12 September 2007  

European EKRAN scheme calling for entries for 2008

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO NOVEMBER 15TH

“If I ever make it as a successful filmmaker, taking part in Ekran 2006 will, I think, be something that I look back upon as a turning point in my career. It was a truly eye-opening experience and one that I cannot recommend highly enough.”
Stephen Hanks, IFSW graduate and EKRAN attendee 2006

“I returned from Ekran and have to admit it was a life changing experience. The wealth of knowledge on offer was staggering and I benefited so much from working with such highly regarded filmmakers; I also made a lot of contacts and got some great tips from the other groups present.”
Ed Casey, IFSW and Film Academy EKRAN attendee 2007

WHAT IS “EKRAN”?
The European training project EKRAN is a collaborative project between the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing, FOCAL, the Norwegian Film Development, the Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen, the Internationale FilmSchule Köln, the Skillset Screen Academy Wales / International Film School Wales, and Polish Filmmakers Associacion.

EKRAN (the Polish word for “screen”) is an international training program focusing on the creative pre-production process based on shooting practice. It aims at advancing the participants’ scripts and producing two scenes presenting the tone, casting and visual strategies of the project.

This includes:

1. Treatment or script development (group work with treatments and individual work with scripts or treatments)
2. Preparation for shooting (casting, storyboard, individual consultancy with tutors)
3. Shooting (tutors’ directing consultancy available)
4. Editing (tutors’ editing consultancy available)
5. Evaluation of the produced scenes.

As the creative pre-production process is based on teamwork, EKRAN includes each of the key creative roles in its training curriculum. Every participating project is therefore represented by a team consisting of a director (or writer/director), a writer (or co-writer), a producer and, optionally, a director of photography.
In order to ensure the best possible market opportunities, EKRAN will favor applicants with independent film projects with a strong personal vision.

The ‘Godfathers’

To bring the experience of the older generation of filmmakers to the participants, Andrzej Wajda, as the main ‘Godfather’ himself, is inviting two more ‘Godfathers’ of EKRAN to act as Masters of visual grammar, and to interact creatively with the teams. These Godfathers will be Volker Schloendorff from Germany and Alexander Sokurov from Russia.

The team of tutors involves experienced film professionals from all over Europe including: Wojciech Marc­zewski, Agnieszka Holland, Krzysztof Zanussi, Edward Zebrowski (Poland); Lone Scherfig, Thomas Vinterberg, Per Fly, Morgens Rukov (Denmark); Ildiko Enyedi (Hungary); Udayan Prasad, Nigel Orrillard, Marilyn Milgrom (England), Antoine Jaccoud (Switzerland).

WHO CAN APPLY?

EKRAN is based on teamwork and involves professionals from several fields. The primary target group consists of European directors or writer/directors who have realised their first feature or several shorts. Writer/directors will participate with their own script, whereas directors will participate with a script they are developing with their co-writer. In order to be accepted by EKRAN, the directors or writer/directors must be part of a team consisting of:
         
– the writer or co-writer of the script
– the producer committed to the project
– the director of photography they intend to work with (optional)

These members of the pre-production team form the secondary target group of the programme. Each professional group will be given specific guidance by experts with professional experience in each of the participants’ production roles throughout the programme. Screen Academy Wales is encouraging students from our different courses to collaborate on their applications - i.e MA Producing, MA Film, BA Film and Video, etc

HOW DO I APPLY?
The application must contain:

1) CVs of all team members (4 copies, plus an electronic version on CD)

2) a 25 page (maximum) feature film Treatment (4 copies, with electronic version on CD) – (if the script exists it should be translated into English and available for individual consultancy since first session)

3) A letter of commitment from the producer or the Producer’s production company as well as a producer’s statement outlining their intended strategy for the development of the project (4 copies)

4) an entry form signed by all the members of the team (4 copies)

5) a sample of the director’s work (1 copy)

6) a filmography and samples of the cameraman's work (1 copy)

The application deadline is the 1st of November 2007.
NOW EXTENDED TO NOVEMBER 15TH

Please send your application packs to:
Nigel Orrillard
International Film School Wales
PO Box 179
Newport
Gwent NP19 3YG

Applications will then be selected by a panel of industry representatives and the successful projects will be sent to EKRAN in Poland for a final selection by the Masters. Interviews will be held in Wales in January with the selected team notified in February 2008. The scheme then runs from March 2008.

A DVD of this year's films is available to be viewed on request from Nigel Orrillard.

EKRAN call for applications (information as above)

Application From to be returned