During this year's British & Irish Film Season (BIFS) which concluded on Saturday 1 October, the festival organised two industry events.
26 Sep 2016: Shorts Workshop
In front of an avid audience of 50+ attendees, of whom many were secondary school students, Christine Morrow of Northern Ireland Screen explained how to approach the creation of short films which are often used as a springboard to making full-length feature films. She stressed the importance of the need for a strong script and also covered various aspects of pre-production and post-production, giving tips along the way.
The session was interactive with many questions from those attending. In addition, the Drone Club Luxembourg participated, with two representatives explaining which types of drones are capable of doing what, with three main options - the mid-range models costing circa €1,500 are well able to take high quality footage. They also addressed the legal issues, with new legislation expected to come into force in 2017 addressing various issues.
27 Sep 2016: Seminar on Ireland-Luxembourg Co-Production Agreement
Guy Daleiden, Director at Film Fund Luxembourg, reviewed the history of the collaboration between Luxembourg and other small countries and explained that the co-production agreement with Ireland was signed in 2011, since when no less than 20 feature films have been made together, sometime with other partners too, and more in the pipeline. He also explained how the Film Fund's points system operates (as opposed to the previous scheme based on tax credits) with the employment of local people - either behind or in front of the camera - the key. Grants/loans are offered to film projects with the applications committee meeting around six times/year for both pre-production (writing, etc.) and production and post-production projects.
Sean McCormack (director, Two by Two / Ooops Noah is Gone), Stephan Roelants (co-producer, Song of the Sea) and Bernard Michaux (co-producer, The Runway) all related how their films got off the ground and how they became involved in Ireland-Luxembourg co-productions. Laurent Witz (director, producer, Mr Hublot) recalled the story behind the making of his short film which resulted in it winning Luxembourg's first Oscar.
In conclusion, Guy Daleiden confirmed a number of Ireland-Luxembourg co-productions have received the go-ahead, from The Toy Gun (Calach Films, with John Hannah), The Ranger ( now renamed "Black 47", PTD / Juliette Films), The Breadwinner (Studio 352 / Melusine Productions), Barbabour, Keep it Country and Ooops 2 (Fabrique d'Images) some to look forward to hitting the big screen over the next year or two.
This seminar was particularly appealing to those who work in completely different business sectors, e.g. the financial service sector or the European Institutions, as it opened up a "whole new world, about which they knew very little beforehand".
Photos by Ali Sahib
