Due to the recent measures put in place internationally to combat the spread of Covid-19, ACE Producers will be holding the ACE Animation Special online from Wednesday the 18th of March until Saturday the 21st of March 2020.

Due to take place in Dingle, Ireland this week, a devised timetable and online system have been set up in order to hold a revised version of the workshop online. This has been made possible thanks to the invaluable help of ACE’s vice-president Martin Pope (Magic Light Pictures) as well as the programme’s incredibly supportive consultants and enthusiastic participants.

In light of all recent developments regarding Covid-19 and the decision of the World Health Organisation to declare a pandemic, ACE Producers is very sad to announce that the upcoming ACE workshops can no longer take place as planned. This will effect the ACE Animation Special 1, the ACE 29 Business Prospects Workshop and the ACE Annual Reunion 2020.

ACE director Jacobine van der Vloed says “Due to the rapid changes we feel an obligation to cancel the events as they would gather people from so many different territories, some of which have already implemented quarantine upon arrival back home.
We also consider that as a European organisation we have a social responsibility towards all the other citizens in Europe and we should show solidarity.”

ACE is in close contact with its Network members, partners, consultants and workshop participants to attempt to devise new ways of delivering the trainings and/or new time frames for these events.

We would like to give sincere thanks, for their continued support and collaboration, to our Annual Reunion Partner (Screen Scotland), our partners of the Animation Special (Screen Skills Ireland, Animation Dingle, Screen Ireland, BAI, Animation Skillnet, Unreal Engine, IDA,  Animation Ireland and Creative Europe Desk Ireland), our Business Prospects Workshop Partners (IFFR Pro, Creative Europe Desk NL, Copper en Co and Eye Filmmuseum), and of course our main sponsors, Creative Europe MEDIA and the Netherlands Film Fund.

ACE Producers is pleased to announce the sixteen producers that have been selected for the first edition of the ACE Animation Special that will take place during Animation Dingle in Ireland this coming March.

The selected participants are all 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). Producers were selected either with or without an animation project in the early stages of development, though each runs a company focusing its sights on animation. Eleven countries are represented in the selection: Austria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom.

“Animation was high on my list”, ACE director and head of studies, Jacobine van der Vloed said, “I’m thrilled to have established a partnership with Screen Skills Ireland and Animation Dingle and to be bringing such a great group of international producers to Ireland to discover the global potential of their animation projects.” The group consists of experienced producers from both inside and outside the ACE Network.

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, Creative Europe Desk Ireland – the 5-day workshop will be held from March 17th to 22nd in Dingle, Ireland.

Focusing primarily on the creative and financial aspects of animation production, the ACE Animation Special will offer sessions on story development and the creative dynamics of animation production, the financing scheme in an international context, discovering the marketing potential and finding an (international) audience as well as budget, financing and production planning. The workshop will give the producers a chance to network with their peers and dive deeper into the different aspects of animation production.

Jonathan Clarke – Ireland – Distillery Films
“Sullivan Sails” series by Carol Freeman

Jérôme Dopffer – France – Les Productions Balthazar
“Diotime and the Lions” feature by Santi Minasi

Fabian Driehorst – Germany – Fabian&Fred
Attending without a project

Stephen Fagan – Ireland – Studio Meala
“Queen Méabh” feature by Elle Power

Kristine Knudsen – Norway – Den siste skilling
“Checkmate” feature, director tbc

Vladimir Lhotak – Czech Republic – Hausboot
“Golem” feature by Jiří Barta

Galilé Marion Gauvin – Canada – Productions l’unité centrale
Attending without a project

Rebecca Mark-Lawson – UK – Tyke Films
“Half Nelson” feature by Alice Nelson

Heather Millard – Iceland – Compass Films
“Ormhildur the Brave” series by Thorey Mjallhvit

Catryn Ramasut – United Kingdom – ie ie productions
“Candylion” feature, director tbc

Arash T. Riahi – Austria – Golden Girls Film
“Micromeo” feature by Jean Claude Carriere & Virgil Widrich

Nancy Florence Savard – Canada – 10th Ave Productions
Attending without a project

Marleen Slot – The Netherlands – Viking Film
Attending without a project

The first edition of the ACE Animation Special took place online, you can read our report here.

A previous version of this post also included Sinisa Juricic (Croatia – Nukleus film), Patrice Nezan (France – Les Contes Modernes) and Denis Vaslin (The Netherlands – Volya Films) as participants. Unfortunately, they had to withdraw from the workshop.

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

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.

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

Taking place from the 28th to the 30th of June at FAMU – Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague – ACE Producers has selected 19 upcoming producers at relatively early stages in their careers from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland to take part in the first ACE Training Days.

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 Reaching an Audience – From the Development Process to the Release of a Film” will include plenary sessions, group meetings, a case study and an interactive workshop. These will explore packaging projects for funds and partners, VOD business models, rights and windows and finding the right communication strategy.

The Prague Training Days are supported by the Czech Film Fund and the Audiovisual Producers Association (APA).

