ACE Producers is pleased to announce the call for applications for the Training Days Norway, which has been set up in collaboration with The Norwegian Film Institute, Filmkraft Rogaland, Mediefondet Zefyr (and with support from Stavanger commune, Rogaland Fylkeskommune and The Norwegian Producers Association Virke Produsentforeningen).

Strengthening independent producers, ACE Producers uses the power of the ACE Network’s collective knowledge to tackle the challenges and seize the opportunities in an everchanging industry.

The Training Days Norway is a tailor-made 1,5-day programme especially designed for emerging producers at relatively early stages in their careers, who are looking to expand their network and learn more about the international context of the audiovisual industry.
The workshop welcomes producers working in fiction, animation and documentary, and strives to make the industry inclusive and diverse.

For this workshop approx. 12 Norwegian producers will be selected to join the workshop taking place in Stavanger, Norway*.

Scheduled over two days, the Training Days Norway will be themed around “Developing and Marketing Your Projects in an International Context“. The interactive workshop will include plenary sessions as well as group meetings provided with the help of ACE consultants and producers who have notably strong track-records in international development, co-production and financing, and who will share their knowledge and international expertise.

As part of the workshop, ACE also offers 2 Norwegian producers with a feature-length project in development the opportunity to attend an extra half day of sessions, as well as an 1,5 hour one-on-one meeting with script consultant Emmanuel Oberg (Screenplay Unlimited). To be eligible for this additional offer, the producer would need to have an English written treatment and/or script.

The Training Days Norway is connected to the ACE 31 Content Development Workshop (4 – 9 Oct, Stavanger), which is a workshop within the ACE Annual Programme organised for the selected 18 experienced producers from Europe and beyond.

WORKSHOP DATES
6 – 8 October 2021

LOCATION
Stavanger, Norway*

ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS

• Emerging producers who are at a relatively early stage in their careers, with an interest in international co-production;
• Producers will best benefit from the workshop when already working on a feature-length project in development;
• Producers would need to be committed to attend the entire workshop;
• For producers interested to join the Emmanuel Oberg sessions, we ask that they have a treatment and/or script (in English) for a feature-length fiction project (feature or animation).

PARTICIPATION DETAILS

APPLICATION DEADLINE
15 September 2021

HOW TO APPLY
Send the following documents (in English and combined into one PDF) to
info@ace-producers.com:

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact Maegene Fabias at maegenefabias@ace-producers.com

*ACE will be paying close attention to the ever-changing international situation and will make any adaptations to the workshop necessary to ensure the safety of participants and guests.

ACE is pleased to open the call for applications for the 3rd ACE Series Special!

Thanks to VAF and CFAP for their valuable support, to our media partner Variety and Variety Intelligence Platform and also to the international series festival, Series Mania for the fruitful partnership!

With more and more demand for content, with a market that is changing daily and as producers look for new ways of working and diversifying their output, the ACE Series Special is more essential than ever.

The ACE Series Special is aimed at 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.

16-18 producers will be selected for the workshop, each with a series in development. Focusing primarily on the creative and financial aspects of TV series production, the ACE Series Special will also offer sessions on story development, marketing, audiences, international approaches, and business strategies. The workshop will give producers a chance to work on their projects through one-to-one meetings with experts and group sessions with their peers.

During the Series Special an environment is created where, as well as benefiting from consultants’ know-how and expertise, the participants learn from each other – explaining how they work in their own territories; how they set-up their legal and financing structures; how they run their businesses – and advise each other on good practices.

Previous consultants include, Davide Nardini (Amazon Italy), Noemi Ferrer (DR Sales), Ed Guiney (Element Pictures), Liz Kilgariff (Fire Bird Pictures), Tatiana Samopian (Fractal Volcano), Christian Vesper (Fremantle), Caroline Benjo (Haut et Court), Marc Lorber (Lionsgate), Philippe Kreuzer (Maze Pictures), Mario Gianani (Wildside).

WORKSHOP DATES
6th – 11st of December 2021

LOCATION
Brussels, Belgium, with sessions online before and after

ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS
• To be an owner, partner or associate of an independent film/TV
production company;
• To be an ACE member or producer with a similar level of experience;
• To have a TV drama series in development that is at a relevant stage and suitable for co-production.

FEES
€2.500 (€2.250 for ACE Network Members).
The fee covers full board, accommodation and training during the workshops. Travel costs are not included.

