Two South Australian producers have been selected to participate in the 2014 Producers Lab Toronto during the Toronto International Film Festival, which runs September 3-7.
Kristian Moliere and Anna Vincent will join a select group of 22 producers from Europe, Canada and New Zealand at the fifth edition of the Producers Lab. They will gain information on funding and co-production from both sides of the Atlantic as well as the Pacific.
The Producers Lab Toronto is an initiative of European Film Promotion (EFP) in partnership with the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) and TIFF. It is financially supported by the European Union’s MEDIA Mundus Programme. Additional finance was received from Eurimages, Telefilm Canada and the associated EFP member organisations.
Each year a guest country is chosen to participate in the Producers Lab, and Australia has impressively been selected for a second year in a row. Screen Australia will support the international networking event alongside the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC).
The Australian and New Zealand producers will meet with 10 European producers (from 10 different countries) and 10 Canadian producers to discuss and pitch their projects, and participate in a number of seminars and events.
Screen Australia’s Head of Marketing, Kathleen Drumm, said, “This is a great opportunity for these two South Australian producers to interact with international players in order to fast-track their projects. Kristian and Anna will network with key people in the industry and learn an enormous amount about the marketplace, while exchanging ideas on funding and co-production."
Kristian Moliere of Triptych Pictures will present four feature films in development including his thriller The End of Everything at the lab. The story follows the disappearance of a young girl, Evie, and her best friend, Lizzie, who unravels the dark world of her teenage friend in pursuing the truth behind her vanishing. The film has received support through Screen Australia’s development program. Kristian produced the critically acclaimed horror film, The Babadook, which was selected for the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and has sold around the world. Kristian’s other feature film productions include Boxing Day (2007) and Lucky Country (2009). Kristian produced the documentary series mY Generation (2008) and was executive producer of the six-part factual entertainment series Croc College (2013) and Jillaroo School (2014).
Anna Vincent established Southern Light Alliance (SLA) with producer Timothy White in 2012 and has two productions underway. She is in post-production on a Jim Loach feature with UK’s Met Film and in early pre-production on a Scott Hicks documentary. Anna has spent 20 years in film production working in crew roles and film marketing Australia-wide and in the UK, China and USA. Anna will present a slate of four feature films currently in development including Archive with writer/director Ashlee Page, winner of the 2014 Sundance Global Filmmaking Award.
The Producers Lab Toronto provides a platform for successful networking and development of international co-productions. Sixty-six of the 96 previous participants are working on 82 projects at different stages of production, with some of the films having since been completed.
The event offers participants an opportunity to find projects with a wider scope regarding financing, creativity and distribution, and take part in pitching sessions, case studies, roundtables and various networking events with key people from the film industry and film funds.