ProPro 2023 – Producers Programme for Women is now open for applications!
We are thrilled to announce the 4th edition of ProPro – the Producers Programme for Women, a unique training and networking opportunity, designed to connect, empower and support women producers across the European film production landscape. ProPro aims to foster diversity in the film industry by providing an individually designed programme that will equip participants with tools and resources to face the increasingly complex challenges of the industry as well as society in general.
The programme is initiated by the Austrian Film Institute and supported by institutional partners across Europe.
Programme Overview
The week-long international residential workshop will take place in November 2023 in Vienna and will be followed by remote individual mentorship-sessions. Participating producers are assigned to highly acclaimed international women producers and experts, who mentor them in group sessions, individual meetings and two follow-up meetings. They receive hands-on advice for their film projects and careers, as well as consultation for particular obstacles in their professional lives. Selected events are open to the public, so more professionals can benefit from the presence of the international experts. Panel-talks, lectures and networking events provide new know-how, create insights and spark discussion.
The mentors, as well as many experts, are hand-picked for the individual needs of the respective participants and their projects. Our previous editions featured Linda Beath (Canada/Italy), producer Bettina Brokemper (Germany), Gabriela Bacher (USA, Germany), script editor Kate Leys (UK), Bongiwe Selane (South Africa), Lise Lense-Møller (Denmark), Valerie Fischer (Switzerland), Ewa Puszczyńska (Poland), Ankica Jurić-Tilić (Croatia), Wendy Mitchell (UK), Paula Vaccaro (UK, Italy), and many more.
Tailor-made to the individual priorities of the selected group, the ProPro portfolio of topics includes:
- Career development and Leadership skills: personal mission statement, effective strategies for decision-making and negotiation techniques, sustainable growth goal setting, resilience to navigate the complexities of entrepreneurship and leadership, female-specific social pressures and issues tackling.
Encouragement to think big!
- Company Management and Business Acumen: strategic planning tools, financial management, innovations such as new financing opportunities, alternative business models, smart collaboration structures.
Get inspired to innovate and explore!
- Industry professionalism: industry trends & challenges, inspiring case studies, navigating & shaping the European production landscape, various aspects of production (script-development, packaging and pitching, co-production, distribution, …)Invaluable industry insights!
- Networking Opportunities: Meet outstanding women personalities of the industry, foster a supportive community of like-minded professionals, meet international mentors, experienced experts, useful institutional contacts. Explore potential collaboration opportunities.Create meaningful connections!
Application Process
Applications are open to women producers with a minimum experience of 5 years in the field for participation with a project (feature-length fiction, documentary or series). Or, if company owners/CEOs, they can choose to work on their business plan instead of a film-project. Applicants must have taken or be ready to take the step to professional international cooperations. Re-applications from previous ProPro -participants are possible.
ProPro is a programme to empower women producers, thus the producer herself, her career, her company, her motivation are essential selection criteria. In terms of projects, ProPro seeks a wide variety of appealing projects that allow work on different aspects of production that are useful for all participating producers. Please find further information on the application requirements and process on the application form.
Since we want to provide an easy and accesible application process, you can find a preview PDF of the application, with all the information you need for the application to our programm.
We are collaborating with a number of partners who take over the participation fee of a selected participant from their country or region. Please find the established partnerships in the list below. We are in the process of widening the partnership-countries, so please don’t hesitate to contact us from anywhere if you wish to apply!
- Applicants from Austria: The Austrian Film Institute covers the participation fee for women with Austrian citizenship and residence in Austria.
- Applicants from partner countries/regions:
- Switzerland: FOCAL – Foundation for professional training in cinema and audiovisual media
- South Tyrol (I): IDM Südtirol Alto Adige
- Hessen (D): STEP – Hessen Film & Media
These partner institutions cover the participation fee for one participant from their country/region. (Further conditions may apply!)
- Applicants from other countries/regions: If you wish to apply, please get in touch with us! We are in the process of widening our partnerships, so we might already be in talks with an institution of your country.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions! We are looking forward to receiving your application!
The ProPro – Team:
Esther Krausz, Tereza Šimíková, Klara Pollak, Hannah Delfauro
Email: propro@filminstitut.at
ProPro – Producers Programme for Women
ProPro was initiated, developed and designed by producer Ursula Wolschlager (Witcraft Filmproduktion, Diverse Stories) and Esther Krausz (MEDIA Desk AT) in 2015. Ursula Wolschlager passed away in September 2021 and is terribly missed. It is thanks to her determination that ProPro exists and has catered more than 40 international producers in 3 successful editions. Esther Krausz will be running the 4th edition together with Klara Pollak and Tereza Šimíková.
We are grateful for the continuous commitment of the Austrian Film Institute and FC Gloria Women’s Film Network, Film Fatal, Linda Beath and many others who make ProPro 2023 possible.
ProPro 2023 is supported by VGR, WKW – the professional representative association for the film and music industry, the Vienna Film Fund, ABA – Austria Business Agency, and our international cooperation partners: FOCAL – Foundation for professional training in cinema and audiovisual media (CH), STEP – Hessen Film & Media (D), IDM Südtirol – Alto Adige (I), Film Fund Luxembourg (L), as well as further partners (tba).
ProPro is proud to be the first gender-incentive that received the Eurimages Patronage 2019.