2013 PROJECT AND PARTICIPANTS CONFIRMED!!

Edinburgh International Film Festival is proud to announce the feature film projects and filmmaking teams who will be participating in the second year of their development and mentoring programme for screenwriters, directors and producers, NETWORK.

• Screenwriter Neil Hepburn, director Ben Soper and producers Katie Crook and Olivia Gifford with their thriller NIGHT FALLS
• Producer Tessa Inkelaar and writer/director Christopher Andrews with their contemporary British Western SCUTTLER
• Writer/director Chamoun Issa with a love story set against the backdrop of a modern war, BULLETPROOF
• Producer Christine Cheung with her slate including drama FALLING LEAVES
• Writer/director Jessica Townsend with an alternative road movie SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEE
• Screenwriter Lucy Campbell with her thriller PIG CHILD

Network is about development. Every participant will develop a feature project and each project will be supported and mentored individually. All developments are different: some participants will be writing a screenplay; some will be learning how to package, pitch and finance a film; some will be putting together a creative team and some will be doing all of these.

Development will be supported throughout the year by a range of industry professionals including agents, producers, sales agents, screenwriters, festival programmers, story editors, directors, distributors and industry readers. Feedback will take the form of guidance rather than instruction; your voice matters.

Network is also about building connections with the film industry and putting you in touch with the people and organisations you need. The project will run a dedicated website featuring exclusive discussion forums, blogs, a news site for relevant industry updates, an online message board, podcasts of workshops and guest speakers, email feedback and more. Participants can list their biogs, contact details, project information, CVs and showreels. A virtual network is always available to you: nobody needs to suffer from last minute scheduling or lost earnings.

In June 2013 all Network members will be invited to attend the Edinburgh International Film Festival and given a free delegate pass and discounted hotel accommodation.  EIFF passes will give access to all industry events and screenings.

What last year’s NETWORK participants said about their experience:

• [My project] is ready to go out! I am much clearer on what it is and how to make it. Ready to start.
• Both me and the project benefited from not only the expertise of the mentor, but the voice they offered up creatively.
• I hoped to finesse both my project and my creative self, and Network helped me achieve that, and more.
• Network moved forward my confidence in decision making. From ‘it could happen’ to it is happening, first stage development is in place, we have an exec producer, we have a profile.
• Network was great as it helped me focus on one project, guiding me from inception through to a working treatment - which has now been optioned. Network lived up to it's tag and opened up a great 'Network'- introducing me to a plethora of industry contacts including Producers whom I now have a working relationship with.
• This is not a scheme to help you "become a filmmaker". It is tailored for those who are already proactive in their filmmaking strategy and might benefit from specific guidance, or sometimes something as simple as some quick knowledge. Through emails, an online forum, face-to-face meetings and a culminating festival experience, Network showed me that making independent films wasn't quite the lonely path that I had always thought!

Network is a collaborative project between Edinburgh International Film Festival and story editor Kate Leys, supported by Creative Scotland's Creative Futures Fund and by the Creative Skillset Film Skills Fund, a part of a Bigger Future 2.

To apply please visit the Network website for more information or follow us on Twitter @eiffnetwork

Supported by:

  

Network is funded by Creative Scotland's Creative Futures programme. Creative Futures is a programme of residencies across all art forms designed to promote the professional development, vision, connectivity and ambitions of Scotland’s creative practitioners and organisations.

Creative Scotland is the national leader for Scotland’s arts, screen and creative industries. It’s our job to help Scotland’s creativity shine at home and abroad. We invest in talented people and exciting ideas. We develop the creative industries and champion everything that’s good about Scottish creativity www.creativescotland.com

This scheme has been funded by the Creative Skillset Film Skills Fund as part of the UK film skills strategy ‘A Bigger Future 2’. The Skillset Film Skills Fund is supported by the National Lottery through the BFI and the film industry through the Skills Investment Fund. www.abiggerfuture2.co.uk

2013 Festival Diary:
June