On Friday 13th October, Cork Film Festival will hold a one-day intensive course for short filmmakers - directors and producers - aimed at maximising the exposure and hence the sales of their short films. The course will also explore new markets for shorts content.

The training course is funded by Screen Training Ireland, a FAS initiative to provide excellence in continuing training for professionals in film, television, animation and digital media.

Speakers will include experts on festival programming, on the sale and distribution of short films, on short film DVD publishing and retailing. The sessions will look at new opportunities for short films on the web and other digital platforms. Successful short film directors and producers will share their experiences with those taking the course.

Attendance at Short Film Business is by application only and is open to those who have made at least one short and/or have done a course in film production. The course fee is €50 and it takes place in the Gresham Metropole Hotel.

For any further information on applications please contact events@corkfilmfest.org
or Tel: 021 4271711

SHORT FILM BUSINESS – COURSE STRUCTURE

Each session will include a short presentation by each panelist and there will be ample space for questions and answers. The seminar will be chaired by Ted Sheehy, Ireland correspondent, Screen International.

09:30: REGISTRATION
10.00: WELCOME & OVERVIEW

• Mick Hannigan - Director, Cork Film Festival

10.15 MAKING FESTIVALS WORK FOR YOU
Film festivals are still the primary means of getting targeted exposure for your short. What festivals are best for you? How can you improve your chances of getting accepted? Do’s and Dont’s. How can you use festivals to maximum effect? The panel will be composed of festival programmers and organisers.

• Miguel Valverde - (Portugal): Miguel is one of the directors and programmers of the Indilisboa Film Festival. He has worked as programmer with the Algarve, Skopje and Zero em Comportomento film festivals.  He teaches screenwriting for Animation, Comics and Illustration at the University of Fine Arts in Lisbon.

• Una Feely (Ireland): Una has been Short Film Programmer of Cork Film Festival for many years, also curating programmes of Irish shorts for international festivals and events.

• Karen Rais-Nordentoft – (Denmark): Karen is Director of the Aarhaus Film Festival, which she founded in 1997. She has written and lectured extensively on film. She joins us fresh from her second stint as director of the 17th Nordisk Panorama.

11.00 COFFEE

11.15 SELLING YOUR FILM
Who can you sell your film to? What are the markets for shorts?
The panelists will include sales agents from Ireland and the UK and those commissioning for new digital channels.

• Hughie Kelly (Ireland): Hughie is a Sales Executive with Network Ireland Television. NIT is the major distributor of Irish programming outside of Ireland and provides a sales and marketing service for short filmmakers and producers in Ireland. www.network-irl-tv.com

• Dawn Sharpless (England): Dawn is the founder and Creative Director of Dazzle, a film sales, distribution and exhibition agency for short films. Dazzle represents a collection of award-winning and critically acclaimed shorts from the UK and around the world. www.dazzlefilms.co.uk

• Rebecca Mark-Lawson (England): Rebecca manages the short film programme on behalf of the UK Film Council’s New Cinema Fund. Through the production company Lifesize Pictures she is responsible for overseeing all of the fund’s Short Film Schemes including Digital Shorts, Cinema Extreme and the Completion Fund at Lifesize Pictures. She was formerly the Development Executive for New Talent at EM Media, the Regional Screen Agency for the East Midlands. www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk

12.15 NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR SHORT FILM
This session will look at new markets for short films and for short digital content. The panel will comprise of those who commission short films for the internet and other digital platforms and who publish and retail shorts on DVD.

• Michael McMahon (Ireland): Michael is one of the founders and CEO of Molotov Digital, a legal peer-to-peer and peer-assisted distribution service for film and television programmes. Michaels' background is as an interactive media developer and manager with more than 10 years experience in the  audio-visual industry, Endemol UK and UKTV network. www.molotovdigital.com

• Claire Cook (England): Claire is Senior Content Producer with BBC Film Network. www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork She’s worked for many years with the onedotzero festival of the moving image and also as the DVD Manager for onedotzero.

• Guillaume Calop (France): Guillaume is Chief Executive of Chalet Films which he founded in 2005. Chalet is dedicated to publishing and retailing short films at festivals and through the internet. www.chaletfilms.com

1.15 LUNCH

2.15 CASE STUDIES: DIRECTORS
A panel of experienced short film makers will detail what worked for them, how they achieved festival success, how they sold their films and share their tips for success in the shorts arena.

• Jens Jonsson (Sweden): Jens has made ten short films to date and has won major international awards at Tampere, Berlin, Aarhus, Stockholm, Palm Springs. He is the subject of a full retrospective at this year’s Cork Film Festival.

• Peter Foott (Ireland): Peter has made a number of award-winning shorts, including The Carpenter And His Clumsy Wife which received a Special Mention at the Venice Film Festival. He is director of Vico Film production company, which has had shorts, accepted at over 100 festivals, winning 14 awards. www.vicofilms.com

• Simon Ellis (England): SIMON ELLIS: Graduated from Nottingham Trent University (Fine Art BA Hons) in 1995, specialising in stills photography.  Written and directed sixteen short films and music videos since then, resulting in 400+  screenings on the international festival circuit, several awards, various invitations to festival juries, and a number of retrospective programmes.  International sales include both terrestrial and non-terrestrial broadcasts, from airline acquisitions to MTV rotations.  Currently in pre-production on first feature film. He has won many awards and been honoured with tribute programmes at the Tampere and Cork festival.

3.15 CASE STUDIES: PRODUCERS
A panel of successful short film producers will outline what they look for in a short film project, how they can make short film production financially viable and tips for success in the short film business.

• Anneli Pallas (Finland): Anneli has produced with YLE the Finnish Broadcasting Company for 15 years.  She also has a number of award winning independent productions to her credit ‘RAID’ , ‘NIGHTSHIFT’ humorous crime series popular in the US.

• Andrew Freedman (Ireland): Andrew has produced a number of award-winning shorts including the European Film Academy Award for Best Short in 2005. His shorts have played on TV and in cinemas before features. Two shorts produced by Andrew are in this year’s Cork Film Festival programme.

• Sylvie Brenet -  (France): Sylvie was an artistic director with the Marseilles Documentary Festival for 5 years before moving to Playfilm in Paris.  Having worked on documentaries for France 2 & ARTE she’s now producing dramas. Sylvie has produced two short films playing in the International  Film programme, ‘The Girl With The Sun In Her Hair’ and ‘The Cherry Season’.

4.15 NETWORK SESSION
The day will conclude with a drinks reception where participants and panelists can network.