Cairo 2019

EAVE ON DEMAND tailor-made workshop for the film industry of the Middle East

November 21-24, Cairo, Egypt

Cairo Industry Days in partnership with EAVE is offering a 4 days EAVE on Demand workshop for selected teams of producers and writers. The objective is to cover all aspects of the development stage of Arabic feature film projects including the role of the producer, script development strategies, international sales as well as budgeting, financial planning and pitching.

EAVE on Demand brings to Cairo top-notch international experts to ensure the delivery of information and content in a relevant and tailored manner to meet the specific needs of each project.

EAVE on Demand Cairo OBJECTIVES

• Prepare regional producers and writers for the development stage
• Emphasize on the creative role of the producer
• Highlight available and realistic cooperation and financing opportunities

TOPICS COVERED

• Role of the Producer
• Script Development Strategies
• International Sales
• Budget & Financing
• Pitching

EAVE on Demand Cairo STRUCTURE

- Masterclasses delivered by the experts for each topic

- Group sessions covering:

• Challenges facing the writers and producers through the writing process
• Sharing knowledge and case studies between the experts and the participants
• Discussions of the group’s projects from both perspectives
• Setting a plan for following steps of each of the projects

- One-on-One consultancy between the experts and each project team

MEET THE EXPERTS

Diana ELBAUM (BE) – Beluga Tree

Diana moved from advertising to film production thanks to Chantal Akerman’s decision to hire her as a young producer on A couch in New York in 1996, since then she has produced and coproduced over 70 feature films and documentaries. Most of them where showcased and awarded in A class festivals. Her films cover a large sample of genre and come from all horizons and cultures. She is known for her skill in working with renown talents as well as her audacity in producing emerging talents.
Diana is deeply committed to develop the International film industry and spends time tutoring at and for EAVE since 2007 (Europe, Africa, Middle East, Caribbean)  and creating, in 2009, the program EP2C now renamed APost Lab. In 2017, Diana sets up Le Boost Camp, the first French speaking workshop for women directors.
Her tutoring, mentoring, and lectures made her travel the world around several time.
Diana created Entre Chien et Loup in 1989. Almost 30 years later, in 2017, she sold the company to open Beluga Tree in association with the Caviar Group as well as the sister company, Beluga Jungle, dedicated to documentaries and children content.
Throughout her career, Diana has worked with talents such as Chantal Akerman, Mahamat Saleh Haroun, Lisa Azuelos, Julie Bertucelli, Yuval Adler, Paul Verhoeven, Raoul Peck, Nabil Ben Yadir as well as Ira Sachs, Eran Kolirin, Isold Uggadottir, Peter Brossens and Jessica Woodworth.
Her latest films in development are Borough Park by Michale Boganim, Horse Boy by Ari Folman, Lingui by Mahamat Saleh Haroun (coproduction).
Diana lives in the heart of Europe, Brussels, with her two multicultural children.

Gabor GREINER (DE) – Films Boutique

After his studies of Cultural Management in Vienna, Birmingham and Chicago, Gabor worked as journalist and film critic.
In 2003, he moved to Brussels to take charge of the distribution support department of the MEDIA Program at the European Commission's Film Fund, which was created to support the European audiovisual sector.
In 2009, Gabor became acquisitions executive at the international sales agent, The Match Factory, specializing in edgy art house films from all over the world. In August 2010, Gabor moved to Berlin to take over acquisitions of the French-German sales company, Films Boutique, winner of the Golden Bear in 2017 and the Golden Lion in 2011 and 2016.
Gabor is a member of the European Film Academy.

Clare DOWNS (UK)

Consultant, Script Executive, Fund Evaluator, Lecturer, Producer – The Dress (BAFTA), High Season (San Sebastian, Best Screenplay). Clare Downs has extensive international script consulting and workshop experience. She was Director of International Creative Affairs at The Ladd Company. Founding member of the EAVE script analyst team since 1989. Head of Studies for Regional Programmes in Greece, Ireland and Scotland. Script Expert for EAVE on Demand, and for the EAVE International Programmes -Ties That Bind, B’EST. Also Head of Studies of the Southern African producer training programme, AVEA; Head of Script for FOCAL’S South Caucasian Film Project (IFSCA); Script Consultant for the Jerusalem International/Sam Spiegel Film Lab.  Recent Cannes and Berlin prize winners: The Kindergarten Teacher, The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki, United States of Love, Mellow Mud, also including Wajib (Locarno, Toronto), The Accused (Venice, Toronto 2018).


WHO SHOULD APPLY & WHY?

• Teams of Arab origins or nationality residing in the Arab world – producer and writer – of projects that are at a very early stage of development and interested in understanding specifically their roles and the nature of the process and how to propel their projects to materialize.
• Projects mean fiction feature length scripts with Arabic as the main language of the film

HOW TO APPLY

• The deadline for submissions is September 5th. All projects should have a writer and a producer attached and submit a project package in both English & Arabic through an online form. All details about EAVE Development Lab, the submission requirements and the online form are available on Cairo International Film Festival website.

Please NOTE:

1. Submission PACKAGE has to include:

a. Producer’s Bio / filmography
b. Producer’s Note of Intention
c. Writer’s bio / filmography
d. Writer’s Note of Intention
e. Project current status
f. Project synopsis
g. Project detailed treatment “logline – synopsis – character profiles – treatment”
h. Project development budget and financial plan
i. Contact details of the producer

2. Package has to be submitted in English & Arabic

3. The workshop will be conducted in English language

ABOUT THE COLLABORATORS

EAVE – European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs, is one of the leading professional training, project development and networking organizations for audiovisual producers. Working with a worldwide network of partners we are involved in programmes for producers in Europe, Russia, Latin America, the Arab world, Asia and Africa.

Cairo Industry Days – is the industry platform of Cairo International Film Festival that launched during the 40th edition of the festival. Cairo Industry days provides an important space for discussions, networking, meetings, workshops, masterclasses and partnership opportunities between Arab talents and regional and international key industry professionals to further support Arab Cinema. Cairo Industry Days will run from 21st  to 26th of November, 2019.  

Page last updated 20 January 2020