Glasgow Film Festival announces Details of Innovative New GFF Industry Focus Programme

Last month, Glasgow Film Festival announced that its 2016 programme would include GFF Industry Focus, a landmark new development for the traditionally audience-focused festival. Today, GFF is delighted to be able to confirm details of the two day programme of talks, panel discussions, advice and networking sessions.

Aimed at independent producers, feature, short and documentary filmmakers working across all levels of the film industry, GFF Industry Focus will run on Wednesday 24 & Thursday 25 February. The conference has been designed to complement and support the existing structure of the Scottish film industry, as well as offering a valuable resource to filmmakers and producers from all over Europe.

The programme has been divided into two halves: Inspiration, looking at new technologies, changing audience habits, developing opportunities and innovative strategies for production, and Funding, in which panels of funders, broadcasters, distributors and exhibitors discuss what opportunities are available for filmmakers and advise on what they’re looking to support. Participating organisations confirmed so far include the BFI, Danish Film Institute, Creative Europe, Creative Scotland, Irish Film Board, Film4, BBC Film, distributors including Verve and Metrodome; individuals making presentations include Jordan McGarry of Vimeo, James King of Curzon Film World, VR producer/director James Louis Hedley, producer Elhum Shakerifar, and Hope Dickson Leach of Raising Films. Panels include a discussion about the opportunities from the BFI Diversity Standards and the role of the PMD. All events will take place at 29 Glasgow.

Allison Gardner, Festival Co-Director, said ‘What we hope to do with this programme is offer a new resource – for information, for exchange of ideas and for networking – that will feed into the Scottish film industry, and offer independent film makers from all over the UK and Europe a new platform. We’re absolutely delighted that we’ve managed to secure so many established funding agencies from all over Europe to participate in our first GFF In Focus, as well as a number of interesting individual speakers. Here’s to a great couple of days, within what will be a great festival!’

GFF IN FOCUS – THE PROGRAMME

Wednesday 24 February: Inspiration

Video on Demand Grows Up
James King (Curzon Film World)
45 Years was released to major critical acclaim, grossing over £1.5m in the UK. What was surprising was that, for a film aimed at a more mature audience, a significant portion of this came on the Curzon Home Cinema VOD platform. James King explains the changes Curzon has seen since it introduced Home Cinema and what it means for filmmakers, audiences and cinema going forward.

Getting Creative with Distribution: Sonja Henrici (Scottish Documentary Institute) Oli Harbottle (Dogwoof)
The role of Producer of Marketing and Distribution is growing in prominence as audiences fragment across platforms and routes to market shift. This panel discusses how having someone specifically tasked with overseeing a film’s release strategy before it even begins shooting can ensure you reach an audience, and explains some of the strategies PMDs employ.

Bringing Reality to Virtual Reality: James Louis Hedley (Surround Vision)
With major manufacturers investing millions of dollars creating hardware built for the home, filmmakers are migrating to virtual reality and using the platform to craft a new style of immersive storytelling. James Louis Hedley, director of London Film Festival hit Simon and VR Producer on Great Green Wall demonstrates how filmmakers can tell their stories on VR platforms.

The Opportunities in Diversity: Deborah Williams (BFI)
The UK is widely diverse in its make up but some groups have found themselves underrepresented and underserved in cinemas. As well as being a challenge Deborah Williams, Diversity Manager at the BFI discusses how this is also a great opportunity for filmmakers to reach audiences in the UK and further afield whilst contributing to making UK culture richer and better representative of our diverse population.

When Life Gets in the Way: Hope Dickson Leach (Raising Films)
Like all freelancers, filmmakers have to perform the tricky act of juggling projects and life at the same time. However in a world of unpaid spec scripts and shooting eleven-day fortnights, filmmakers are challenged more than most with maintaining a successful work-life balance. Add in the demands of parenting, and it leads to a reduced ability to work, missed opportunities and people falling out of the industry altogether, particularly women. Raising Films are attempting to address this issue and are here to explain why this is something that affects everyone - and what we can do about it.

