The time has finally come for the expanded MIDPOINT Feature Launch 2018. On Sunday January 21, the first part of the feature film development platform will take off in Italy during Trieste Film Festival.

Participating are 9 projects from Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Greece, Hungary, Serbia and Ukraine. Representatives from our new partner organizations Trieste Film Festival, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and When East Meets West have taken part in the project selection, which secures an in-depth knowledge of each project's needs from the very beginning. Get to know all projects and participants here.

Tutors

Head of Studies of Feature Launch, Danijel Hocevar will run the workshop, and he is joined by the Core Tutors Anne Gensior, Pavel Jech and Ivo Trajkov.

We are very pleased to also welcome the workshop's international Guest Tutors who are Elma Tataragic, Thanos Anastopoulos and Cedomir Kolar. And in addition this year's Pitching Tutor, Stefano Tealdi.

Program

Monday 22, 9.00

/ Screenplay – The Origin of the Film, by Elma Tataragic

Tuesday 23, 9.00

/ Pitch or Perish, by Stefano Tealdi

Tuesday 23, 11.00

/ Off the Beaten Tracks, by Thanos Anastopoulos

Wednesday 24, 9.00

/ From Love at First Sight to Oscars, by Cedomir Kolar

Wednesday 24, 19.00

/ Ten Jokes that Will Teach You Everything You Need to Know About Screenwriting, by Pavel Jech

Thursday 25, 9.00

/ Film Analysis: Manchester by the Sea, by Elma Tataragic

Thursday 25, 14.00

/ Project Development – A View of the Producer, by Danijel Hocevar

The lectures are open to the industry guests of Trieste Film Festival and WEMW. Read more here.

MIDPOINT Feature Launch is realized in collaboration with Ministry of Culture Czech Republic, Czech Film Fund, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Trieste Film Festival, When East Meets West, Film Center Serbia, CineMart and COCO – Connecting Cottbus.

MIDPOINT Shorts 2018

Running parallel to Feature Launch is MIDPOINT Shorts which includes the participation of 4 short film projects from Croatia, Denmark, Hungary and Turkey. Teams of writers, directors and producer will develop their script as well as prepare the production and promotional aspects of each project, with Core Tutor Pavel Marek (Czech Republic) running the program. Learn more about the projects and participants here. 

Supported by Ministry of Culture Czech Republic, Czech Film Fund and Film Center Serbia.

MIDPOINT Drinks in Trieste

Please join us for a glass of wine on Monday in Trieste as we celebrate the beginning of MIDPOINT Feature Launch 2018 and our new partnership with Trieste FF, KVIFF and WEMW. It will be the perfect opportunity to meet all the participants, tutors and team. Looking forward to seeing you there!

/ Monday 22, 16.30-17.30 at the Library of Hotel Savoia Excelsior Palace.

 

Storytek is a mentor-driven accelerator fully focusing on audiovisual sector, where deep knowledge of the global film and creative industry mixes with top-notch technology competence.

Storytek Accelerator is now accepting applications from creative and media/film-tech entrepreneurs wishing to participate in the 10-week accelerator program starting in March and ending in late May. Up to 10 companies will be chosen to attend the program, from there a handful of the best teams will get an opportunity to become a part of the Storytek residency program.

According to Sten Saluveer, head of Storytek, we are looking forward to receiving applications from companies that are active in the fields of film, content, music, games, or media, and take advantage of new technology opportunities. Preferred are those who already have a team and a clear vision for exporting their products and services.

 “In working with the Storytek accelerator and the teams involved, Elisa’s looking to contribute to innovation in the entertainment industry not just in Estonia, but in Europe as a whole,” explained Elisa’s New Services Manager Kertu Kriisk when asked about the company’s expectations in regard to the second round of Storytek applications. “We’re hoping the candidates come up with ideas we haven’t seen before that really shake things up, in a good way – ideas we can work with the teams to market and bring to clients. As an entertainment and telecommunications company, we have what it takes to introduce new solutions to large target groups in a short space of time and, with the help of our partners, to expand to foreign markets as well.”

The first cohort of Storytek saw 7 projects and 27 mentors taking part, among the mentors were recognised experts from around the world: Laura Anne Edwards (TED Resident, Google Labs, NASA, USA), Michael Favelle (Odin's Eye Entertainment, Australia), John Heinsen (WatchMojo; USA); Guido Van Nispen (Raad Von Culture; USA); South Korea); Julius Talvik (Alphaform; USA); and Ola Möller (Hyper Island).

Storytek is designed for companies engaged in digital entertainment formats, intellectual property and technology development, VR/AR, e-sports, data and algorithm development.  It’s a 10 week intensive, tailor-made boot camp in Tallinn. Participating companies will graduate with an in-depth assessment of their project, custom tools, and a strategic roadmap. 

Storytek partners include the Enterprise Development Foundation, the Black Nights Film Festival, Elisa, PWC.

To participate, you need to fill out the application form on the storytek.eu page.

Deadline to apply, 9 February - Programme starts on 17 March.

 

Digital Single Market

/01: Public consultation on EU funds in the area of values and mobility – EU Survey 

The Commission is launching a series of public consultations covering all the major spending areas to gather views from all interested parties on how to make the very most of every euro of the EU budget. This public consultation seeks to identify strengths and weaknesses of existing programmes and actions, as well as possible ways forward and highlight any possible synergies among them.

Enforcement

/01: Draft Recommendation on the roles and responsibilities of Internet intermediaries -  EAO Newsletter

On 19 September 2017, the draft Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the roles and responsibilities of Internet intermediaries was finalised by the Committee of experts on Internet intermediaries (MSI-NET). The draft Recommendation has now been sent to the Steering Committee on Media and Information Society (CDSMI) for approval.

