The residential workshop for ProPro will take place in 2019 for the third time. The workshop will support women producers from all over Europe to strengthen their film projects (fiction, doc or series), develop their professional careers, improve their company strategies and find sustainable national and transnational production partnerships.
Applicants can either participate with a project or, if they are company owners, choose to focus on Strategic Business Planning.
Lectures, work groups and individual sessions will deal with current needs and trends in the industry, including, but not limited to: digital distribution, crossmedia approach of various formats, new ways of storytelling and alternative ways of financing.
The practical work of participants with their mentors, all of who are highly renowned European producers, is going to take place during the WORKSHOP WEEK; alongside lectures and individual sessions to strengthen the participant’s skills in professional areas: pitching, hands-on work on projects, career development, and distribution strategies.
Our residential Workshop Week includes:
1. GROUP SESSIONS WITH MENTORS
– Work on Projects
Each producer, who participates with a fictional, documentary or series project, is matched with a mentor who will support her regarding practical aspects of her project, company and career.
Each mentor coaches and advises a maximum of 2 mentees. This allows their involvement during the workshop, the individual meetings and in the mentoring phase to be concentrated and focused.
For the Group Sessions the participants will be split into smaller groups with both producers with projects and producers who chose the focus Strategic Planning.
The group work on the projects includes general positioning, script development, project presentation & packaging, marketing & promotion, audience development, target groups, budgeting, (international) financing and distribution. It can also focus on a more general evaluation of one’s company/career strategy as well as future projects.
The projects can be in various production stages (development, packaging, financing, production, post production) as it allows the mentors to discuss these different stages during the group sessions.
The composition of the groups is of utmost importance and we have the goal to create a diverse and complementary mixture of distinct contrasting participants.
We will encourage the participants to give generous and constructive feedback among their peers and be discreet and reliable partners towards their group.
As our target group of mentors are highly active producers who are under extreme time pressure, in exceptional (and seldom) cases some of the group work and case studies have been held via Skype. This is not necessarily intended, but can be a very practical way to avoid cancellations of group work.
2. INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS
To deepen the understanding of their concerns and circumstance and to allow the explanation and resolution of touchy or confidential questions, we offer individual meetings for the participants with:
- their mentor
- the leadership coaches
- the business planning expert
- 2-3 experts of their choice (depending of availabilities)
Our mentors agree to continue mentoring their mentees for 2 meetings after the workshop.
3. WORKSHOPS WITH SPECIFIED TOPICS FOR THE WHOLE GROUP OF 24 PARTICIPANTS
4. LEADERSHIP COACHING
This part we informally call the Don’t be too soft skills, scheduled for around 7 hours of the workshop week. Many women are being told or even say about themselves, that one of their biggest vices is a lack of self confidence, negotiation skills and the maintenance of an adequate status in their national industry.
Therefore, with the support of experienced coaches, the participants work on:
- positioning,
- personal mission statement,
- leadership and communication skills, as well as their
- negotiation techniques.
- authentic self-presentation and self-marketing strategies
- successful networking
Apart from being highly advantageous for the definition of the participant’s individual business brands, this also has a fantastic effect on the group building process and allows to develop a connection between the members of the group, funded by deep trust and bonds, leading to reliable and sustainable professional partnerships.
5. NETWORKING EVENTS
Networking events with leading Austrian and European film institutions are meant to provide opportunities for informal talks during lunches and snack breaks. We encourage key personalities of the film-industry to take our participants out for lunch or dinner to meet this fine selection of European film-producers.
Former Networking Partners were:
Barbara Fränzen, Federal Chancellery/Division Arts and Culture II/3;
Dok.at Austrian Documentary Film Alliance;
Werner Müller and Danny Krausz, FAMA – Film and Music Austria;
Gerlinde Seitner, Vienna Film Fund;
Juliane Buchroither, FISA – Film Location Austria;
Kathrin Zechner, Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ORF;
FC GLORIA Frauen Vernetzung Film,
MDW Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts/ Filmakademie
6. PITCHING
Participants have numerous networking and pitching opportunities with experts, fellow producers and especially decision makers. Our favourite way to get our participants in contact with them is Panel & Pitch: We invite experts to make a short statement or to be part of a panel. Usually they also agree to get pitches by our participants.
In 2017 a special pitching event was organised with the commission editors of the Austrian Public Broadcasting Corporation – ORF. All participants had the chance to present their current projects and get direct feedback in one-on-one meetings.