EAVE Producers Workshop comes to Druskininkai – in partnership with the Lithuanian Film Centre

Press release

The second workshop of the EAVE Producers Workshop programme 2016 will take place in Druskininkai, Lithuania, during June 13–20. The workshop, organized in partnership with the Lithuanian Film Centre, will bring together 51 participants from 37 countries altogether.

The workshop week in Druskininkai is the second out of the three workshops of the year-long EAVE training for independent producers. The participants of this year were selected from a total of 143 applicants, and come from all over the world. In addition to most of the European member states, many other countries are represented as well, such as Brazil, India, New Zealand, Palestine, Turkey, Uruguay and USA for example.

As EAVE CEO Kristina Trapp puts it: “With Lithuania, we have found an ideal workshop location for EAVE’s second Producers Workshop of the year. We are happy to bring a truly international film crowd to Lithuania thanks to the great cooperation with the Lithuanian Film Centre. Our professionals from all over the world will be pleased to discover the advantages of this film region, such as a tax incentive of 20% and a highly efficient national fund.”

The director of Lithuanian Film Centre Rolandas Kvietkauskas states: “One of the Lithuanian Film Centre priorities is training of professionals. It gives us a possibility to develop networks, to support the exchange of creative ideas. I welcome the great team of EAVE professionals and film experts as well as the big group of producers from all over the world. I am sure that everybody will discover Lithuania as an inspirational space. We look forward to future co-productions.”

During the workshop week, various aspects of film production will be addressed, including marketing, financing and international sales. EAVE’s 2016 pedagogical core team is composed of EAVE Head of Studies Jani Thiltges (Luxembourg), the four group leaders (all active, experienced producers), Roshanak Behesht Nedjad (In Good Company GmbH, DE), Diana Elbaum (Entre chien et loup, BE), Lise Lense-Møller (Magic Hour Films, DK) and Riina Sildos (Amrion, EE); the script consultants Clare Downs (UK), Jacques Akchoti (FR), Martin Daniel (USA), and documentary expert Sylvia Stevens (Faction Films, UK). They are supported by the specialized experts for Pitching: Sibylle Kurz (DE), Finance: Linda Beath (Ideal Filmworks, IT), Marketing: Sarah Calderon (The Film Agency, ES) and Legal Issues: Roberto Olla (Eurimages, EU), who share their expertise in plenary and group work sessions and individual meetings with the EAVE participants.

Music rights expert Laurence Kaye from the UK will discuss the music rights issues related to the projects of the participants. Didar Domehri (Full House – Manekifilms, FR) will share her insight into sales and international market. 

An expert panel – EAVE Head of Studies Jani Thiltges, EAVE Finance Expert Linda Beath and producers Christine Alderson (Ipso Facto Films, UK) and Didar Domehri (Full House – Manekifilms, FR), EAVE group leaders Danijel Hocevar (Vertigo, SI) and Danny Krausz (DOR Film, AT), as well as Karin Schockweiler (Film Fund Luxembourg) and Leena Pasanen (DOK Leipzig, DE) – will give detailed advise on the project finance plans. 

A special spotlight will be given to the development of TV drama series: As one of the first producers in Europe to have worked with showrunners, Finnish EAVE producer Matti Halonen (Fisher King, FI) will share his experience of adapting the US showrunner system into the reality of European TV drama series production and give a case study of his latest production BORDERTOWN. 

Eurimages project manager Susan Newman (Eurimages, FR) will give an in-depth overview of the rules and regulations of Eurimages and share useful tips for applying.

The local film industry presents itself to the EAVE participants in a special session on Producing in and with Lithuania by Rolandas Kvietkauskas and Uljana Kim from the Lithuanian Film Centre. In addition, from June 14-17, EAVE organises a tailor-made EAVE@Lithuania workshop for local professionals, during which 10 selected projects from Lithuania will participate at the EAVE workshop plenaries, have individual coaching meetings with the EAVE experts and will be given the opportunity to network with the EAVE participants.

Page published 8 June 2016. Updated 9 June 2016.