About
The main objective of the program is to help producers in the artistic and financial development of their project, to improve their knowhow in terms of international co-production – thus implementing good practices in the sector – reinforce the skills independent production requires, and significantly expand their professional network. We believe that project development and career building go hand in hand.
Once graduated, EURODOC alumni have access to social events and accreditations at partner festivals and markets, memberships to affiliate organizations, consulting ondemand, and promotion of their projects over the years.
Schedule
The first session focuses on assessing each of the participants’ projects in terms of script and development, to strengthen their overall consistency. Indepth individual meetings with 2 experts are held for each participants. At this session (only), directors may participate in these one-to-one meetings, onsite if they can travel, or online and can also attend the moment their project is discussed within the group. Masterclasses and case studies cover issues such as story-telling and narrative structure, the relationship between the director and the producer or co-authors, the producer and the editor.
Over Session 2, participants finalize their financial plan and their coproduction strategy, and start the packaging of their projects (pitch, pitch-deck, trailer). Group work, masterclasses and case studies focus on budgeting, financing (private funds and fiscal sponsorship, contracts with televisions, European / global / minority-driven funds, production incentives in terms of parity and diversity, green production new rules, working with platforms, international coproduction, rights clearance, trailer and pitch strategy). Individual meetings with 2 experts are organized additionally. A specific of Session 2 is the “Production Landscape presentations” series: participants research, write (prior to the session) and deliver a tailormade presentation on documentary production means in their country. These presentations are moderated by the participants themselves.
The final session is mainly dedicated to one-to-one meetings with experts. Their specificity is their length: at EURODOC, we value time and human encounter, not express pitching or match-making. Over 3 days, individual meetings of 45 minutes each are organized for the participants with the experts whose profiles are most relevant to the project. These meetings are intensively prepared during the first 2 days of the session, under the supervision of the tutors. Some of the guest decision-makers also present their editorial lines, programs and funding/buying possibilities, in short talks held every day. During Session 3, masterclasses focus on new production models, current trends in the documentary film market, and upcoming distribution channels.
Methodology
- English is the main language of our sessions.
- French is spoken in the French-speaking group during group work only.
- Spanish is spoken in the Spanish-speaking group during group work only.
At EURODOC, we prioritize group work, supervised by a tutor. 3 work groups are organized within the cohort, an English-speaking, and a French-speaking group and a Spanish-speaking group. Each group includes up to 14 producers and up to 3 “Observers”. The tutor remains the same over the 3 sessions.
A fourth group, composed of up to 12 producers from the host country, joins the program at each session to attend a 5 day-long intensive workshop to develop their projects, with their own tutor. Meetings and meals between the four groups are organized every day.
At each session, experts hold individual meetings with the participants to analyze their projects from their own perspective and position in the industry (script, editing, directing, production, television, distribution, festivals, sales, impact…). During Session 3, over 400 individual meetings are organized between the participants and the experts invited. Circa 30 professionals spend part of the week with us: commissioning editors, distributors, sales agents, film fund representatives, festival programmers and curators. The meetings last for 45 minutes.
Several masterclasses delivered by top-end professionals, during the sessions and online, cover various topics: storytelling, the relationship between the editor and the producer, author’s rights and archival rights, funding schemes, complex international co-production, parity and diversity incentives, green production, specific pitching methods, company management, distribution and sales, working with platforms, choosing the right sales agent….
At each session, one or two screening of recent multi-awarded and internationally coproduced feature length films are held, and followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker, the producer(s) and/or the main funders of the film, most of them being EURODOC alumni.
In between the 3 workshops, the training offers online activities such as masterclasses, panels, virtual screenings and occasionally personalized feedback, at the rate of circa 2 webinars a month between February and October. The online programme starts in early February and finishes in late October.
If you identify as BIPOC and wish to join the BIPOC group, we reserve an on-site and online space at every session and in-between sessions, and specific mentoring.
The participants are required to update the files of their projects as well as the trailers, their financing plans and budgets for each session. And after each session, participants are requested to send an evaluation of the organization and the tuition. At the end of the training Program, participants receive a EURODOC Program Graduation Certificate.
- FOR THE FIRST SESSION: update of the project file (same dossier as the submission) including a long treatment. In addition, a trailer of 3min is requested (with English subtitles) and screened publicly.
- FOR THE SECOND SESSION: update of the trailer and project file (15 pages maximum) as well as a detailed budget and financing plan. In addition, participants will have to work on a presentation of the coproduction opportunities of the country they are based in.
- FOR THE LAST SESSION: update of the dossier (pitchdeck of 7 pages) and if necessary, of the trailer.
Before the sessions, participants must carefully read all the projects of the other participants, regardless of any group works (35 to 45 dossiers).