The inaugural edition of the ACE Series Special is starting on Monday the 4th of November 2019 and will run until Saturday the 9th of November 2019.

The workshop will be held in Brussels in collaboration with VAF (the Flanders Audiovisual Fund) and supported by Flow Postproduction, Casa Kafka Pictures and Creative Europe MEDIA Desk Flanders, with notable thanks to the recent support of CFAP.

16 experienced producers have been selected to attend the 6-day workshop, representing eleven different countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland.

Focusing primarily on the creative and financial aspects of TV series production, the ACE Series Special will also offer sessions on distribution, audiences, international approaches and business strategies, with a two-day course in the use of story development tools for TV drama.

The workshop will revolve around group sessions, interactive plenary sessions and one to one meetings conducted by or held with eminent professionals from the TV and wider audiovisual industries: Florentijn Bos (Flow Postproduction), Jules Debrock (Flow Postproduction), Jonas Dornbach (Komplizen Film), Paolo Finotto (Flow Postproduction), Dariusz Jablonski (Apple Film), Denis Leroy (Banijay Studios), Marc Lorber (Lionsgate),  Isabelle Molhant  (Casa Kafka), Emmanuel Oberg (Screenplay Unlimited), Richard Pommerat (Wild Bunch TV), Tatjana Samopjan (Fractal Volcano), Antoine Simkine (Les Films d’Antoine), Gregory Strouk (Wild Bunch TV), Elly Vervloet (VRT), Christian Vesper (Fremantle), Fleur Winters (Lemming Film) and Michele Zatta (RAI Fiction). The group sessions of the workshop will be moderated by Aleksi Bardy (Helsinki Filmi) and Laura Gragg (Freelance).

On Thursday the 7th of November, an open afternoon will be held at the VAF, welcoming Belgian and Dutch producers to participate in sessions on international production and broadcasting.

For more information on the Series Special please contact: series@ace-producers.com

AUSTRIA

“Joy” by Sudabeh Mortezai
Produced by Oliver Neumann (ACE AT)

BRAZIL

“The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão” by Karim Aïnouz
Produced by Viola Fügen (ACE DE)

COLOMBIA

“Monos” by Alejandro Landes
Co-produced by Leontine Petit (ACE NL)

CZECH REPUBLIC

“The Painted Bird” by Václav Marhoul
Co-produced by Igor Savychenko (ACE UA)

FINLAND

“Stupid Young Heart” by Selima Vihunen
Produced by Elli Toivoniemi (ACE FI)

GERMANY

“System Crasher” by Nora Fingscheidt
Produced by Jonas Weydemann (ACE DE)

ICELAND

“A White White Day” by Hlynur Palmason
Co-produced by Eva Jakobsen (ACE DK)

ITALY

“The Traitor” by Marco Bellocchio
Produced by Simone Gattoni (ACE IT) and Viola Fügen (ACE DE)

LUXEMBOURG

“Tel Aviv on Fire” by Sameh Zoabi
Produced by Bernard Michaux (ACE LU) and Miléna Poylo (ACE FR)

THE NETHERLANDS

“Instinct” by Halina Reijn
Produced by Laurette Schillings (ACE NL)

PALESTINE

“It Must Be Heaven” by Elia Suleiman
Produced by Thanassis Karathanos (ACE DE) and Serge Noël (ACE CA)

ROMANIA

“The Whistlers” by Corneliu Porumboiu
Co-produced by Jonas Dornbach (ACE DE) and Janine Jackowski (ACE DE)

SAUDI ARABIA

“The Perfect Candidate” by Haifaa Al Mansour
Produced by Roman Paul (ACE DE)

SENEGAL

“Atlantics” by Mati Diop
Co-produced by Jean-Yves Roubin (ACE BE)

URUGUAY

“The Moneychanger” by Federico Veiroj
Co-produced by Hernán Musaluppi (ACE AR) and Claudia Steffen (ACE DE)

ACE Producers is broadening its perspective with a workshop that focuses primarily on animation production. In close collaboration with Screen Skills Ireland and Animation Dingle and support from other key Irish partners – Screen Ireland, BAI, Animation Skillnet, IDA and Animation Ireland – the 4-day workshop will be held from the 18th to the 22nd March 2020. The ACE Animation Special is a hands-on workshop for experienced producers who want to diversify their activities to include, and/or deepen their knowledge of, developing and producing long form/feature film animation production for an international audience (cinema, broadcast or streaming).