Broadcasting Regulation

/01: Proposed Regulation on copyright and online transmissions of broadcasters – EAO Newsletter

On 27 November 2017, the Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament published its Report, including a draft European Parliament Resolution, on the proposed Regulation laying down rules on the exercise of copyright and related rights applicable to certain online transmissions of broadcasting organisations and retransmissions of television and radio programmes.

Romania 

/01: Romania: Modification of the Cinematography Legislation - EAO Newsletter

The Emergency Government Decree No. 67/2017 adopted by the Senate on 14 November 2017 aims at securing the functioning of Romanian film production, as well as at giving the Romanian film industry financial support to produce films dedicated to the Centennial of the union of the territories inhabited mainly by Romanians, which will be celebrated in 2018, or films dedicated to well-known personalities and special cultural activities. 

Events:

30/01: European Animation Plan Debate 

19/02: EFF Berlin

21/02: UNIC European Parliament Conference

 

FNE has teamed up to Regiofund backed by CEI (Central European Initiative) to bring film professionals from across the region to two days of events in Katowice Poland on 5 and 6 October.

 

The Czech Film Fund offers its national film industry a new ambitious script consulting program, which is organized in cooperation with MIDPOINT.

 'Script Consulting Incubator' is the name of the new initiative which aims to heighten the quality of feature film scripts and to support a new generation of Czech script consultants. The program, which has been commissioned by the Czech Film Fund and organized by MIDPOINT, has emerged based on the need for professional, long-term tutoring of both scriptwriters and script consultants. Selected script consultant trainees will learn the trade from top international experts, who, at the same time, consult on scripts that are being supported by the Fund.

According to a Czech study (http://fondkinematografie.cz/english/studies) commissioned by the Fund, script development has been under-prioritized for too long. In particular there is an urgent need for new script editors to consult with filmmakers as they are receiving development support from the film fund.

The Incubator initiative has two separate programs – Training the Script Consultants and Development of Czech Scripts – which run parallel to each other and overlap in content.

Training the Script Consultants

 The participants are required to make a two-year commitment and will go through an extensive program starting in January 2018. The initial seminar takes place in Prague on January 13-14. Following this, their first workshop experience will be to participate as script consultant trainees at MIDPOINT Feature Launch 2018, from January through July 2018. In October they then move on to become script consultants for new Czech film projects that have received development support from the film fund.

 Acclaimed Hungarian filmmaker Gyula Gazdag, Artistic Director of Sundance Directors Lab, has been appointed the Script Consulting Incubator's Head of Studies and will function as a mentor for the script consultants. Other tutors involve Pavel Jech (Czech Republic), Franz Rodenkirchen (Germany) and Anita Voorham (The Netherlands). Not only are they all acclaimed script consultants themselves, they all have extensive experience when it comes to training script consultants.

Head of Studies, Gyula Gazdag, says:

"Collaboration between screenwriter and script consultant may be inspiring and boosting the creativity of the screenwriter, stimulating the creating process in astonishingly unexpected ways. Facilitating script consultancy becoming a renowned and sought after profession is a great initiative. I am happy that it is supported by the state. I feel honored by the trust invested in me to head the program that is training script consultants for the Czech film industry.”

Based on an open call aimed at the Czech film industry, 56 people applied and 4 were selected by an international committee. The program has welcomed candidates with different levels of experience within script writing and script consulting; candidates who aim to make script consulting their future profession.

The 4 selected script consultant trainees are: Lucia Kajánková, Vít Poláček, Michal Reich and Milada Těšitelová.

Development of Czech Scripts

October 2018 marks the second branch of the Incubator, the development of Czech scripts. 6 selected Czech film projects supported within the Fund’s development scheme will receive script feedback within the Incubator program. Working with the above-mentioned tutors, they will also be paired with the newly graduated script consultants. Each project will receive a full year of script consulting including 3 workshops and additional consultations from October 2018 through October 2019.

In 2019 a new cycle will begin resulting in a total of 12 Czech feature film projects that will receive script support through the Incubator pilot project.

Background: Script Training at International Level ­

 Czech Film Fund commissioned an academic study out of the "assumption that the development practice is the least mapped stage of creation of a cinematographic work; however, it profoundly impacts its resulting quality." Script development and consulting that go hand in hand with grant funding is quite widespread in Europe, but it is however a brand new and much needed initiative in the Czech Republic.

The Oscar-winning Czech director Jan Svěrák was a member of the Fund’s council from 2016-17, where he proposed and initiated the Script Consulting Incubator:

"Incubator should serve two purposes – in the short run it should improve the quality of the participating projects in development. But it is in the long run that the program is even more important – it should educate a new generation of Czech script consultants and teach the screenwriter, producer and director to understand the importance of the  work of a script consultant." – Jan Svěrák

The Czech Film Fund was established as an independent institution in 2013. It operates with an annual budget of approx. EUR 47 million, out of which EUR 31,4 mil. goes to film incentives, and EUR 14.5 mil. goes to selective support. The latter is awarded by the elected council which consists of 9 members.

 

MIDPOINT was established in 2010 under FAMU, and is today an independent training platform for film and TV development. It is a leading institution in the Central and Eastern Europe region and provides a wide range of professional training programs for emerging film talents.

Website
http://en.dramaturgicky-inkubator.cz

Contact
For more information, please contact the Incubator program coordinator: Helena Zajicova, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.