Press Release From Asha Holmes Publicity
MIFF 37ºSouth Market, the film co-financing event during the opening days of the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), closed its sixth edition on Sunday 5 August with the announcement of the producers who were awarded the MIFF 37ºSouth Market Alliance places at the UK’s Production Finance Market (PFM).
MIFF 37ºSouth Market is the exclusive Australia/NZ partner of the prestigious London Production Finance Market (PFM). Under this alliance, the only three guaranteed Australia/NZ PFM places are reserved for producers attending MIFF 37ºSouth Market. Selection for the three 37ºSouth places at PFM is guided by the votes of international financiers/buyers at MIFF 37ºSouth Market.
This year, thanks to sponsor Film Finances, one of the three producers selected for the October PFM received a flight voucher of A$2,000 towards their trip. The producer winning the PFM place and flight coupon was Jamie Hilton from New South Wales. The other two producers to win places at the PFM were Stephen Van Mil from Western Australia and Tainui Stephens from New Zealand.
MIFF 37ºSouth Market, Australia’s only film co-financing market to be held at a film festival, this year hosted a record 49 film financiers/buyers including Shoreline (USA), Svensk (Europe), K5 (USA), Trust Nordisk (Europe), Sierra/Affinity (USA), Beta (Europe), Cargo (USA), Yellow (Europe), XYZ-Celluloid (USA), Ingenious-Fox (Europe), eOne (Canada), West End (Europe), Aver (Canada), AV (Europe), Hyde Park-ImageNation (Asia/USA), NonStop (Europe), Roadshow (Australia), Level K (Europe), Fulcrum (Australia), Fortissimo (Europe), EFIC (Australia), Jinga (Europe), Transmission (Australia) and The Works (Europe). Meantime, some 18 publishers attended, including Allen & Unwin, Harper Collins, Penguin, Hardie Grant, Random House and Text.
The companies met with a record 109 Australia/NZ producers including John Barnett (Whale Rider), Yael Bergman (I Love You Too), Rosemary Blight (The Sapphires), Robert Connolly (Balibo), Bridget Ikin (Look Both Ways), Melissa Kelly (Blame), Helen Leake (Swerve), Marian Macgowan (Death Defying Acts), Michael McMahon (Home Song Stories), Cathy Overett (Iron Sky), Julie Ryan (Red Dog), Vincent Sheehan (The Hunter) and Sue Taylor (The Tree).
All told, scheduled one-to-one meetings across the market’s strands (which include 37ºSouth: Bridging the Gap, 37ºSouth: PostScript&Direct, and 37ºSouth’s Books at MIFF) increased 23% to 2,007 from last year’s total of 1,542 and were more than six times 2007’s tally. Across the six editions of the market, more than 7,150 meetings have been scheduled.
Additionally, the financiers/buyers viewed completed new Australian/NZ films seeking distribution and/or sales agents at the 37ºSouth: Breakthru Screenings, including Sunday, Existence, Missing Pieces, Meeting Girls from a Distance, The Red House and John Doe, while the MIFF 37ºSouth: State of Play panel sessions included separate ‘In Conversation’ events with producer Emile Sherman (The Kings Speech, Shame) and director Rolf de Heer (Ten Canoes, The King is Dead) and a Special Address by Screen Australia CEO Dr Ruth Harley.
While MIFF 37ºSouth Market itself has concluded, MIFF 37ºSouth Market is co-hosting a range of public access events during the remaining days of MIFF 2012.
Celebrated LA-based developer, writer and lecturer Wendall Thomas, who has written and developed projects for the likes of Disney, Warners, Paramount and Universal, returns exclusively to Melbourne for more of her popular series unlocking the secrets of films’ script structure with a series of four standalone all day seminars. For more details on each seminar, and to book tickets, see http://miff.com.au/films/film_talks/wendallthomastalksscripts.