APPLICATION DEADLINE
1st July 2021

HOW TO APPLY
To request an application form please email series@ace-producers.com.
ACE will send the application form only to clearly eligible candidates.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
ace-producers.com/series-special

ACE Producers has selected 14 emerging producers for the first edition of ACE Training Days NL, a workshop aiming at strengthening upcoming producers from the Netherlands and the neighbouring countries Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. Focusing on “The Essentials of International Co-Production & Finance”, it gives the  participants the opportunity to learn from established producers and film professionals and to further develop their network. The ACE Training Days NL is set up with the  collaborating partners Netherlands Film Fund, NAPA, Film Forward and Eye Filmmuseum.

The 2-day workshop (17 – 19 May 2021) will enable the selected producers to gain more knowledge on the international context of audiovisual production, concentrating mainly on the landscape of co-productions and financing a film internationally, but will also provide additional knowledge on the set-up of international markets and film festivals.

In the past, ACE Producers already organised the ACE Training Days workshops in the Czech Republic for producers from Central Europe and Finland for the Nordic territories.

Jacobine van der Vloed: “We’re excited about the great selection of up-and-coming producers for the first ACE Training Days NL! According to the main goal of ACE Producers, the ACE Training Days workshops create opportunities for international co-production and collaboration. Bringing emerging producers’ careers forward is the foundation for a successful and strong European film industry.’’

 

SELECTED PRODUCERS FOR ACE TRAINING DAYS NL:

Fabian Driehorst, Fabian&Fred, Germany
Roxana Richters, Chromosom Film, Germany
Aydin Dehzad, Freelance, Netherlands
Tom van Blommestein, Lemming Film, Netherlands
Maaike Neve, BIND Film, Netherlands
Max De Wolf, TopKapi Films, Netherlands
Emma Kuijper, DOXY, Netherlands
Chris Elize Stenger, Family Affair Films, Netherlands
Loes Komen, Room for Film, Netherlands
Charlotte Driessen, Harpy Films, Netherlands
Fee Buck, Pandora Film, Germany
Anna Werner, Komplizen Film, Germany
Tim Martens, Krater, Belgium
Neigeme Glasgow-Maeda, Wady Films, Luxembourg

Together with the ACE Mentoring Programme, the ACE Training Days NL is part of ACE Springboard, a combination of programmes focusing on emerging independent producers to strengthen careers at an early stage. ACE Springboard provides participants with the tools needed to be adaptable and innovative in an ever-changing film industry – for a successful new generation of independent producers!

Please find more information here:
https://ace-producers.com/springboard

For more information please contact:
maegenefabias@ace-producers.com

ACE Producers has selected 3 outstanding up-and coming producers from the Netherlands for the ACE Mentoring Programme 2021. Designed and developed in collaboration with the Netherlands Film Fund, NAPA, Film Forward and Eye Filmmuseum, the ACE Mentoring Programme aims to support Dutch emerging producers in reaching the next level of experience and developing their international network by matching them with a mentor from the ACE Producers Network actively working within the European film industry.

For this first edition, ACE Producers has matched mentors of the ACE Network according to the specific needs of the selected producers. The mentorship includes meetings throughout the year at international festivals and events, and online.

Jacobine van der Vloed: “We selected the 3 producers based on their track-record, motivation statements, and the stage they are currently at within their own careers. ACE Producers wants to assist in the further development of these promising producers’ careers in order to sustain strong independent European cinema. The ACE Producers Network with its established and successful members has all the knowledge and expertise to provide for that.”

 

SELECTED PRODUCERS FOR ACE MENTORING PROGRAMME:

Rogier Kramer, Dutch Mountain Films
Mentor: Alexander Wadouh (ACE 28), Chromosom Film – Germany

Hugo Naber, SNG Films
Mentor: Mariusz Wlodarski (ACE 27), Lava Films – Poland

Steven Rubinstein Malamud, IJswater films
Mentor: Sophie Erbs (ACE 28), Cinema Defacto – France

 

Together with ACE Training Days, the ACE Mentoring Programme is part of ACE Springboard, a combination of programmes focusing on emerging independent producers to strengthen careers at an early stage. ACE Springboard provides participants with the tools needed to be adaptable and innovative in an ever-changing film industry – for a successful new generation of independent producers!

