A residency programme for rising producers with at least one theatrical film to their name from Germany, Denmark, The Netherlands and Canada will launch in March 2023.
The four selected producers will live, work and network together for two weeks at a time in Hamburg, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Montreal where they will attend workshops as well as meet local producers and creatives.
The programme has been created and backed by Hamburg’s regional film fund MOIN, the Danish Film Institute, National Film School of Denmark, the Netherlands Film Fund and SODEC Québec.
The programme will be open to emerging fiction producers from the four countries who have between one and three theatrically released films to their name. The first residency will start in March 2023 in Copenhagen, followed by an optional visit to the CPH:Dox Documentary Film Festival. The second residency will take place at the end of August/beginning of September 2023 in Montreal, followed by an optional visit to the festival in Toronto.
The four producers will then have their third residency in Hamburg in October 2023, with the option of arriving earlier in order to participate in Filmfest Hamburg.
The year-long programme will be rounded off by a final residency in Amsterdam in January 2024, followed by an optional visit to the festival in Rotterdam.
“The initiative was inspired by the need to develop producing talent in a different way and to give producers skills that enable them to operate in the media world we now have,” explained Helge Albers, CEO of MOIN, who said he originated the idea.
He approached his opposite numbers at the film funds in Copenhagen and Amsterdam with the residency idea and received “a very positive response”.
“The idea of the connection with SODEC in Quebec came from us brainstorming and realising we need to build bridges beyond Europe and how to work with different systems and working cultures,” Albers explained.
Ene Katrine Rasmussen, head of industry and training at the Danish Film School, added that the four producers will spend a week of shadowing producers working at CEO level in their companies: “It’s good to grow by example and through inspiration from experienced producers, and this would be done at production companies at each of the four cities.”
“We’re talking here about leadership skills and obtaining insights into working cultures and backgrounds, “ Albers added. “Our task is to put a group of producers together that is meaningful for them,” he said, “This can be reflected in the projects they have on their development slate, in gender balance and diversity, and in the skills level they already have.”
The residency programme’s total budget of around €100,000 will be shared equally by the four partners, and the call for applications from producers in the four countries will now be open until mid-November.
The four successful applicants will be announced before the end of this year.
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