Participants announced for Second Creative Producer Indaba
Fifteen diverse producers from around the globe have been selected to participate in the second Creative Producer Indaba (CPI) which takes place from 7 November this year online for a week, at the Atlas Workshops (Marrakech International Film Festival) 14 – 17 November and at International Film Festival Rotterdam (25 January – 5 February 2023) in person.
Creative Producer Indaba is presented by Realness Institute, in partnership with EAVE, International Film Festival Rotterdam’s industry initiative IFFR Pro, and the Marrakech International Film Festival’s Atlas Workshops; with the support of IEFTA, Projeto Paradiso and The StoryBoard Collective. The Indaba aims to bring together a hive-mind of producers who are either in the process of developing a film project, or want to collaborate on an African film project, in order to develop their entrepreneurial and leadership expertise, foster their creative skills, and create long-lasting and significant networks.
Selected participants include African producers Marion Isaacs (South Africa), Matheus Mello (Brazil/Mozambique), Bramwel Iro (Kenya), Sawsan Yusuf (Egypt) and Zoe Ramushu (Zimbabwe/South Africa) who have active film projects in development and are looking for international producers and co-financiers. Their film projects include a heist suspense series, two feature documentary dramas, and two feature dramas.
Film professionals from Africa – Caroline Kganyago-Ralefeta, Lucia Meyer-Marais and Tracey-Lee Rainers (South Africa), Mia Bittar (Sudan) and Pedro Soulé (Cabo Verde) who have significant stakes in the African film marketplace, with an interest in the development of film projects and co-producing with Africa were selected.
Finally Bartholomeu Luiz (Brazil), Ellen Havenith (Netherlands), Flavia Zanon (Switzerland), Kesmat El Sayed (Egypt/Germany) and Temilola Adebayo (Nigeria /Canada) are all international producers looking to finance projects in Africa, with a view to collaborating on African projects. Luiz is attending through the partnership with Brazilian foundation, Projeto Paradiso.
“We are truly excited about this year’s strong cohort for the Creative Producer Indaba,” says Mehret Mandefro, Director of Development and Partnership, Realness Institute. “These producers represent a diverse range of voices and interests with solid or growing networks from Africa and beyond. Following our highly successful CPI last year we have seen how these intense programmes can provide opportunities for filmmakers to move forward with their ideas and projects.”
Kristina Trapp, CEO at EAVE says “We can no longer work in isolation, or in silos, the world has changed and collaboration is key. The CPI creates a solid and safe space for producers to find solution-driven strategies through sharing skills, ideas and networks. We believe the Indaba will also once again help to connect people in a significant and meaningful way.”
“Worldwide we see the success of these kinds of incubators, where professional development and knowledge-sharing has had a profound effect on producers, who often work tirelessly in isolation with few opportunities to benchmark their skills and share their insights,” says Inke Van Loocke, Head of IFFR Pro . “We look forward to seeing what sparks are ignited at the Indaba this year, and the impact this will have on the projects in development, and others.”
“We look forward to meeting this cohort at Atlas Workshops, as producers gather to hone their skills and share ideas,” says Thibaut Bracq, Head of Atlas Workshops (Marrakech IFF). “It is our vision to work side by side with a new generation of Moroccan, Arab and African filmmakers, and to create a space for exchange between international professionals and regional talents – and hosting the Creative Producer Indaba participants will certainly help achieve these goals.”
The programme is packed with workshops, discussions, case studies, and one-on-one meetings with mentorship focussed on the development of projects that will take them through the whole scope of skills needed to get a film into production and reach audiences. Group Leaders, Mehret Mandefro and Diana Elbaum, and Story Expert, Mmabatho Kau, will be mentoring these producers, with a host of film industry experts in support.
Elias Ribeiro, Head of Studies and Executive Director of the Realness Institute says “We have a brilliant line-up of experts this year who will be meeting the producers including Femi Odugbemi, Katriel Schory and Dayo Ogunyemi, and IFFR Festival Director Vanja Kaludjercic adding their superb skills, insights and guidance during this time.”
The Creative Producer Indaba is made possible through the support of Documentary Africa, International Emerging Film Talent Association (IEFTA), Institut Français d’Afrique du Sud, the Brazilian foundation Projeto Paradiso,and The Storyboard Collective in partnership with European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE), International Film Festival Rotterdam and Marrakech International Film Festival (Atlas Workshops).
For more information go to: www.realness.institute/creative-producer-indaba
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About the Realness Institute
Our mission is to unearth the wealth of African stories – stories from the continent told with an honest and unapologetic point of view by African filmmakers.
Our first programme, the Realness African Screenwriters’ Residency, which started in 2015, has gone on to launch 40 film projects across 20 African countries over 7 editions. The critical success of brave films such as The Wound, Difret and This is Not a Burial It’s a Resurrection are a testament to the artistic and creative contribution that African filmmakers can make to the industry.
In 2019, we launched our second programme, Creative Producer Indaba. This ambitious initiative was designed, in collaboration with international partners, to catalyse Producers across the continent, and in doing so help transform the landscape of African and international independent cinema by training them to become ecosystem builders.
In June 2020, we launched our third and fourth programmes, Episodic Lab and Development Executive Traineeship (DET). Episodic Lab focuses on developing pitch documents with selected writers for series content of all genres. Six writers spend three months in an online ‘writers room’ with a script consultant and a creative producer to fully develop their story concepts into an episodic pitch. Along with creative training, writers receive feedback from Netflix’s series development team and at the end of the lab, the writers have the opportunity to pitch to Netflix to have their series commissioned for production.
The Development Executive Traineeship is aimed at film professionals interested in receiving training to become story consultants or to gain insight into the story development process. These participants will work with writers and directors in the development of their stories with the aim of increasing the quality of work produced. The program follows the schedule and structure of Episodic Lab and with the six selected professionals accompanying each of the EPL writers as they develop their stories.
Our fifth programme, the inaugural Southern Africa-Locarno Industry Academy, in partnership with Locarno International Film Festival, took place in September 2021. This Industry Academy is dedicated to the development of, 10 to 12, young film professionals working in sales, traditional and online distribution, theatrical exhibition and programming for festivals, film clubs and archives. The aim is to enhance participants’ understanding of the challenges facing the film industry, at the same time allowing them to expand their personal network of contacts and develop their professional skill set.
Our sixth program, AuthenticA Series Lab, is aimed at developing authentic African stories told by Africans from anywhere on the continent. Four screenwriters will be afforded the unique opportunity to develop their original stories, of all genres, in episodic form, while receiving a monthly stipend. At the end of the programme each participant will deliver a pitch deck and bible of international standards, including a pilot script, and pitch their projects at the 2023 edition of Series Mania.
