EFP, OMDC and TIFF team up again for highly-anticipated co-production program at TIFF

The third edition of Producers Lab Toronto 2012 is set to launch during the Toronto International Film Festival® from September 5 to 8, 2012. Twenty-four hand-picked European and Canadian producers will be looking for co-production partners. This highly-anticipated networking platform has already resulted in 27 projects in active development.

The international co-production event is organized by European Film Promotion (EFP) in collaboration with Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) and the Toronto International Film Festival®, and backed by the MEDIA Mundus Programme of the European Union. Additional support comes from Eurimages and Telefilm Canada.

In a globalized industry, independent European producers are increasingly looking for co-production partners outside Europe who share similar values and perspectives. The cosmopolitan population and strong film funding system in Canada make Canadian producers ideal prospects for building creative and financial bridges with Europe. With this in mind, 12 producers from Europe and 12 from Canada will spend three days during TIFF exchanging stories, ideas and information on funding and co-production on both sides of the Atlantic. The aim is to generate business relationships leading to concrete European-Canadian co-productions, and to increase the visibility of the producers and their projects during the international festival.

Participating producers taking part in the Producers Lab Toronto 2012 program have prior co-production experience and high-quality projects suitable for the international marketplace. European participants are selected by the EFP network from the alumni of their prestigious Cannes-based networking platform Producers on the Move. Canadian producers are selected by OMDC and TIFF from an open call across Canada. The selection of all participants is based on prior experience and suitable projects and objectives for the Lab.

European Participants	Canadian Participants
Tine Grew Pfeiffer, Alphaville Pictures Copenhagen (Denmark)	Patricia Fogliato, Enigmatico Films
Nicole Gerhards, NiKo Film (Germany)	Aisling Chin-Yee, Prospector Films
Yorgos Tsourgiannis, Horse Fly Productions (Greece)	Svet Doytchinov, Yantra Films
Arnar Knútsson, Filmus Productions (Iceland)	Sarah Timmins, Corvid Pictures
Macdara Kelleher, Fastnet Films (Ireland)	Yanick Létourneau, Peripheria Productions
Donato Rotunno, Tarantula Luxembourg (Luxembourg)	Rayne Zukerman, Zazie Films
Els Vandevorst, N279 Entertainment (The Netherlands)	Daniel Bekerman, Scythia Films
Fernando Vendrell, david & golias (Portugal)	Stephen Traynor, The Film Farm
Ada Solomon, HiFilm Productions (Romania)	April Mullen, WANGO Films
Isona Passola, Massa D'Or Produccions (Spain)	Rajvinder Uppal, At The End Of The Day Productions
Peter Hiltunen, Illusion Film & Television (Sweden)	Anita K. Sharma, Studio Entertainment
Dan Wechsler, Bord Cadre films (Switzerland)	Lauren Grant, Clique Pictures

European producers include Els Vandevorst from The Netherlands (Winter in Wartime by Martin Koolhoven), and Ada Solomon from Romania (Best Intentions by Adrian Sitaru). Canadian producers participating include Stephen Traynor (Midnight’s Children by Deepa Mehta), and Patricia Fogliato (Mad Ship by David Mortin).

“As a Swedish/European producer, we want to look for new sources, new influence, new creative input and to be able to produce projects with a greater breadth with regards to financing, creativity and distribution. The ambition of Illusion Film is to work on a higher international level, and that's why we need our international co-production network to expand further. Our expectations are that we will find reliable new co-production partners and try to create long-term relationships concerning co-productions overseas.”
-    Peter Hiltunen, Illusion Film, Sweden and 2012 participant

„We are always interested in meeting like-minded producers in order to develop long term relationships for our current projects and for future projects. Our objectives for Producers Lab are to meet potential co-producers for our current slate of international projects, as well as to meet foreign producers looking for co-production and co-venture partners in Canada. It seems like a great fit!“
-    Stephen Traynor, The Film Farm, Canadian participant 2012

Located at the heart of the dynamic Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and led by top-level specialists, PRODUCERS LAB TORONTO is also an excellent platform for connecting with key film industry people, international media and European and Canadian film funds. The conference meetings include pitching sessions, case studies and roundtables, as well as VIP meetings and networking events.

Associated EFP member organizations: The Danish Film Institute, German Films, Greek Film Center, Icelandic Film Center, Irish Film Board, Film Fund Luxembourg, EYE Film Institute Netherlands, ICA I.P./ Portugal, Romanian Film Promotion, ICAA/Spain, Swedish Film Institute, Swiss Films.

® Toronto International Film Festival is a registered trademark of the Toronto International Film Festival Inc.