FÃS Screen Training Ireland and Bórd Scannán ha hÉireann/Irish Film Board Bursary - Magic Light Producer Placement Programme 2010
The Magic Light Producer Placement Programme in the UK is intended to provide up and coming film producers with insight into the working operations and business realities of the film market. By gaining a greater understanding of commercial processes, they will develop the business acumen and market understanding to be able to initiate, finance and sell successful British and Irish films.
The Programme is run by production company Magic Light Pictures, and funded by the Skillset Film Skills Fund as part of 'A Bigger Future' - the UK's Film Skills Strategy.
Applications for the programme are already underway in the UK to offer five places on the five month programme which will run from April 26th to September 2010.
This year, FÁS Screen Training Ireland, supported by Bórd Scannán na hÉireann/Irish Film Board, is collaborating with Magic Light Pictures to offer one place on the programme to a producer whose work benefits the Republic of Ireland film industry. There is no participation fee for the programme; instead, Magic Light Pictures/FÁS Screen Training Ireland will pay the successful Irish candidate an allowance to participate.
The programme will be run from central London, and the majority of the placements will be based in central London. As a result, the successful producer will be expected to relocate from the Republic of Ireland so that they can be based in London for the five month duration of the programme. The successful candidate will be awarded a limited additional allowance to assist with relocation costs for this five month period.
The Programme
The next generation of producers need to confront the changes that digital technology is having on the marketplace and on business models. To do this, producers need to understand how companies along the film value chain are currently working, and are evolving. In addition the producers need to consider the implications of digital change for their own films and businesses. This Programme is intended to help inform emerging producers about some of these commercial realities and possibilities.
The Producer Placement Programme will put six up-and-coming producers into a varied series of work placements in key businesses of the film industry. Here they will not only see what happens in these companies, but also what matters to them, and why they make the choices and decisions that they do. The placements will be along the length of the ‘film value chain’ from production, financing and distribution to sales, exhibition and marketing – ranging from spending time with financiers to working in a cinema box office.
Through the placements, producers should gain an appreciation of how production companies, film financiers, film lawyers, international sales companies, distributors and exhibitors work; and how the sectors interact. Producers will further consider issues relating to company growth; how new technologies are changing the industry; how project development can be influenced by market understanding; and the wider issues of film policy.
The film business is global - and films from UK and Ireland reach audiences around the world. How they reach those audiences depends on finance, sales, distribution and exhibition which is equally global. As with finance, London is a key city in the international film business; and the companies based in London are as interested in films from Cork, say, as they are in films from anywhere in the UK or indeed the world. The Irish producer will find the knowledge and contacts built up from the programme both relevant and applicable.
Participating placement companies on the 2008 Programme included:UKFC, BBC Films, Disney, Pathe, Icon, Shipleys, Olswang, Vue, City Screen, Freud Communications, and sales companies including Hanway, Salt, Bankside, Maximum/E1, Little Film Company, West End Film, Ealing Film Studios.
The PPP placements will be augmented by a series of evening master-classes and workshops with key industry figures, allowing access to the knowledge and experience of individuals from all areas of the film industry. Figures who spoke on the 2008 programme came from the areas touched on by the placements, as well as from other areas such as completion guarantors, insurance, banking, talent and literary agencies.
In addition, Magic Light Pictures intends offering each of the producers the opportunity to work with an international sales agent on a placement at the Cannes Film Festival this year.
Target Participant
This programme is aimed at giving a career boost to people who have already taken steps towards producing feature films, or may have produced their first one. The programme is focused on the operations of companies along the film value chain. As such, it is for those who would like to gain an in-depth understanding of the business processes involved in making and marketing films.
Applicants for the place funded by FÁS Screen Training Ireland will need to show in their applications how their work over the last eighteen months has benefited the Republic of Ireland film industry and how participation in the Producer Placement Programme will be of particular continuing benefit to the Republic of Ireland film industry in the future.
Cost
In order to create a level playing field and open up this programme to everyone who is eligible and interested, irrespective of their personal circumstances, this programme does not charge a fee for participation.
Instead, Magic Light Pictures/FÁS Screen Training Ireland will pay £7,291/€8,273 (equivalent to £17,500/€19,855 p.a.) to one Irish participant to cover the five month period of the programme.
In helping to cover the cost of accommodation, travel and basic monthly expenditure, it is anticipated that the programme will be accessible to the largest possible pool of potential producing talent.
Application
Applications to the programme can be made on the Magic Light/Producer Placement Programme website at www.producerplacementprogramme.eu.
Deadline for applications: Friday 5th March 2010.
For more information, go to www.producerplacementprogramme.eu, or contact Sorcha Loughnane at FÁS Screen Training Ireland, email sorcha.loughnane@fas.ie, ph: 01 6077468.