ACE Producers’ director Jacobine van der Vloed sees the new workshop as a valuable addition to the programmes that ACE has to offer: “With this initiative we will be enabling producers within our network and beyond to strengthen their skills in the animation field. Through our collaboration with the Animation Dingle festival, Screen Skill Ireland and other partners, we are offering an opportunity to broaden producers’ networks and understanding of animated content.”

Gareth Lee, manager at Screen Skills Ireland, added, “Screen Skills Ireland is delighted to team up with ACE Producers, Animation Dingle, and other key partners to offer this fantastic skills development opportunity. By providing producers with the required skills and knowledge to diversify into animation, this workshop will make an important contribution to the health of the animation industry in Ireland and abroad, as well as support the production of exciting, new animated content.”

Maurice Galway, founder and festival director of Animation Dingle is thrilled to welcome ACE Producers to Dingle: “I know this rich area will offer much inspiration to their work here on the peninsula.”

16 producers will be selected for the workshop, preferably with a long form/feature length animation project at concept stage. Focusing primarily on the creative and financial aspects of animation production, the ACE Animation Special will also offer sessions on the development process, co-producing, international distribution, audiences and business strategies. The workshop will also include one or more sessions on the different approaches needed for animated TV series as well as offering the producers a chance to work on their projects, have meetings with animation experts and network with their peers.

Visit the ACE Animation Special page for further information and details on how to apply.

ACE Producers is pleased to announce the eighteen producers selected to participate in the 28th ACE Session (2019/2020) with their projects in development.

Daniel Baur – K5 Film – Germany
ACE Project: “Bad Company” by Robert Schwentke

Artemio Benki – Sirena Film – Czech Republic
ACE Project: “Cyclopath” by Karim Ouelhaj

Miha Černec – Staragara – Slovenia
ACE Project: “The Bullet and the Bell” by Jan Cvitkovič

Per Damgaard Hansen – Masterplan Pictures – Denmark
ACE Project: “Tove” by Trine Piil

Clément Duboin – Good Fortune Films – France
ACE Project: “Grand Ciel” by Akihiro Hata

Laura Fernandez – Filmax – Spain
ACE Project: “A Present for Annie” Director TBD

Felize Frappier – Max Films Media – Canada
ACE Project: “The Dictator’s Son” by Mathieu Denis

Viola Fügen – Match Factory Productions – Germany
ACE Project: “Brothers” by Türker Süer

Danielle Guirguis – Smarthouse Films – The Netherlands
ACE Project: “The Green-Eyed Monster” by Marleen Jonkman

Alexandra Hoesdorff – Deal Productions – Luxembourg
ACE Project: “The Golden Hour” by Heidi Greensmith

Kurban Kassam – Raucous Pictures – United Kingdom
ACE Project: “The Parcel” by Umesh Kulkarni

Lasha Khalvashi – Studio Artizm – Georgia
ACE Project: “Fishing” by Tinatin Kajrishvili

Jesper Kurlandsky – Fasad – Sweden
ACE Project: “Barry” by Agnieszka Lukasiak

Sarah Marks – Savage Film – Belgium
ACE Project: “Elephants” by Nathalie Teirlinck

Elina Pohjola – Citizen Jane Productions – Finland
ACE Project: “The Squirrel” by Markus Lehmusruusu

Lukas Trimonis – iN_SCRiPT – Lithuania
ACE Project: “Funny and Sad Life of George” by Egle Vertelyte

Ingmar Trost – Sutor Kolonko – Germany
ACE Project: “Beautiful Souls” by Tom Schreiber

Vincent Wang – House on Fire – France
ACE Project: “Entrelacs” by Nicolas Sarkissian

The selected producers will attend three workshops with a project in development. Fifteen different territories are represented in the selection: Belgium, Czech Republic, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. ACE is pleased to welcome producers from both Georgia and Lithuania to the Network for the first time.

