APPLICATION
A 3-module programme designed for 6 experienced producers – and for two film industry professionals who will act as observers – wishing to increase their skills in marketing, national/international distribution and legal issues through sessions and individual meetings with renowned international experts. Producers apply with and work on a specific feature film project with theatrical potential (fiction or documentary) at script stage. The programme will allow participants to expand their international network and to develop a full audience and market strategy. The workshop will be held in English.

Focal Audience & Market Strategies

Application

The programme is open to Swiss producers (or producers living in Switzerland and working for a Swiss company) working in fiction or documentary with a film project in development. Applicants should have produced at least one feature-length film which has had a theatrical release in Switzerland and an international career (at festivals or with international sales). Participants are required to apply with a project in development, which will be discussed during one-to-one meetings with experts.

In addition, the programme is open to two participants (Swiss or Swiss residents) without a project with at least 1 year industry experience coming from the areas of production, distribution, promotion, sales, festivals or from other creative industries. The two participants – who should not be directly linked to the selected projects and/or participating producers – will be paired with different projects throughout the programme and will be asked to offer support to participating producers.

Module 1

19-23 April
2020

Gruyères

Module 2

5-9 July
2020

Flims

Module 3

 September 2020 TBA

Zurich

Fee

1500 CHF*

for participants with a project

850 CHF*

for participants without project

* The fee includes accommodation and subsistence.
Travel is not included.

Deadline

5 March
2020

The following documents are required for the application:
Participants with a project: a Motivation letter, a CV and a Project description (max. 5 pages).
Participants without project: a Motivation letter and a CV.
The application deadline is 5 March 2020.
Apply here

Focal Audience & Market Strategies

Structure

The three Modules are a mixture of open lectures and one-to-one meetings with the experts, research phases and work on individual projects in-between sessions.

Participants are given very practical goals to achieve during each Workshop. At the end of Module 1, participants are expected to have a title, a synopsis, a list of key scenes for still photography, a moodboard for the artwork, a draft press kit and a P&A for the Swiss theatrical release. At the end of Module 2, participants are expected to have a marketing strategy, a festival and sales strategy and a sales pitch outline. The wrap up of the AMS Programme will happen in Module 3, where final presentations of the developed strategies and discussions with high-profile industry experts will take place within an extensive networking event during the Zurich Film Festival. Furthermore, questions concerning legal issues will be answered.

Module 1

Audience

The first module is focused on finding an audience for the film. During the four-day workshop, participating producers will work on various topics concerning the release of the film guided by international experts. The starting point will be an analysis of the tailored communication and marketing strategies including positioning, title and log line choice and synopsis as well as the development of a visual identity and first poster design and trailer editing ideas. Press work, PR and social media strategies will be discussed and established for each project. Furthermore, a national distribution campaign including a rough P&A budget, VOD and exhibition possibilities will be explored.

Module 2

Market

The second module is focused on accessing the market and going international with the film. During the four-day workshop, participants will be given opportunities to deepen their understanding of market structures and the role of festivals in building a successful international career for the film. Experts from top industry players will share their views on evolutions in act on the market place and how these impact the market, festival and sales strategy of European independent films to give the best opportunities to producers.

Module 3

Strategy

During this short 1.5 day module, participants will be able to wrap-up the program with a final presentation of the strategy developed during the first two workshops followed by a discussion with a panel of industry experts in the framework of the Zurich Film Festival. This highly participatory event will offer networking opportunities and will include training on legal issues specific to distribution and sales.

Focal Audience & Market Strategies

Experts & Team

Audience & Market Strategies has made a selection of some of the best experts in the field of audience engagement, marketing, sales, distribution, VOD and international film festivals.
The full list of experts will be announced in March.

Nils Bökamp

Netflix

Deborah Rowland

UK National Film
and Television School

Agathe Valentin

TOTEM FILMS

Harry Vaughn

Sundance Film
Festival

Ira Von Gienanth

Prokino

Olga Lamontanara

Project Coordinator

Barbie Heusinger

Head of Studies

Mathias Noschis

Head of Studies

Focal Audience & Market Strategies

Contact

For any question, please contact the FOCAL Audience & Marketing Strategies Project Coordinator Olga Lamontanara (olga.lamontanara@focal.ch) or use the form below.

8 + 6 =

Proposed by
On behalf of
the Film Section
of the Federal Office of Culture
In partnership with