Developing Your Film Festival training event to run this month

The Independent Cinema Office (ICO) is to run the third Developing Your Film Festival training and networking event from July 23-28 in Croatia.

The course is delivered in partnership with the Motovun Film Festival and with the support of Vilnius International Film Festival.  It is funded by the MEDIA programme of the European Union and the British Council.

Briony Hanson, director of film at the British Council, said:  “A large number of delegates from festivals across Europe will meet to discuss all things film festival in what is fast becoming a key development summit for those working in programming, management, marketing and fund raising.

“It chimes perfectly with our remit to build and strengthen relationships between the UK and other countries through the export of film culture expertise.”

The training course will see  film festival professionals from across Europe come together to spend a week updating their knowledge, sharing expertise, fostering collaborations and watching films.

The course will be led by David Sin, head of cinemas at the ICO, with a collective of industry experts as guest speakers from organizations including:  Glasgow, Göteborg and Vilnius Film Festivals, Sheffield Doc Fest and the SciFi London Film Festival.  

Others taking part include independent festival consultant Peter Belsito, and Bridey Lipscombe and Cat Turner, Founders of Native LDN.   

Applications are welcome for the remaining available places on this year’s course. Bursaries are also still available.

Course participants are also given the opportunity to join the join the European Film Festivals Network, which has been established for over two years and brings together festivals for collaborative working and exchange of expertise. Member film festivals now regularly work in partnership and with exchange programmes.

The focus of the course will be:

• Strengthening business models: strategic planning; researching and pitching to corporate sponsors; crowdfunding; growing your festival
  
  
• Building audiences: engaging young people and hard to reach audiences; taking advantage of social media and digital platforms to drive ticket sales and deepen audience engagement
  
  
• Maximising professional relationships: building relationships with journalists to generate press coverage; negotiating with sales agents to secure film rights; strategic partnerships with other festivals to save money and increase impact.

More information and details on how to apply can be found here:

http://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/training/developingyourfilmfestival2013