Please find more information here:
https://ace-producers.com/springboard

For more information please contact:
maegenefabias@ace-producers.com

Application deadline: 3 May 2021

Every year ACE Producers accepts 18 experienced film producers into the exclusive / renowned ACE Network after completing the ACE’s Annual Programme of executive education. Interested producers are asked to submit a project in development that is suitable for co-production and aimed at the international market along with their application.

During the tumultuous year that the industry and wider world has been facing, the ACE Network has proved to be an incredibly valuable beacon for its producers. In this time of uncertainty, the need for establishing connections, building networks and learning new ways of adapting within an ever-changing audiovisual industry has proven to be more important than ever.

Four events make up the core of the training programme, held in four different locations. ACE Producers is currently still preparing these workshops to be held on site, however due to the current climate, ACE Producers is aware of the need to adapt to different forms of training if necessary.

OCTOBER – CONTENT DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP
Pitching practice, individual meetings and group sessions analysing the concepts, dramaturgy and target audiences of producers’ projects; Plenary sessions on managing talents and maintaining creative dialogues; Discussions on marketing during the early stages of development and examining new forms and formats for audiovisual storytelling.
4th – 9th October 2021

NOVEMBER – FINANCING STRATEGIES WORKSHOP
Interactive sessions exploring international financing opportunities and strategies through detailed analysis of producers’ finance plans, with input provided by high-grade professionals from across the industry. 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.
15th – 20th November 2021

APRIL – BUSINESS PROSPECTS WORKSHOP
Sessions on business growth, designed to provide producers with models of sustainable company management and ways to build businesses that have real value. Group sessions and panel discussions guide the producers through keener applications of marketing techniques and diversified commercial activities.
4th April – 6th April 2022

APRIL – ACE PRODUCERS ANNUAL REUNION
Held in a different country every year over a long springtime weekend, and open to all members of the ACE Network, this event is an occasion for experienced producers to share news, knowledge, opinion and practical advice in an informal but confidential environment. Warts-and-all case-studies, roundtable discussions, insider-information sessions, and more.
7th April – 10th April 2022

ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS
• Be an owner, partner or associate of an independent production company;
• Have been the delegate producer (i.e. the principal responsible producer) of at least one theatrically-released feature film;
• Have a fiction feature film project in development which is designed to attract international finance and distribution – ideally in the form of a first draft screenplay or long treatment;
• Be available and make a commitment to attend a selection interview during the first week of September, the Content Development Workshop (October), the Financing Strategies Workshop (November), the Business Prospects Workshop and the Annual Reunion (both in April).

APPLY
If you are considering applying, please contact info@ace-producers.com to establish your eligibility and organise a meeting with producers’ liaison Al Williams.

Applications will primarily be evaluated on the producers’ track record and motivation, followed by the strength of the project and its co-production and collaborative potential.

Visit the Workshops section of the ACE Producers website for more information on the Annual Programme and application process.

PARTNERS
ACE Producers is supported by Creative Europe, the Netherlands Film Fund, Procirep, German Films, Téléfilm Canada, Screen Ireland, Focal and Rai Cinema.

ACE Producers has selected 17 experienced independent producers for the ACE Animation Special 2021. The intensive workshop is designed to deepen their knowledge of developing and producing long form,feature film and series animation production for an international audience including cinema, broadcast as well as streaming. Producers applied with animated features and series projects in early development. Originally set to take place during Animation Dingle it was postponed to late June 2021 in Dublin due to the current situation. The selected producers will kick off the workshop with an online session in March giving them the opportunity to benefit from the online Animation Dingle programme.

The ACE Animation Special is supported by Screen Skills Ireland, Screen Ireland, Animation Skillnet, BAI (Broadcasting Authority of Ireland) and Animation Ireland in close collaboration with Animation Dingle.

Of this year’s event, ACE director Jacobine van der Vloed said, “We’re thrilled to be joining with our Irish partners once again for the Animation Special. Of course, the fact that we’re not going to be in Dingle in March is disappointing for all involved, but after our experience last year, we’re confident of delivering a dynamic workshop that will offer our producers the key knowledge to make their way in the animation industry.”

