The Marché du Film and the Fantasia International Film Festival have announced further details on a newly launched collaboration to create an international platform for genre films.
The news was released Sunday in Cannes during the Fantastic Fanatics Mixer, a bustling networking cocktail, catering to the genre community here at the Marché du Film. It was well received.
The idea behind this new partnership is to provide an increased level of support to develop, distribute and package Genre films.
The new agreement will include three strong elements spread out over the year.
In July in Montreal, at Fantasia International Film Festival, Frontières will expand to a 4-day co-production market. A selection of 20 projects (10 European and 10 North American) are pitched to 400 prominent industry professionals (producers, financiers, sales agents, distributors). Other activities include one-to-one meetings with the projects, a Work-in-Progress presentation, round-table networking sessions, panels, and networking cocktails.
In February a three-day Packaging & Financing Forum will launch in Amsterdam, in partnership with the Netherlands Film Fund. The Forum has been timed to follow six months after the Frontières Co-Production Market in Montreal, in order to provide a platform to further support the projects.
12 Frontières projects will be presented in Amsterdam that show potential for the international market place, and that are looking to enhance their packaging and financing strategies.
The Forum intends to introduce a community-like atmosphere that has become a trademark of the Frontières event, by providing in-depth meetings with select members of the industry, behind closed doors.
In May the initiative will conclude with a 2-day Pitching event at the Marché du Film to present the most advanced Frontières projects with pitching to financial partners, presentation of proof-of-concept teasers, one-on-one meetings with selected industry leaders, works-in-progress screenings for projects at the post-production stage.
“There are several areas in which we are seeing real growth across the market, and one of those is Genre films,” says the Marché du Film’s Executive Director, Jerome Paillard. “The Marché du Film has long been the leading market to both bring together the industry and present programs that explore new developments in filmmaking, and we are delighted to have kick-started the launch of this expanded Frontières’ initiative, by presenting today’s very successful Genre Film Day, in Cannes. We see great potential in this new venture.”
"We are thrilled to be embarking on a new chapter with the Marché du Film and the Netherlands Film Fund. 2017 will be a year of significant growth and development for the Frontières community specifically geared towards increasing and expanding genre film coproduction and financing." added Lindsay Peters, Director of Frontières.
“The new Forum and our creation of this series of events in Cannes, during the Marché du Film this year, have been designed to maximize follow-up and expedite the packaging process on selected Frontières projects, after their participation in the Frontières Co-Production Market at Fantasia. We are confident that today’s Genre Film Day in Cannes, provided these projects with an ideal opportunity to strengthen their packaging and financing strategies, and key guidance to help them succeed in the international market place,” says Julie Bergeron, Head of Industry Programming at the Marché du Film.
Established in 2012 at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, the Frontières International Co-Production Market connects North America and Europe with a specific focus on genre film. With 8 editions in the past 5 years, welcoming an average of 400 industry professionals, Frontières has become an essential networking destination for industry professionals seeking to stimulate the co-production and financing of genre films. The 8th edition of Frontières will take place July 21-24 in Montreal at the Fantasia International Film Festival. Frontières is supported by the European Union – Creative Europe – Media program and is made possible thanks to the generous support of Telefilm Canada, SODEC.
For further information, please contact: Marie-Emmanuelle Oliver, meoliver@festival-cannes.fr