The selection committee was made up of members of the ACE board, ACE consultants, president Antoine Simkine and director and head of studies  Jacobine van der Vloed. According to Jacobine van der Vloed “The experience level of applicants this year was unprecedented, making for very spirited discussions. By coming from fifteen different countries and with the wide variety of expertise they each have within the industry, we are confident that the
selected eighteen producers will learn a great amount from each other”.

Four events make up the core of the training. The first workshop, dedicated to content development will take place mid-October in Helsinki, thanks to the
support of Aalto University. The Content Development Workshop includes plenary sessions and individual meetings, analysing the concepts, dramaturgy
and target audiences of producers’ projects.

In November the second workshop, which offers the producers advice on possible financing strategies for their projects, takes place in Prague, with the support of the Czech Film Fund and the Czech Audiovisual Producers Association. This week-long workshop is made up of interactive sessions exploring international financing opportunities and strategies through detailed analysis of the producers’ finance plans, with input provided by high-grade professionals from across the industry. The sessions offer a uniquely open exchange of experience and ideas which sheds light on the evolution of co-production practices, of public and private funding schemes, and of the global marketplace in the digital age.

The third workshop will look at the producers’ business strategies, providing them with models of sustainable company management and ways to build businesses that have real value. This Business Prospects Workshop takes place in Amsterdam with the kind support of the Netherlands Film Fund and is immediately followed by the ACE Annual Reunion, were the new producers will be officially welcomed into the ACE Network.

The Annual Reunion 2020 will be held in Edinburgh, with the support of Screen Scotland. It will be the first time that an ACE Workshop or Annual Reunion has been held in the UK since the association’s inception in 1993.

ACE Producers is supported by Creative Europe MEDIA, The Netherlands Film Fund, The Czech Film Fund, Aalto University, Procirep, Téléfilm Canada, German Films, Screen Ireland, Focal, Rai Cinema, the Czech Audiovisual Producers’ Association, Audiovisual Producers Finland and the Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

ACE Producers is pleased to announce the sixteen producers who have been selected to attend the 1st edition of the ACE Series Special later this year.

All selected participants are experienced producers who want to integrate a series division into their companies and/or deepen their knowledge of developing and producing TV drama series for an international audience.  They were each selected with a series project in the early stages of development. Eleven different countries are represented in the selection: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland.

Regarding the selection, ACE director and head of studies, Jacobine van der Vloed said, “We are thrilled to have such a prestigious group of international producers, with exciting series projects, selected for the first edition of the ACE Series Special – and it’s great to have producers from both inside and outside of the ACE network. It promises to be a fruitful week at our hosts’, the VAF (the Flanders Audiovisual Fund) in Brussels this November”.

In collaboration with VAF (the Flanders Audiovisual Fund) and supported by Flow Postproduction, Casa Kafka Pictures and Creative Europe MEDIA Desk Flanders, the 6-day workshop will be held from the 4th to the 9th of November 2019 in Brussels.

Focusing primarily on the creative and financial aspects of TV series production, the ACE Series Special will also offer sessions on distribution, audiences, international approaches and business strategies, with a two-day course in the use of story development tools for TV drama. The workshop will give the producers a chance to network with their peers, discuss their projects during one-to-one meetings with experts and during the interactive group session dive deeper into the different aspects of series production.

ACE SERIES SPECIAL 1 – PRODUCERS & PROJECTS

Emilie Blézat – France – Sciapode
“Paradise Institute” written by David Dusa, Mike Sens and Emilie Blezat

Stienette Bosklopper – The Netherlands – Circe Films
“Life Science” written by Stienette Bosklopper

Martichka Bozhilova – Bulgaria – Agitprop
“Babyland” written by Simona Nobile, Dianne Jones and Martichka Bozhilova

Fiona Copland – New Zealand – Field Theory Media
“Authenticity” written by Caroline Grose and Sean Williams

