commission represented a suitable platform for the meeting. The first one
is the existing MEDIA support i2i Audiovisual (i2i Audiovisual pdf presentation is available
on demand: mediadesk.slo@film-sklad.si), which was presented by Soon-Mi Peten, head
of the three most important MEDIA schemes for producers at the Education, Audiovisual
and Culture Executive Agency in Brussels. Through these schemes the European
Commission allocates approximately three million euros per year as a reimbursement for
the producers of the international co-productions which call for insurance costs,
guarantees for the completion of the films and financial costs. Of the Slovenian
producers, Staragara (Circus Fantasticus in 2009 in the amount of EUR 14 060 and Arheo
in 2010 in the amount of EUR 10 736) and Vertigo/Emotionfilm (Slovenian Girl in 2008 in
the amount of EUR 8 996) have already received this support. The second mechanism is
the new MEDIA Film Production Guarantee Fund, presented by Gunnar Magnusson, in charge of the economic policy
and access to financing at the MEDIA programme of the European Commission. The Fund
will become operational with 2011 and will have 8 million euros at its disposal. The French
and Spanish banks, which have been selected at a special call for applications, will assist
the producers in the realisation of their films with a guarantee fund through banks in the
individual MEDIA countries. The foundation for the adoption of the new scheme for the
support of the producers by the banks was the study on the role of banks in the European
audiovisual sector, carried out in 2009 by Peacefulfish, a consulting company specialising
in production, digital distribution, policymaking and financing of film industry. The results
of an overview study, involving the majority of European banks which already provide
support to the producers, was presented by the Executive Director of Peacefulfish,
Thierry Baujard (see the Role of Banks pdf presentation).
2) The international meeting with producers from all five countries took place at
two levels: with Soon-Mi Peten they focused on MEDIA Development scheme
(Development pdf presentation is available on demand: mediadesk.slo@film-sklad.si) and
the new online application for project development, which will already be a possibility with
the November deadline of the call for applications, and the producers also established
mutual connections at informal co-production meetings.
This year the co-production
meeting was organised in a somewhat different manner than before: in all five countries
- through MEDIA Desks in Croatia, Hungary and Italy, MEDIA Antenna Torino, FVG
Audiovisual Regional Fund and Austrian partners Vienna Film Fund and Cinestyria
Film Commission and Fund a collection of projects in development took place, and they
were available on a locked website for overview to the producers who applied. Since this
was an informal co-production meeting, the projects had not been selected in advance,
and the producers organised their own personal meetings. 23 projects applied, of these
one from Austria, six from Croatia, seven from Hungary, four from Italy and five from
Slovenia. All types of films were represented: live-action films (eleven projects),
documentaries (six projects) and animated films (six projects), cinematographic and TV
features and series. The booklet "Ljubljana: a Film City", prepared by the Kinodvor
cinema at the initiative of the Municipality of Ljubljana, was presented to the producers as
a possibility of marketing the film production locations. At the meeting it was presented by
the Director of the Kinodvor cinema, Nina Peče Grilc, hoping that the initial initiative will
develop into a self-sufficient form of location marketing as known in the other countries,
since the foundations are also covered by the new Slovenian Film Centre Act.
The co-production meeting will continue in a slightly different form in January in Trieste, at the When East Meets West meeting (see Call For Entries pdf information - deadline December 3rd 2010), organised by the partner of the Neighbouring Co-production Meeting, the Venezia Giulia Audiovisual Regional Fund, represented by Paolo Vidali and Alessandro Gropplero.
NCM schedule »
European Film Production Banking Schemes (broschure, pdf)
Več o dogodku v slovenščini
Evropske bančne sheme za filmsko produkcijo (brošura, pdf)
Event coordinator:
MEDIA Desk Slovenia
Miklošičeva 38, Ljubljana
P 01/23 43 216
E mediadesk.slo(at)film-sklad.si
W www.mediadeskslovenia.eu