The program

MFI Script 2 Film Workshops is an advanced script & project development program, based on group work, Q&Á sessions, case studies and individual consultations. Its primary objective is to fully develop the participating screenplays, from first or subsequent draft to final draft, through a process of workshops that emphasize on script analysis, revision and rewriting, in order to enhance the participating projects’ quality as works of art and their dramatic impact on film audiences.

In the same time, the activity treats screenplays as the basis of the film production and analyzes the participating projects from a 360° angle, offering European film professionals an integrated knowledge of all aspects of project development. The aim is to introduce participants to the international industry practices, offer them the tools to improve their project’s potential in terms of markets & audiences, and help them reach the stage of production.

MFI's track record consists of more than 220 projects from all over Europe being developed in its previous activity, MFI Script Workshops. A great deal of these works have been produced, resulting to films that have been successfully distributed internationally, and participated in prestigious film festivals, winning awards and distinctions. Among others, 2003 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film 'Nowhere in Africa', by writer/director Caroline Link, was one of the projects effectively developed in MFI Script Workshops.

TARGET GROUP

MFI Script 2 Film Workshops is addressed to European film professionals, focusing on teams of a screenwriter & a producer with a feature film project in development. Furthermore, it is partially open to co-writers and directors following a project, as well as producers without a project wishing to undergo the script & project development training process.

• The program is open to participants from the EU countries and countries participating in the MEDIA Programme
• The target group consists of professionals with at least a moderate track record and experience

PHILOSOPHY

MFI Script 2 Film Workshops emphasizes on dramatic action and its capacity for stimulating audiences, enabling the talented and truly imaginative European filmmakers to find the dramatic power & production qualities they must possess in order to engage a larger audience and produce artistically & commercially successful films:

• The program approaches the task of script & project development not through any pre-formulated techniques, but rather through a difficult process of discovering & establishing each specific project’s quality & potential.
• Special sensitivity is exhibited towards cultural sensitivities & regional / national narrative concerns
• The overall approach is to develop projects that speak to wide European & international audiences, and produce cinematic works that are real emotional experiences, even if they “tell” a very regional, specific story – in the best tradition of European film heritage.

Designed for feature film scripts for cinema and television, MFI Script 2 Film Workshops consists of 2 residential & 2 on – line workshops, with a subsequent period of project follow up, and, first of all, constitutes a script development framework that helps the participating projects to reach the maximum of their capacity, enhance the qualities of the script material and clarify the dramatic components of the screenplay. This intensive program offers a practical approach on:

• The analysis of the material, evaluation, inner-seeking and creative exchange between trainers and participants.
• The development & clarification the essential elements of story, theme, character and circumstance through dramatic action.
• The breakdown, building up, re-writing and script editing of a screenplay.
• The elaboration of projects’ dramatic qualities and the improvement of their dramatic impact on film audiences.
• The highlighting of the scripts’ cinematic qualities, focusing on issues of style, image, production value as a way to promote & enhance participating projects.

In the same time, the program aims to introduce European professionals to the realities & practices of the European and international film production environment and to offer them the training and the skills needed to successfully undergo the film project development & film production process. Participants are provided with essential knowledge of all aspects of the course “from script to screen”, in general terms as well as in relation to each specific project:

• The pitching process & script presentation techniques.
• Understanding how a specific project can & must be made (talent & workforce required, production needs and budgeting, utilization of digital technologies).
• Collaboration between screenwriters, producers, directors and crew.
• Optimizing the project to increase possibilities for realization and commercial success (identifying & targeting audiences, adapting artistic qualities to market needs).
• Introduction to international film markets through the presence of industry experts.
• Introduction to strategies for film development (promoting the project, fundraising, co-productions, marketing).
• Negotiations, contracting, legal aspects of film production & distribution.

In the implementation of the training initiative MFI brings together accomplished trainers from both sides of the Atlantic, as well as a network of experts, partners & decision makers from all over Europe, incorporating their diverse backgrounds and experience in the activity. Thus, the program serves as a “meeting” point of these different sensitivities, helping the participating projects to fulfill their potential both as creative works of art and as commercial products.