Month: October 2014

FDA and Creative Skillset also launch comprehensive training programme for distribution sector.

Lord Puttnam, President of Film Distributors’ Association (FDA), yesterday launched the UK film distribution sector’s first co-ordinated internship programme.

At an industry event at London’s Ham Yard Hotel, Lord Puttnam announced that up to 20 paid placements would be available in 2015, accommodating university graduates and school leavers from a range of backgrounds across the UK, with each placement lasting up to a year. Some placements will also be at exhibition and international sales companies.

The new programme – complementing existing internships at individual companies – will be delivered by FDA, the Independent Cinema Office (ICO) and Film Export UK, with the funding and support of Creative Skillset.

At least one distributor placement each year will be underwritten by a new FDA fund. In honour of film industry champion, Lord Attenborough CBE, who passed away in August 2014, this will be named The FDA Richard Attenborough Scholarship.

In making the announcement, Puttnam noted: “More than ever, the film industry’s future prosperity depends on the extent to which its products connect with audiences in an increasingly digital, consumer-empowered, social democracy. And the key to that is professional distribution which continually adapts to complex market conditions and subtly shifting audience preferences. Consumption is typically driven by a desire for individual titles, suggesting that our distribution and marketing operations are already effective and accomplished.

“But another constant factor is that the backbone of any company, the principal asset, is the people who work in it. The more our business models churn in flux, the more intuitive it feels to grip on to factors that remain solid and steady. Capable people, who naturally want to advance, appreciate receiving meaningful assistance in doing so. They want to gain skills; to be better versed in negotiation techniques or the vocabulary of finance; to become more confident in how to go about building and sustaining a business; to be more versatile and more useful to their companies.

“To the extent that this new training programme yields even better staff, staff who feel more valued, then it justifies itself as an essential part of the relentless drive for business achievement. The opportunity to improve your skills keeps people fresh and motivated, and provided the training is well executed, it can only serve to increase productivity. To my mind, these virtuous circles, combined with the fact that efficiency drives are looming ever higher up corporate agendas, make an investment in training utterly incontestable.

“The entire film sector is characterised by relatively small companies, and distribution is no different. Specific in-house training is, inevitably, not available to all of them. So it makes perfect sense for FDA, as the trade body, to create and refine a programme that’s fit for purpose right across the sector – a framework for everyone to engage with, or at least use as a starting point.”

Creative Skillset CEO, Dinah Caine CBE, added: “This is a brilliant programme that completely delivers to our best practice guidance on structured internships and apprenticeships in the media industries. We’re delighted that Creative Skillset is supporting the industry with these paid work placements that for the first time operate across film distribution, sales and exhibition companies and will help deliver the next generation of talent.”

More information on the internship scheme can be found here.

Training for distributors

The FDA also announced the sector’s largest training programme, to launch in January in partnership with Creative Skillset. More than 100 places will be available acros six strands.

The programme includes:

1) A practical foundation course for distributors with up to 2 years’ experience, imparting a greater understanding of today’s UK film value chain.

2) A new intermediate course for people with 2-3 years’ experience, with generic workshops focused on specialised films which account for most releases by volume.

3) A new edition of a cross-sector course for managers with at least 3 years’ experience. It offers professional coaching and management skills development in areas such as delegation, negotiation, performance management and communication styles, and is presented in partnership with the ICO and others.

4) A brand new suite of seminars for managers with at least 5 years’ experience, indicating ‘how to develop leadership in yourself and others’. With an international as well as a UK focus, this course will support participants willing to assume new responsibilities.

5) A social media course for distributors wishing to refresh and refine their ‘best use’ strategies across a range of social media sites and apps.

6) A script reading course of one-day seminars offering a structured approach to evaluating the potential of screenplays and assessing future projects.

Also, FDA with Creative Skillset support, offers:

The following additional opportunities and funding are now available, via Creative Skillset, to film distribution companies and staff:

1) 50% contribution for distribution company staff to attend Funded Training courses listed on the Creative Skillet website

2) Management and leadership bursaries and international scholarships.

3) Diversity bursaries.

4) Development grants of up to £10,000 to fund short-term training needs for distribution company staff

Source: ScreenDaily

In a speech at a Film Distributors’ Association event yesterday, Lord Puttnam addressed “the very latest developments in Europe, which I believe present opportunities and challenges for us all.”

He said:

Only last week, the European Parliament ratified the incoming team of Commissioners, so the executive branch of European law-making is now in place until 2020.

As part of its on-going Digital Agenda for Europe, the new Commission’s in-tray includes the matter of copyright reform.

Facilitating the wider accessibility of a range of content is not only in the public interest, it’s essential for rights-holders and distributors too. Business models have already been adapted to harness an ever broader range of digital platforms.

Some films are, of course, released simultaneously across borders within the EU and beyond – there are no licensing obstacles which prevent this from happening. My concern is not with the principle, nor the ambition.

None of us can afford to be constrained by practices that are determined or defined solely by the status quo.

As I’ve observed before, UK film distributors would certainly wish for a little more flexibility over digital release windows in today’s converged media world. The typically uniform period of theatrical exclusivity is now being referred to openly, albeit to my mind rather too casually, as ‘the piracy window’.