 

SELECTED ACE ANIMATION SPECIAL PRODUCERS:

Simonetta Amenta (ACE Italy), Eurofilm

Emilie Blézat (ACE France), SCIAPODE

Maria Blicharska (ACE Poland/France), Donten et Lacroix/Blick Productions

Fiona Copland (New Zealand), Field Theory

Valérie Delpierre (Spain), Inicia Films

David Epiney (Switzerland), Alina film

Marion Guth, (Luxembourg), a_BAHN

Chris Hees (United Kingdom), Bridge Way Films

Niamh Herrity (Ireland), Pink Kong

Nicole Kellerhals (Germany), X Filme Creative Pool

Tamsin Lyons (Ireland), Ink and Light

Errol Nayci (Netherlands), Storytellers Animation

Kristy Neville (Canada), Wildling Pictures

Sébastien Onomo (ACE France), Special Touch Studio

Iris Otten (ACE Netherlands), Pupkin Film

Aleksandar Protic (Serbia), MIR MEDIA GROUP

Vanessa Robinson (Ireland), Little Moon Animation

 

Topics covered include story development, visual world building and asset creation, international production workflows in multi-country co-productions, financing strategies, physical line production, the integration of an animation department into an existing (film-) production company as well as an assessment of the demands and expectation of broadcasters.

Among the experts of this year’s edition are Oscar nominated and BAFTA winning Magic Light Pictures producers Martin Pope and Michael Rose (“Zog and the Flying Doctors”), BAFTA-winning producer Claire Jennings (“Coraline”, “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit”) and renowned animation producer Simon Quinn (“Isle of Dogs”). The full list will be announced shortly. Last year’s expert line-up included Peter Lord founder of Aardman Studios, Chris Dicker, then head of development at Jam Media, Cartoon Network’s Sarah Fell, Michael Ryan of GFM Films and Jean Baptiste Babin of Backup Media.

Please find more information here:
https://ace-producers.com/animation-special/

For more information please contact:
alwilliams@ace-producers.com

A previous version of this post also included Michael Margulis (Ukraine – Kapi Animationas) as a participant. Unfortunately, he had to withdraw from the workshop.

ACE Producers is pleased to announce the call for applications for the Training Days NL, which has been set up in collaboration with the Netherlands Film Fund, NAPA, Film Forward and Eye Filmmuseum.

The ACE Training Days NL is a tailor-made 2-day programme designed for emerging producers at relatively early stages in their careers, who are looking to expand their network and learn more about the international context of the audiovisual industry. The workshop welcomes producers working in fiction, animation and documentary, and strives to make the industry inclusive and diverse.

For this workshop a total of 12 producers (6 Dutch and 6 from neighbouring countries) will be selected to join the workshop taking place in Amsterdam*. As ACE aims to encourage international collaboration, the call is open to emerging producers from the Netherlands, as well as Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany.

Scheduled over two days, the Training Days NL will be themed around “The Essentials of International Co-Production & Finance”. The interactive workshop will include plenary sessions as well as group meetings provided with the help of ACE consultants and producers who have notably strong track-records in international co-production and financing, and who will share their knowledge and international expertise.

*ACE will be paying close attention to the ever-changing international situation and will make any adaptations to the workshop necessary to ensure the safety of participants and guests.

WORKSHOP DATES
29 – 31 March 2021

LOCATION
Amsterdam, the Netherlands

ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS

• Emerging producers at a relatively early stage in their careers, with an interest in international co-production (this workshop will not focus on line-production);
• Producers should have at least one credit on a short film;
• Producers will best benefit from the workshop when already working on a feature length project in development;
• Producers would need to be committed to attend the entire workshop.

FEES

APPLICATION DEADLINE
Extended deadline: 5 February 2021 (12 places available)

HOW TO APPLY
Send the following documents (in English and combined into one PDF) to info@ace-producers.com:

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact Maegene Fabias at maegenefabias@ace-producers.com

This year’s autumn meeting of Best Practice Exchange (BPX), normally held in Toronto during the film festival, took place online.

Split across three sessions the leaders of 24 national, regional and cross-border film funding agencies got together to discuss the effects of the pandemic and the initiatives undertaken by film agencies to adjust to the new world. Attendance included members from five continents.

They talked about new priorities and policies being actively considered by their agencies for implementation from 2021 onwards, to enable the production process, the distribution sector and audience development activities to return to creative and economic health.

BPX was started by  Simon Perry and Katriel Schory 8 years ago to encourage exchange and collaboration between the funds.