Presented by MIFF 37ºSouth Market & Accelerator, the Wendall Thomas Talks Scripts series comprises:
DIALOGUE WRITING: YOU TALKIN' TO ME? – The Importance of Dialogue and Subtext in Film Writing (Mon 06 August, 10am-5pm). Drawing on the masters of character and dialogue, from Billy Wilder to James L. Brooks, this seminar examines a variety of tools and approaches to developing unique, memorable characters’ voices.
CHARACTER: CREATING GREAT RELATIONSHIPS ON SCREEN (Tues 07 August, 10am-5pm). This seminar examines memorable screen relationships (think Butch and Sundance, Harry and Sally, or King and Tutor in Screenplay Oscar-winner The King's Speech) scene-by-scene to give practical advice on combining dialogue, action, back-story, conflict and emotion to create vivid, timeless relationships.
SCENE BY SCENE: BRIDESMAIDS – Breaking down the hit (Wed 08 August, 10am-5pm). This seminar examines the special alchemy of plot dynamics, characterizations, scene structure, dialogue, tone and pacing which made this 2011 phenomenon a genuine $300 million global hit.
STORY & STRUCTURE: THE MULTI-STORY, MULTI-PROTAGONIST NARRATIVE – Does Three Act Structure Apply? (Thurs 09 August, 10am-5pm). This seminar de-mystifies this complex – yet potentially rewarding and powerful – approach to film writing as seen in such celebrated classics as How to Marry a Millionaire, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Gosford Park, The Breakfast Club, Lantana and Little Miss Sunshine.
Meantime, former British Film Institute and London Film Festival Director Adrian Wootton returns exclusively to Melbourne for another series of his acclaimed Illustrated Film Talks, this year celebrating Charles Dickens – the most screen-adapted author of all time. For more details on each talk, and to book tickets, see http://miff.com.au/films/film_talks/adrianwoottontalksdickens
Presented by MIFF 37ºSouth Market and The Wheeler Centre, the Wootton Talks Dickens series comprises:
THE LIFE OF DICKENS (Fri 17 Aug, 11am-12.30). This session examines the life and times of Dickens, his literary legacy and innovations, his key fascination with – and lasting influence on – crime fiction, and his inspiration for countless screen adaptations. This talk is preceded, at 9.30am, by a screening of MIFF Premiere Fund-supported feature documentary First Fagin narrated by Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes (film tickets sold separately).
DICKENS ON FILM (Sat 18 Aug (talk and screening) 4.30 – 7pm). Liberally sprinkled with slides and film clips, this talk examines the legacy of Dickens screen adaptations from 1898 to the present, and highlights Dickens as an innovator of narrative, character, subject and imagery – and shows how he influenced the creation of the cinematic medium itself. This session includes (at the end of the talk at 6pm) a special screening of the documentary Dickens on Film (director: Anthony Wall; Producer: Adrian Wootton; 60 mins)
DICKENS: CRIME FICTION & FILM (Sun 19 Aug, (talk and screening) 4.30 – 7pm). With a plethora of slides and film clips, this lecture draws on Wootton’s research into Dickens’s fascination with, and writing about, true crime, social injustice and penal reform, his fictional work in and influence on the crime fiction and detective genre in literature (including his collaboration with other authors, such as Wilkie Collins). This session includes (at the end of the talk at 6pm) a special screening of the documentary Dickens in London (Director Chris Newby; Writer Michael Eaton; 63mins)
The Wootton Talks Dickens series kick-off Melbourne Celebrates Dickens season from 17-26 August, a part of the global Dickens 2012 initiative, that encompasses events from MIFF 37ºSouth Market, The Wheeler Centre, Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) and the Melbourne Writers Festival. Co-ordinated by the Charles Dickens Museum and Film London with the Dickens Fellowship, Dickens 2012 (www.dickens2012.org) is a global celebration of the life and work of Dickens marking the bicentenary of his birth. Dickens 2012 supporters include Sir Derek Jacobi, Sir Cameron Mackintosh and Miriam Margolyes OBE.