DIFF Film Finance Session

On Saturday 25 July DIFF will host a session entitled 'Solutions To Film Finance'.

With panellists from the Africa Carribean Pacific (ACP), the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the NFVF, represented by Clarence Hamilton, the session will address some of the options for funding available to local filmmakers.



15h00 – 16h30 at the ROYAL-GAR(B)

Sediba Advanced International Financing Programme

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) has announced the launch of a brand new programme, the Sediba Advanced International Financing Programme, developed for South African Producers.



Aimed at providing to experienced producers focused training on international financing, packaging and distribution, the programme comes after the successes of the NFVF's Sediba Scriptwriting Training and Development Programme.

The programme will be headed by a range of global experts who have experience in buying, sourcing finance and selling at the world's leading markets including the American Film Market, the Cannes Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival.

The programme will be held in three sessions with the first taking place on Tuesday, April 28, and the last session on Tuesday, August 18 2009. At the end of the programme the top two achievers will be selected to attend the Film London Production Finance Market in October 2009, where they will have an opportunity to pitch their projects to potential international financiers, sales agents and distributors.

The closing date for applications is April 6th 2009. For more information visit the NFVF website

MAPPP-SETA

MAPPP-SETA, the Sector Training Authority that covers the film sector (I'm not writing out the entire acronym, it'll take too long.....) is legally obliged to submit a re-establishment/re-certification application to ensure its continued operation from 2010-2015. As part of this process, MAPPP-SETA has created a questionnaire and is undertaking a roadshow - infomation on both is available here. The KZN session is on March 16th at the Southern Sun North Beach.



MAPPP-SETA is looking for your input on a range of issues, including

* Measures to improve the interaction between MAPPP-SETA and all provinces;
* Skills development programmes and activities that MAPPP-SETA should take
into account when compiling its Business Plan for the next five years;
* MAPPP-SETA current performance in attending and addressing the constituency
training needs

Now in my own personal experience, MAPPP-SETA's impact on funding regional training and development funding has been pretty negligible over the last few years. So to ensure this consultation process is more than just window-dressing, now is your chance to demand some changes and let the organisation know what you need.

FILM LONDON PUBLICITY FUND FOR BLACK FILMS

We're about to present our first couple of reports in the Durban and KZN Film Industry review to the DFO and KZNDED. As part of this slate of activities, we've begun looking at some of the most innovative and dynamic programmes used by Film Commissions and Film Offices around the world, which could perhaps be introduced in SA to change the dynamic for locally made movies.



Here for instance is a fund operated by Film London to promote and increase the impact of Black film exhibition in the city. It provides funds specifically for additional publicity and marketing support, in order to both raise the profile of Black film talent, broadly defined, and attract larger audiences, from across all communities.

Examples of fundable activity might include:
• employing a professional PR company or individual
• a targeted advertising campaign in the press, radio, print or online
• enhancing the PR and audience potential of an event by inviting a film-maker or film-makers to attend
• innovation in online marketing
• adding venues to an existing screening programme
• cross-fertilising an event by bringing in another artform, for instance adding a live music element to a film screening event
• creating and running an ambassador or similar community outreach scheme.

The Fund supports additional promotional activity only and really hopes to enable Black film exhibition activity to ‘punch above its weight’ in the capital’s crowded media market. In South Africa, where local films struggle to maintain a cinema presence and often sink without trace after a week, I thought this was pretty cool.