European
Film Promotion’s (EFP) aim to boost European film and talent around the
world and to increase sales opportunities worldwide has been more than
fulfilled when looking at the past two years in particular.
“We are quite satisfied with the results of our MEDIA-backed projects within and outside of Europe”, commends Renate Rose, EFP's managing director. “This
is partly due to the fact that, wherever we see opportunities for
enhancement, we continuously modify projects drawing on the collective
experience of our members and associated partners at international film
festivals and markets.”
The following line-up shows EFP’s impact on the marketing of European films.
Within Europe
SHOOTING STARS at the Berlin International Film Festival
Launched
11 years ago and staged with a revised concept in 2008, SHOOTING STARS
proves more than ever to be an effective and original marketing tool
for European films. The cross-national promotion of the European young
stars has a positive effect on the overall atmosphere of European
filmmaking and its marketing and a direct impact on the acting career
of most participants.
With
the SHOOTING STARS programme in Berlin, more than 200 young
up-and-coming actors have been presented over these years to the
international industry, press and public, including such long since
internationally acclaimed stars as Daniel Craig, Franka Potente, Rachel Weisz, Ludivine Sagnier, Unax Ugalde and Daniel Brühl.
Most of the selected SHOOTING STARS have benefited concretely from the programme during the Berlin International Film Festival.
More….
In addition to the programme in Berlin, EFP has cooperated with 12 European film festivals during the past five years on the TOURING SHOOTING STARS FILM PROGRAMME,
given 77 SHOOTING STARS the opportunity to become directly involved in
the regional promotional process of their films and introduced them to
the industry on a local level.
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PRODUCERS ON THE MOVE at the Cannes International Film Festival
The
effective worldwide marketing of European films is well served via the
promotion and support of the up-and-coming European producers. In the
past years, EFP’s programme of PRODUCERS ON THE MOVE has become an
internationally known label, highlighting the selected producers
internationally and supporting them in
their
networking which is particularly of importance for smaller countries.
Since the inception of the programme nine years ago, EFP has focused
international attention on more than 172 young producers and has worked
to support their cross-border cooperation on future projects.
Regarding
the past two years with a total of 43 up-and-coming producers
participating in the event, the combined output of follow-up networking
contacts with fellow PRODUCERS ON THE MOVE ranging from regular contact
up to concrete co-productions has amounted to 67,4 %.
More….
VARIETY CRITICS’ CHOICE: EUROPE NOW! at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
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| The
artistic delegation which presented the films selected for VARIETY
CRITICS’ CHOICE in 2008, on the balcony of the Hotel Thermal in Karlovy
Vary. |
Between 1999 and 2008, EFP has
presented 100 European films and their directors within the framework
of the project VARIETY CRITICS’ CHOICE: EUROPE NOW!, an extremely
popular sidebar at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The
evaluation of the 2006 and 2007 events show that, after the
presentation in Karlovy Vary, of the 20 films screened, 7 films (35%)
were sold internationally and 14 films (70%) have been presented at
further international film festivals.
The high profile of the programme and the participation of the trade magazine Variety
certainly gives these films an edge in the competitive arena. The films
shown in EUROPE NOW! are promoted not only on the European level, but
on an international level via the publication in Variety.
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PICTURE EUROPE! THE BEST OF EUROPEAN CINEMA
EFP’s
initiative PICTURE EUROPE! – a series of screenings of 10 to 13 new
European films in three major cities of Europe – was launched in 2007
with a two-fold aim: firstly, to cultivate new, young audiences for
European film by presenting a series of films – in major European
capitals. All of the selected films have had success in their home
countries and are
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|
Christian Pfeil, actor in Shoppen (D),
during Q&A in Madrid 2008. |
regarded
as national “box office hits”. Secondly, to support the cross-border
marketing and promotion of European films within Europe.
Compared
with 2007, EFP was able to post a considerable increase of 59% with the
2008 edition of PICTURE EUROPE! and reached a total of almost 4,000
admissions in Munich, Copenhagen and Madrid.
More….
