Three local producers have won places at the London Production Finance Market following the film co-financing event MIFF 37ºSouth Market.
David Ngo from South Australia won the $2000 flight voucher and a place at PFM, while Kristina Ceyton from New South Wales and Leanne Saunders from New Zealand also won place at the London event.
Selection for the three 37ºSouth places at PFM was guided by the votes of international financiers/buyers at MIFF 37ºSouth Market.
Thanks to long-time MIFF 37ºSouth Market Gold Sponsor Film Finances, one of the three producers selected for the October PFM received a flight voucher of $2000 towards their trip.
This year the market, held during MIFF, hosted some 45 film financiers/buyers including 13 Films, Cornerstone, eOne Australia, Endgame, Fulcrum, Hyde Park, Loco, Memento, Metrodome, Radiant, Roadshow, Seville/eOne, Shoreline, Transmission, Visit, Wide and XYZ.
A record 28 publishers registered for 37ºSouth’s Books at MIFF, including Hachette, Hardie Grant, Random House, Scribe and Text. The companies met with 110 Australia/NZ producers including John Barnett (Whale Rider), Trevor Blainey (Cut Snake), Jan Chapman (The Daughter), Robert Connolly (Paper Planes), Catherine Fitzgerald (The Orator), Veronica Fury (Electric Boogaloo), Tony Ginnane (Patrick), Liz Kearney (These Final Hours), Helen Leake (Wolf Creek 2), Marian Macgowan (Death Defying Acts), Kristian Moliere (The Babadook), and Leanne Tonkes (My Mistress).
Scheduled one-to-one meetings across the market’s strands increased almost 10 per cent to 2,428 from last year’s total of 2,203 and were almost more than nine times 2007’s tally.
Across the nine editions of the market, nearly 14,000 meetings have been scheduled.
Additionally, the buyers viewed completed new Australian/NZ films seeking distribution and/or sales agents at the 37ºSouth: Breakthru Screenings, including Belief: The Possession of Janet Moses, Crushed, I am Evangeline, the MIFF Premiere Fund-supported Putupuarri & the Rainmakers, MIFF Opening Night film Force of Destiny, and MIFF Premiere Fund-supported Ecco Homo, while MIFF 37ºSouth: State of Play panel sessions included a Special Address by Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason, an analysis of Roadshow’s distribution of MIFF Premiere Fund-supported 2014 title Paper Planes, a panel on Women In Film, and a case study on the financing of MIFF Premiere Fund-supported Downriver.
MIFF Accelerator, is co-hosting a range of ticketed events open to the general public during the remaining days of MIFF 2015.
Los Angeles-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, this year comprising: Black Comedy & Satire; Memorable Central Characters; The Crucial Third Act; and Writing Great TV Pilots.
Former British Film Institute and London Film Festival Director Adrian Wootton also returns to Melbourne for another series of his acclaimed Illustrated Film Talks, this year celebrating major the Hollywood Legends of Fred Astaire, David Niven, John Huston and Bette Davis.
Additionally, MIFF Accelerator presents several ticketed sessions, including an Acting Masterclass with Kerry Fox (An Angel at My Table, Shallow Grave, and MIFF 2015’s Premiere Fund-supported Downriver), Editing with Mark Atkin (editor of Paul Cox’s MIFF 2015 Opening Night film Force of Destiny) and and Composing with David Hirschfelder (Shine, The Water Diviner).