Of the online sessions, Simon Perry said, “Besides providing insight into the many ways in which film funding agencies are responding to the impacts of the pandemic on film production across the world, the online forums made it clear that public funding will henceforward be more vitally needed than ever in order to sustain independent film distribution and the survival of independent cinemas.”

BPX would like to thank for their contributions:

Alex Traila – CNC, Romania
Arben Zharku – Kosovo Cinematography Center
Bero Beyer – Netherlands Film Fund
Claas Danielsen – Mitteldeutscher Medienföderung, Germany
Claudia Triana de Vargas – Proimagenes, Colombia
Chris Payne – New Zealand Film Commission
Christa Dickenson – Telefilm Canada
Daniel Saltzwedel – Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Germany
Desirée Finnegan – Screen Ireland
Dita Rietuma – National Film Centre of Latvia
Graeme Mason – Screen Australia
Helge Albers – FF Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Jeanne Brunfaut – CFWB, Belgium
Karen Thorne-Stone – Ontario Creates
Laufey Gudjonsdottir – Icelandic Film Centre
Liza Dino – Film Development Council of the Philippines
Luis Chaby Vaz – ICA / Portuguese Cinema & Audiovisual Institute
Matti Paunio – Finnish Film Foundation
Neil Peplow – British Film Institute
Roberto Olla – Eurimages
Rolandas Kvietkauskas – Lithuanian Film Centre
Sarah Duve-Schmid& Berenice Honold – FFA / German Federal Filmboard
Sehad Cekic – Film Centre of Montenegro
Zuzana Bielikova – Slovak Audiovisual Fund

ACE Producers is pleased to announce the call for applications for the second ACE Animation Special. The workshop, which will be held in Dingle* during the 2021 Animation Dingle festival, is organised in close collaboration with the festival, Screen Skills Ireland and with additional support from Screen Ireland, Animation Skillnet and Animation Ireland.

The workshop is aimed at 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).

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 feature and longform animation production, the ACE Animation Special will offer sessions on anamatic story development, international production workflows, the creative dynamics of animation production, financing strategies and international distribution. The workshop will also include one or more sessions on physical line production as well as case studies on completed animation projects. Group sessions, plenary sessions and one to one meetings will together build a workshop where producers learn from each other’s experiences and those of key industry guests.

*ACE Producers and ACE Animation Special partners will be paying close attention to the ever-changing international situation and will make any adaptations to the workshop necessary to ensure the safety of participants and guests.

WORKSHOP DATES
21st – 26th of March 2021

LOCATION
Dingle, Ireland

ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS

• To be an owner, partner or associate of an independent film/animation/TV production company;
• To be an ACE member or producer with a similar level of experience;
• To have a long form or feature length animation project at idea or concept stage; producers without a project are also welcome to apply but must demonstrate a clear motivation.

APPLICATION DEADLINE
1st December 2020
16-18 places available

HOW TO APPLY
Visit www.ace-producers.com/animation-special

FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information please contact Head of Specials, Al Williams at
animation@ace-producers.com

Following the selection of eighteen experienced international producers for the ACE 30 programme, ACE Producers is gearing up to hold the session’s first workshop online from the 5th to the 10th October 2020.

Previously planned to be held in Mallorca thanks to the Mallorca Film Commission, the workshop will now be held in an online environment, due to the continued international situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The eighteen producers, based in fifteen different territories, will participate in their first workshop, concentrating on content development, specifically of the project that they each bring to the programme.

The decision was made to not postpone the workshop allowing the producers to already start benefitting from their shared knowledge. Of the decision, director Jacobine van der Vloed said, “The true importance of training and networking has become very apparent over these past months, with producers offering each other advice and support in these difficult times. We felt that we were well placed to adapt to the situation and allow the ACE 30 producers to meet each other as soon as possible and start their training.”

The workshop will offer carefully tailored sessions, which will aim to stimulate and engage the producers online, with group sessions and individual meetings, analysing the concepts, dramaturgy, and target audiences of the producers’ projects.

ACE Producers has previous experience of online events from holding regular
Networking and Support sessions for members of its Network and setting up an online version of the ACE Animation Special in mid-March, one of the earliest examples of adapting to an online environment seen in the audiovisual industry.

ACE Producers is based in Amsterdam and is supported by Creative Europe
MEDIA, The Netherlands Film Fund, Procirep, Téléfilm Canada, German Films, Screen Ireland and Focal.