Oliver Damian – Germany – 27 Films Production
“DarkSky” written by Peter Koller

Damon D’Oliveira – Canada – Conquering Lion Pictures
“Four Queens” written by Suzette Couture

Kaleena Kiff – Canada – Curiosity Pictures
“Until I Find You” directed by Adam Kane and written by John Irving

Christian Frederik Martin – Norway – Friland Produksjon
“Bloodlust” Writers: Sara Johnsen and David Dusa

Christof Neracher – Switzerland – Hugofilm
“The Art of Disappearance” directed by Bettina Oberli
and written by David Sandreuter and Thomas Ritter

Helen Perquy – Belgium – Jonnydepony
“Decimation” written by Philippe De Schepper, Bas Adriaensen

Dries Phlypo – Belgium – A Private View
“Ghosts of the Past” directed by Robin Pront, written by Veerle Baetens

Ferenc Pusztai – Hungary – Paprika Studios
“Hard Diplomacy” written by Mikko Pölla and Roope Lethinen

Arash T. Riahi – Austria – Golden Girls
“People of Good Will” directed by Arash & Arman T. Riahi (Riahi Brothers)
and written by Klaus Oppitz

Oda Schaefer – Germany – K5 Film
“MUTi” written by Mukunda Michael Dewil

Frans van Gestel – The Netherlands – Topkapi Films
“The Life” directed by Giancarlo Sanchez and
written by Chris Westendorp and Esther Duysker

Bart Van Langendonck – Belgium – Savage Film
“Sylvia Kristel” directed by Michaël R. Roskam and written by Dimitri Verhulst

HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST FEATURE FILM

“Take Me Somewhere Nice” by Ena Sendijarević
Produced by Iris Otten (ACE NL)

HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST DIRECTOR

“A Tale of Three Sisters” by Emin Alper
Co-produced by Nadir Öperli (ACE TR), Jonas Dornbach (ACE DE), Janine Jackowski (ACE DE), Yorgos Tsourgiannis (ACE GR)

“I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians” by Radu Jude
Produced by Ada Solomon (ACE RO)
Co-produced by Jonas Dornbach (ACE DE), Janine Jackowski (ACE DE)

“A Tale of Three Sisters” by Emin Alper
Co-produced by Nadir Öperli (ACE TR), Jonas Dornbach (ACE DE), Janine Jackowski (ACE DE), Yorgos Tsourgiannis (ACE GR)

“Dirty God” by Sacha Polak
Produced by Marleen Slot (ACE NL)
Co-produced by Dries Phlypo (ACE BE)

“Fire Will Come” by Oliver Laxe
Produced by Mani Mortazavi (ACE FR)

“Gundermann” by Andreas Dresen
Produced by Claudia Steffen (ACE DE)

“High Life” by Claire Denis
Produced by Claudia Steffen (ACE DE)

“It Must Be Heaven” by Elia Suleiman
Produced by Thanassis Karathanos (ACE GR), Serge Noël (ACE CA)

“Joy” by Sudabeh Mortezai
Produced by Oliver Neuman (ACE AT)

“Little Joe” by Jessica Hausner
Produced by Bertrand Faivre (ACE FR)

“Oleg” by Juris Kursietis
Produced by Alise Gelze (ACE LV)

“System Crasher” by Nora Fingscheidt
Produced by Jakob Weydemann (ACE DE)

“Tel Aviv on Fire” by Sameh Zoabi
Produced by Bernard Michaux (ACE LU), Milena Poylo (ACE FR)

“The Favourite” by Yorgos Lanthimos
Produced by Ed Guiney (ACE IE)

“The Traitor” by Marco Bellocchio
Produced by Simone Gattoni (ACE IT)

“The Whistlers” by Corneliu Porumboiu
Co-produced by Janine Jackowski (ACE DE), Jonas Dornbach (ACE DE)

Taking place from the 5th to the 7th of October in Helsinki and Espoo ACE Producers has selected 19 upcoming producers at relatively early stages in their careers from the Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Estonia to take part in the ACE Nordic Focus Training Days 2019. Two production students from Aalto University will also attend.

