MIFF 37ºSouth Market, the film co-financing event during the opening days of the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), closed its eighth edition on Sunday 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.
Thanks to long-time MIFF 37ºSouth Market Gold Sponsor Film Finances, for the third year running 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 Emma Slade from New Zealand. The other two producers to win places at the PFM were Steve Kearney and Bridget Callow-Wright from Victoria.
MIFF 37ºSouth Market, Australia’s only film co-financing market to be held at a film festival, this year hosted 46 film financiers/buyers including Arri, EFIC, eOne Australia, Electric, Fulcrum, Global Screen, Goldcrest, Ingenious, Leap Frog Films, LevelK, Metrodome, Mongrel, Protagonist, Roadshow, Seville/eOne, Shoreline, Transmission, Wild Bunch, XYZ and Yellow. A record 22 publishers attended 37ºSouth’s Books at MIFF, including Fremantle, Hachette, Hardie Grant, Penguin, Random House, Scribe and Text.
The companies met with 97 Australia/NZ producers including John Barnett (Whale Rider), Michele Bennett (Chopper), Trevor Blainey (Cut Snake), Pip Campey (Galore), Robert Connolly (The Turning), Catherine Fitzgerald (The Orator), Veronica Fury (Electric Boogaloo), Tony Ginnane (Patrick), Bridget Ikin (My Year Without Sex), Liz Kearney (These Final Hours), Helen Leake (Wolf Creek 2), Marian Macgowan (Death Defying Acts), Kristian Moliere (The Babadook), David Parker (Matching Jack), Julie Ryan (Red Dog), and Leanne Tonkes (My Mistress).
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 2% to 2,203 from last year’s total of 2,156 and were more than seven times 2007’s tally. Across the eight editions of the market, more than 11,500 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 I Survived a Zombie Holocaust, Orphans & Kingdoms, Tailgate, The Last Saint and The PA Boys, while the MIFF 37ºSouth: State of Play panel sessions included In Conversation events with Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason and Head of Production Sally Caplan.
While MIFF 37ºSouth Market itself has concluded, MIFF 37ºSouth Market is co-hosting a range of ticketed events open to the general public during the remaining days of MIFF 2014.
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, see http://miffindustry.com/wendall-thomas-2014
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 major screen culture mavericks, spies and tough guys. For more details, see http://miff.com.au/program/streams/miff-industry-events