But in any event, one size emphatically does not fit all titles. The current rigidity is self-defeating, serving only to shackle the growth prospects of the whole sector.

Regarding the new Commission, my concern is this – that any changes in European copyright policy are implemented with a real understanding of our film finance models, which tend to be quite different from those applied in, say, the US or China.

I don’t think I need to elaborate in front of this particular audience, but if you clumsily reduce the incentive to finance via distribution pre-sales across various release territories – not necessarily national silos; possibly wider groups of countries – then you may inadvertently have devastated filmmaking, and cultural diversity to boot, right across Europe.

So my plea to the Commission is to take note and tread carefully as it pushes forward with the digital single market. A truly nuanced approach to territoriality, allowing a myriad of individual release plans to flourish, is absolutely essential, and ultimately in audiences’ best interests.

Source: ScreenDaily

Lord Puttnam, speaking at a Film Distributors’ Association event in London yesterday, paid tribute to his late friend and colleague Richard Attenborough [pictured].

Puttnam said:

As this is the first time I’ve spoken in public since Richard Attenborough passed away a couple of months ago, on 24 August, I hope you’ll allow me to share a few reflections about a man who was an irreplaceable friend to all of us.

From the distance of just a couple of months, the warmth of the tributes paid to Richard, and the vast range of them, from so many different walks of life, continue to speak volumes about the impact of his extraordinary generosity on everyone of us in the industry.

That he was a brilliantly charming ‘force of nature’ who liked to get his own way is certainly true – but his own way was always about making the finest film possible, or giving a deserving cause every scrap of his uniquely energetic support. His way was the ‘high-way’!

From childhood, as you know, he cared deeply about contributing to the greater good of society. Often those causes were to be found here, within the film industry itself. Indeed, I’d argue that no single person ever contributed more to the sector they worked in than did Richard Attenborough for the British film industry.

Those glowing obituaries understandably focused on the epic movies he made, but were relatively light on his towering support for bodies such as BAFTA, RADA, Channel 4 and Denville Hall, the home where he actually died. Without his tireless support, it’s questionable that some of those organisations would exist today.

I had first-hand experience of that at Channel Four and BAFTA, as did my wife, Patsy, during her ten years as a Trustee at RADA.

But perhaps his most important contribution was in persuading the then Conservative government to make Film a ‘qualifying cause’ into which National Lottery Funds could be invested; Richard secured – at the most precarious time imaginable – the future of British film production, and with it the livelihoods of pretty well the entire generation now working in it. No small achievement!

Further afield, he was a founding member of the European Film Academy, which added to his trophy shelf in 1988 by honouring him with one of its very first Awards of Merit.

…

Richard was always a champion of nurturing skills, of encouraging talent, of expanding opportunity. You’ll recall he was an heroic goodwill ambassador for UNICEF; a first-class patron of Film Education; and an inspirational President of the National Film & Television School, of which FDA is a loyal sponsor.

In so many ways, Richard lifted us all on his shoulders. Practically everybody seemed to regard him as a mentor, and I can think of no finer measure of the man than that. I hope his colossal legacy will be celebrated fully at the memorial service to take place at Westminster Abbey in mid-March.

Source: ScreenDaily

What do you think is the definition of Cinema?

If someone asked you this question, a countless number of images would undoubtedly materialise themselves within your very head. Images that span entire generations would engulf you like a gigantic screen in a dark movie theatre; our favourite hero fighting a ferocious foe, two star crossed lovers vowing themselves to one another, a moustachioed man and his comedic antics, a thrilling adventure through space and time, and so much more that my mind simply cannot comprehend.

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House of Lords member David Puttnam visited Yangon on October 9 and 10 in his capacity as trade envoy for the United Kingdom. He is most well known to the public as the independent producer of numerous award-winning films, including Midnight Express (1978), Chariots of Fire (1981) and The Killing Fields (1984). The Myanmar Times spoke with Puttnam following his visit to the Yangon Film School (YFS), where he talked with the students about the ways in which he came up with ideas for his various film projects.

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The first Forum for Responsible Business in Cambodia was held yesterday, 14th October, in Phnom Penh. About 400 participants took part ranging from government leaders, top industry players and other important stakeholders.

It was organised by the ASEAN Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Network. The forum was supported by the British Embassy Phnom Penh, UK Trade & Investment and partnering with the British Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia.

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Oscar-winning British film-maker David Puttnam and his composer-pianist son Sacha Puttnam have a strong rapport that is apparent when one meets them.

The affable and chatty pair was in town last week to give a film and music talk at Lasalle College of the Arts, and also for Sacha, 48, to promote his new solo album, Puttnam Plays Puttnam.

It features new renditions of music from his 73-year-old father's iconic films such as Vangelis' Oscar-winning score for Chariots Of Fire (1981), Ennio Morricone's Gabriel's Theme from The Mission (1986) and Nessun Dorma from The Killing Fields (1984).

The idea for it "came from my mum", says Sacha, who is married with a nine-year-old daughter, Ava May. "She's always trying to get David and me to work together, so this was a chance for us. I'm really glad we did."

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