Scheduled over two-and-a-half days, the workshop is provided with the help of ACE producers and consultants who have notably strong track-records in international project financing and distribution, and who will share their knowledge and international expertise with the participants.

“The Essentials of Agreement Management, Rights Management and Waterfalls” will include plenary sessions, group meetings, case-studies and interactive workshops. These will offer guidance through the main international agreements and explore topics such as rights clearance, budgeting and recoupment schedules.

The Nordic Focus Training Days are supported by Aalto University, Audiovisual Producers Finland and the Nordisk Film and TV Fond.

 

Training Days in Helsinki and Espoo 2019 Participants

 

Eleonore Anselme – Hummelfilm – Norway

Tiina Butter – Butterworks – Finland

Marte Hansen – mahafilm – Norway

Eliza Jones – Grand Slam Film – Sweden

Elin Kamlert – Kamlert Film – Sweden

Andreas Kask – NAFTA – Estonia

Oda Kruse – Kruse Film – Norway

Paria Eskandari – AAMU Film Company – Finland

Ann Lundberg – Anagram Sweden – Sweden

Mette Matthiessen – Freelance – Denmark

Heather Millard – Compass Films – Iceland

Julie Carla Mortensen – Freelance – Denmark

Veronica Natvig – Storm Films – Norway

Marianne Ostrat – Alexandra Film – Estonia

Nicholas Sando – Filmbin – Norway

Malin Söderlund – Unlimited Stories – Sweden

Giulia Triolo – Snowglobe – Denmark

Frida Wallman – Unlimited Stories – Sweden

Markus Waltå – Grand Slam Film – Sweden

Contemporary World Cinema

“The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open” by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Kathleen Hepburn
Produced by Alan R. Milligan (ACE NO)
Co-produced by Dyveke Graver (ACE NO)

Special Presentations

“Frankie” by Ira Sachs
Co-produced by Diana Elbaum (ACE BE)

“The Painted Bird” by Václav Marhoul
Co-produced by Igor Savychhenko (ACE UA)

Gala Presentations

“Radioactive” by Marjane Satrapi
Co-produced by Ildiko Kemeny (ACE HU)

“The Song of Names” by François Girard
Co-produced by Viktória Petrányi (ACE HU)

Discovery

“Love Me Tender” by Klaudia Reynicke
Produced by Tiziana Soudani (ACE CH)

“My Life As A Comedian by Rojda Sekersöz
Produced by Martin Persson (ACE SE)

“Pompei” by Anna Falguères, John Shank
Produced by Valérie Bournonville (ACE BE)

“Sea Fever” by Neasa Hardiman
Produced by Brendan McCarthy (ACE IE) and John McDonnell (ACE IE)

TIFF Docs

“Cunningham” by Alla Kovgan
Produced by Helge Albers (ACE DE)

Competition

“The Painted Bird” by Václav Marhoul
Co-produced by Igor Savychenko (ACE UA)

“The Perfect Candidate” by Haifaa al Mansour
Produced by Roman Paul (ACE DE)

“Scales” by Shahad Ameen
Produced by Paul Miller (ACE NL)

Out of Competition

“Collective” by Alexander Nanau
Co-produced by Bernard Michaux (ACE LU)

“The King” by David Michod
Co-produced by Ildiko Kemeny (ACE HU)

“Electric Swan” by Konstantina Kotzamani
Produced by Maria Drandaki (ACE GR)

Orrizonti

“Rialto” by Peter Mackie Burns
Produced by Alan Maher (ACE IE) and John Wallace (ACE IE)

“The Son” by Mehdi Barsaoui
Produced by Marc Irmer (ACE FR)

Venice Days Competition

“Only The Animals” by Dominik Moll
Produced by Carole Scotta (ACE FR)
Co-produced by Roman Paul (ACE DE)

“Arab Blues” by Manele Labidi
Produced by Jean-Christophe Reymond (ACE FR)

“A Bigger World” by Fabienne Berthaud
Produced by Carole Scotta (ACE FR)

“Beware Of Children” by Dag Johan Haugerud
Co-produced by Erik Hemmendorff (ACE SE)