 

Training Days in Prague 2019 Participants

 

Radka Babincová – Bright Sight Pictures – Slovakia

Martin Barták – GoodieBaddie – Czech Republic

Lukasz Bluszcz – Vision House – Poland

Kateřina Buzková – Darq Studio – Czech Republic

Anna Fam – Freelance – Poland

Marta Gmosińska – Lava Films – Poland

Jan Hubáček – Gnomon – Czech Republic

Ludka Kierczak – Kosmonaut – Czech Republic/Poland

Jakub Košťá – Bionaut – Czech Republic

Petr Kratochvíl – Bedna Films – Czech Republic

Steve Reverand – The Lab Studios – Czech Republic

Anna Rózalska – Match&Spark – Poland

Krystof Safer – Bull Film – Czech Republic

Andrea Shaffer –  Mindset Pictures – Czech Republic

Hana Šilarová – Frame Films – Czech Republic

Barbora Šonková – Dawson Productions – Czech Republic

Marian Varga – Protos Productions – Slovakia

Aneta Zagórska – Krakow Film Klaster – Poland

Klára Zaloudkovà – Background Films – Czech Republic

ACE Producers is pleased to announce the eighteen producers selected to participate in the 28th ACE Session (2018/2019) with their projects in development.

Marco Alessi – Dugong – Italy
“Li muerti” by Massimiliano Verdesca

Francesca Andreoli – tempesta – Italy
“Valley of Thieves” by Caterina Carone

Christophe Audeguis – the cup of tea – France
“Ducks” by Neary Adeline Hay

Daniel Bekerman – Scythia Films – Canada
“The Eden Express” Director TBD

Maria Blicharska – Donten & Lacroix Films – Poland/France
“Comrades” by Olivier Patte and Rafael Lewandowski

Katja Draaijer – Baldr Film – The Netherlands
“Alpha” by Jan-Willem van Ewijk

Sophie Erbs – Cinema Defacto – France
“The Hunt of the Puma” by Marcela Said

Alise Ģelze – Tasse Film – Latvia
“Lovable” by Stanislavs Tokalovs

Dyveke Graver – Oslo Pictures – Norway
“A Prayer for the Dying” by Dara Van Dusen

Milos Lochman – moloko film – Czech Republic
“The Nightsiren” by Tereza Nvotová

Mike MacMillan – Lithium Studios Productions – Canada
“I Will Not Go Quietly” Director TBD.

Jan Macola – Mimesis Film – Czech Republic
“Resurrections” by Petr Vaclav

Alan Maher – Marcie Films – Ireland
“Chronicle in Time” by Andrew Legge

Emily Morgan – Quiddity Films – UK
“White” by Emily Young

Elli Toivoniemi – Tuffi Films – Finland
“Love of Wolves” by Zaida Bergroth

Izabella Tzenkova – Kotva Films – Bulgaria/USA
“Serenity” by Aslihan Unaldi

Alexander Wadouh – Chromosom Films – Germany
“Mission” Director TBD

Michael Wrenn – Invisible Republic – Australia
“These Kingdoms” by Shane Danielsen

These eighteen producers have been selected to attend the three residential ACE workshops with a project in development. Fourteen countries are represented in the selection: Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and the UK.

The selection committee was made up of members of the ACE board, ACE consultants, ACE president Antoine Simkine and director Jacobine van der Vloed. A record number of applications was received this year and the selection was made following interviews in  Amsterdam and Toronto.

The eighteen producers will attend four main events that make up the core of the training. The first is the Content Development Workshop held mid-October in Helsinki, Finland in collaboration with the Finnish Film Foundation and Aalto University. It consists of plenary sessions and individual meetings analysing the concepts, dramaturgy and target audiences of producers’ projects. Other sessions provide insight into early development problems such as preparing intention notes, working with talents and maintaining good relationships with writers and directors.

The second workshop is the Financing Strategies Workshop, held mid-November in Prague, Czech Republic, in collaboration with the Czech Film Fund and APA, the Czech Producers Association. The core of the workshop is made up of interactive sessions exploring international financing opportunities and strategies through detailed analysis of producers’ finance plans, with input provided by over 40 high-grade professionals from across the industry. These financing sessions are unique to ACE, creating an 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 is the Business Prospects Workshop held in the Netherlands (in partnership with the Netherlands Film Fund) at the beginning of April. This workshop aims to help the producers discover new business models and strategies in order to expand their knowledge and field of competence regarding marketing, (online) distribution, legal aspects, and overall management of their company and team.

Alongside these workshops the producers will also have the chance to have personalised consultations with script, finance and marketing experts throughout the year. After having completed the three workshops the participants are welcomed into the ACE Network by attending the ACE Annual Reunion, which will take place in Copenhagen in April 2019, thanks to the support of the Danish Film Institute.

The ACE Network has around 220 active members from more than 45 countries. Network members gather for further training and professional events at all major festivals and markets during the year, and regularly co-produce with each other.