"I loved it, it was a breath of fresh air and I would heartily recommend it to anyone else."

Geoffrey Smith, participant on the 2006 course, who went on to secure finance for his documentary The English Surgeon. His film was recently awarded Best International Film at the 2008 Hot Docs Festival.

Interdoc is one of Europe's leading training programmes for documentary producers who want to access international finance and has been instrumental in helping filmmakers / producers like Geoffrey Smith (The English Surgeon) get finance for their projects. The course provides professional training and support to ensure that participants have the skills and insight to enable them to approach the international market with confidence. The course is run by Initialize Films and Scottish Documentary Institute and is supported by Skillset, Edinburgh Film Focus, and Sheffield Doc Fest.

Who is it for?

We are looking for 12 ambitious documentary producers who are developing a feature documentary project and who want to engage with the international market. As long as you have one producer credit on a completed documentary film and live in the UK, you can apply.

What is the aim of the course?

The aim is to provide high level tuition and support so that the participants (a) gain a comprehensive understanding of how to effectively prepare and market their project for international financing (development funds, pre-sales, co-productions, sales, distribution), (b) gain an in-depth knowledge of the international documentary market, and (c) develop realistic and achievable goals for their project in relation to support from international partners.

How does it work?

The programme runs over two four-day modules held in Edinburgh and two sessions of individual online consultancy, and features a highly personalised programme:

- workshops focussing on development funds, pre-sales, CO-productions, distribution and sales in the international arena;
- an individual project development plan for each participant;
- networking with key industry figures;
- reduced-rate registration at the Sheffield Documentary Festival 2008.

The course is limited to 12 participants.

Main tutor

The course will be led by producer Rachel Wexler (Bungalow Town Productions). Rachel specialises in producing international feature documentaries for a worldwide audience. To date she has worked on ten films for BBC Storyville and has collaborated with many highly acclaimed filmmakers including Marc Isaacs, Geoffrey Smith, Oliver Hodge and Phil Grabsky. Recent releases include: The English Surgeon, Garbage Warrior and All White in Barking. Bungalow Town also represents award-winning filmmakers Nick Broomfield and Molly Dineen as their television sales agents.

Applications

Click here for the following:

Application form
Guidelines
Equal opportunities form
Overview of programme

Interdoc is supported by:

Skillset; Edinburgh Film Focus; Sheffield Documentary Festival

For more information on other training and project development programmes for documentary producers and filmmakers please click here

For information on other courses please click on one of the links below:

Screenwriters
Feature film (fiction) producers

For all other information see:

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