Outside of Europe
FILM SALES SUPPORT (FSS)
EFP’s
initiative FSS, which financially supports the promotion of a broad
range of European films at selected international film festivals in
North and South America and Asia, enabled sales opportunities to be
increased worldwide. This is true, in particular, for films of
countries with a low production capacity which account for 40 %.
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|
Václav by Jirí Vejdelek (Czech Republic), represented by Simply Cinema, was supported at the Shanghai Film Festival |
In
the past four years, EFP supported 291 different European films via
FSS. Of these, 120 films – 40 % – were sold for theatrical release or
to TV. The films were sold to North and South America as well as Asia
as a result of the films being promoted at the selected FSS partner
festivals. Over the past five years, FSS was available for Sundance,
Toronto, Mar del Plata, Guadalajara, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires as
well as Shanghai, Pusan, Hong Kong and Moscow. Within this choice,
Toronto represents the prime promotional platform. Almost 68 % of the
total sales are attributed to this highly important annual event.
More….
NEW YORK INDUSTRY SCREENINGS
Since
2005, EFP has presented a total of 25 new European films (without US
distribution in place) to distributors in New York with screenings of
four films taking place two – three times a year. Each of the films
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|
The New York Industry meets before a screening at the Tribeca Grand Hotel in November 2007 |
are
being presented by their respective sales agents who are actively
involved in the marketing strategy and presentation of the films. The
screenings resulted in a total of seven films being sold for US
distribution within a three-year time span.
The
results in detail: In 2006, 12 films were screened (in the first full
year of the programme) and three films were acquired for US
distribution. In 2007, 9 films were screened, there were two sales to
the US, and two films are still under negotiation.
More…
Toronto International Film Festival
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|
Festival tradition: European Reception hosted by EFP in Toronto each year. |
As
a platform for European films and a gateway for product to the US
market, the Toronto International Film Festival will remain a vital,
extremely important festival in the international arena. Since EFP's
first association with Toronto in 1997, the number of European films
shown has grown from 50 productions to 117 features from EFP member
countries in 2007. Introducing the work of new European directors to
enthusiastic Toronto audiences has become a festival tradition and
remains a prime focus of EFP’s promotional mandate outside of Europe.
Toronto represents the prime promotional platform for EFP’s initiative FSS (please see above at FSS).
More…
Pusan International Film Festival
The
aim of this initiative is to highlight the European films screening at
the Pusan International Film Festival. In particular, EFP’s activities
are aimed at increasing the profile of the European films at the Pusan
International Film Festival and supporting the artistic delegation of
directors and actors in attendance at the event. In addition, EFP
assists the European industry, particularly sales agents, by running an
umbrella office at the Asian Film Market.
In 2007, EFP has brought
an artistic delegation of 27 creatives from 15 countries to Pusan,
amongst them Hans Weingartner and Johan Kling. 22 sales companies and
producers such as Celluloid Dreams and Nordisk Film Sales had
registered at the EFP’s newly established industry office.
Since
2004, EFP has been offering marketing support in Pusan via FSS – with
growing importance since the introduction of the film market two years
ago (please see above at FSS).
More…
AMERICAN FILM MARKET
As
one of the top three international film markets in the world, the AFM
offers European producers and sales agents unique access to U.S.,
Asian, and Latin American-based buyers, exhibitors and producing
partners. Since 1998, EFP has partnered with the AFM in establishing an
umbrella office for European producers and sales agents. Between 1998
and 2006, 240 independent European companies benefited from the
services provided by EFP at the AFM.
Looking
at the quite representative year of 2006, 14 companies attended the AFM
under the EFP banner. When asked what their primary reason(s) for
attending the AFM were, the responses were: four were there to sell
product, two were acquiring, five were developing projects and five
were primarily looking for new partners. In concrete terms, four
companies reported total sales to 18 territories.
More…
Contact:
European Film Promotion
Info @ efp-online.com
Tel: +49 40- 390 6252
EFP is supported by the MEDIA Programme of the European Union and by its member organisations. In addition, promotion and PR activities are backed by the Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) as well as by private sponsors. The Hamburg-based office is financially supported by the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the Cultural Department of the City of Hamburg.