An Anthropological Approach: Elhum Shakerifar (Postcode Films)
Depicting a family’s journey negotiating life in a war-torn country, A Syrian Love Story is an expert study in the relationship between place, people and the wider world. The film’s producer Elhum Shakerifar discusses how her background in anthropology informed the film’s production and how via meticulous research filmmakers can produce more powerful portraits of the world around us.

Spotlight on Shorts: Jordan McGarry (Vimeo)
If you’ve ever submitted a film to Vimeo there’s a good chance Jordan McGarry and the curation team at Vimeo have seen it. Jordan will be explaining what short form content works online and explains how Vimeo is supporting short and feature filmmakers alike via the Vimeo On Demand platform.
More speakers and panels will be announced shortly.

Thursday 25 February: Funding

Meet the Funders
Creative Scotland, BBC Film, Scottish Film Talent Network +more tbc
Some of the UK’s primary public funders explain what they’re looking to fund across features, shorts and documentaries, looking at development and completion funding.

Meet the Distributors
Verve, Metrodome +more tbc
Major players in independent UK distribution discuss some of their recent hits and misses, and how the distribution system is shifting.

Meet the Europeans
Irish Film Board, Danish Film Institute, Creative Europe, BFI
What’s going on across the water? Major European funding bodies and industry individuals discuss the funding situation in mainland Europe and Ireland, and explore how UK based filmmakers might collaborate with them on projects.

Meet the Broadcasters
Film 4, BBC Alba +more tbc
Some of the UK’s major broadcasters talk about the films they’ve championed and supported recently, and what attracted them.

Meet the Exhibitors

Home Manchester, Watershed, Scottish Queer International Film Festival

What is making audiences tick and how do we keep them coming to the cinema? We talk to film festivals and venues about what is and isn’t working.

More speakers will be confirmed shortly. Will also include a surgery from Anna Mansi, Head of Certification at BFI who will be advising filmmakers on how to access tax relief and the British certification process.

Registration for GFF Industry Focus is accessed via the following link: www.glasgowfilm.org/festival/industry. Passes cost £50 (£35 concessions) for two days or £30 (£20 concessions). Prices include entry to all drinks and networking events, membership to 29 Glasgow for the duration of the festival, restaurant discounts and the opportunity to book tickets for Glasgow Film Festival in advance. All events will take place at 29 Glasgow, located at 29 Royal Exchange Square.

GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL WOULD LIKE TO THANK ITS MAJOR PARTNERS:
Glasgow City Marketing Bureau (GCMB) is the official destination marketing organisation (DMO) for the city of Glasgow. As custodian of the PEOPLE MAKE GLASGOW brand, GCMB works with partners, stakeholders and businesses to position and promote Glasgow across national and international markets as one of Europe’s most vibrant, dynamic and diverse cities in which to live, work, study, invest and visit.

EventScotland is the national events agency. EventScotland is working to make Scotland one of the world’s leading event destinations. By developing an exciting portfolio of sporting and cultural events EventScotland is helping to raise Scotland’s international profile and boost the economy by attracting more visitors. EventScotland is part of VisitScotland, the national tourism organisation which markets Scotland as a tourism destination across the world, gives support to the tourism industry and brings sustainable tourism growth to Scotland.

Creative Scotland is the national organisation that funds and supports the development of Scotland’s arts, screen and creative industries. Creative Scotland has four objectives: to develop and sustain a thriving environment for the arts, screen and creative industries; to support excellence in artistic and creative practice; to improve access to and participation in, arts and creative activity; and to deliver our services efficiently and effectively. In 2013/14 we will distribute over £100m in funding provided by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery.

The BFI is the lead organisation for film in the UK with the ambition to create a flourishing film environment in which innovation, opportunity and creativity can thrive, by connecting audiences to the widest choice of British and World cinema; by preserving and restoring the most significant film collection in the world for today and future generations; by championing emerging and world class film makers in the UK; by investing in creative, distinctive and entertaining work; by promoting British film and talent to the world, and by growing the next generation of film makers and audiences. The BFI is now a Government arm’s-length body and distributor of Lottery funds for film. The BFI serves a public role which covers the cultural, creative and economic aspects of film in the UK. It delivers this role as the UK-wide organisation for film, a charity core funded by Government; by providing Lottery and Government funds for film across the UK, and by working with partners to advance the position of film in the UK.