The International Film Festival Rotterdam welcomes 78 young film producers taking part in the 12th edition of the Rotterdam Lab. The participants of CineMart’s successful event for emerging producers have been nominated by the twenty-eight Rotterdam Lab partner organisations. Rotterdam Lab, part of CineMart, takes place January 28 – February 1.
For its 12th edition, Rotterdam Lab also welcomes eight new partner organisations: Catalan Films & TV (Spain), Cinergia (Costa Rica), Doha Film Institute (Qatar), Film I Vast (Sweden), The Finnish Film Foundation (Finland), Meetings on the Bridge/Istanbul Film Festival (Turkey), Skillset (United Kingdom), and Sundance Institute (USA). Rotterdam Lab, organised by CineMart’s Jacobine van der Vloed and Nienke Poelsma, takes place in festival venue De Unie (a few steps from CineMart location De Doelen).
The participants of the Rotterdam Lab are emerging producers, who are ‘nominated’ by the international training bodies and funding agencies with which CineMart has partnerships. Traditionally, panel discussions are organised on topics such as development, financing, post-production, (digital) distribution, VOD, and sales. This edition, the Rotterdam Lab coaching session on pitching film projects will be given by Ido Abram of EYE Film Institute Netherlands and representatives from the Binger Filmlab.
The Rotterdam Lab meetings take place in an informal setting and are organized to illustrate the process by which a project in need of financing is completed and brought to its audience. In these panels, industry experts give the producers tools on how to present their project and how to build up an international network. This edition, themes will be ‘Crowd funding’ (speaker: Elisabeth Holm, Kickstarter, USA), ‘Development and the role of the creative producer’ (speaker: Katriel Schory, Israel Film Fund), ‘Digital Distribution and VOD’ (speakers: Pierre Alexandre Labelle, Under The Milky Way, France and Jamie King, VODO, UK ) and ‘Post-production management’ (speakers: Diana Elbaum, EP2C Training, Belgium and Ozcar Ramirez, Arte Mécanica, Mexico).
Complimentary to the panels, participants take part in ‘speed-dating’ sessions, during which they have time to meet personally with industry delegates and receive advice on their own projects. The Rotterdam Lab allows these producers to present their companies and projects, test the grounds, receive feedback on how to proceed and expand their network in an effective way. The Rotterdam Lab fits very well in Rotterdam’s spirit of nurturing emerging talent. Moreover, the Rotterdam Lab has developed into a valuable tool to strengthen CineMart's international network of independent producers.
Over the past years, the Rotterdam Lab has expanded steadily. The Lab has already resulted in many producers returning to CineMart, and films by producers who have attended the Lab have been screened in the official Festival Programme. By bringing together a mix of producers from around Europe and the rest of the world, the Rotterdam Lab has also generated many alluring international co-productions.
In addition to the organized Rotterdam Lab programme, it is important that the producers take the chance to participate in all other CineMart events, such as networking breakfasts, lunches, cocktails and other panels. They are encouraged to take advantage of their time in Rotterdam as much as possible by strengthening their network.
Rotterdam Lab partner organisations
ACE/ Ateliers du Cinema Europeen
Catalan Films & TV
Centre for the Moving Image/Creative Scotland
Cinergia
Doha Film Institute
Durban FilmMart/ Durban Film Office
Eruopean Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE)
Film I Vast
Film –und Medienstiftung NRW
The Finnish Film Foundation
Flanders Image / VAF, Belgium
Fundación TyPA (MEDIA Mundus)
Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP)
Indigenous Branch – Screen Australia
Irish Film Board
Israel Film Fund
Korean Film Council (KOFIC)
Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Germany
Meetings on the Bridge/Istanbul Film Festival, Turkey
National Film Development Corporation India
New Zealand Film Commission
PROIMAGENES COLOMBIA
Rotterdam Media Fund, the Netherlands
Screen Australia
Rio de Janeiro State Secretariat of Culture, Brazil
Skillset, United Kingdom
Sundance Institute, USA
Telefilm Canada
Wallonie Bruxelles Image