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Filmmaking in Europe


Austin Warren

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I'm curious to know more about the state of the film industry in Europe vs America, particularly as it applies to independent writer/directors and DPs, from anyone who has experience working there or who lives there. I know that many arthouse films in Europe are produced through grants and/or state funding. What are the pros and cons of this system, vs the typical American system in which a director funds an indie through a well connected producer who knows A list talent or through various private investors? Is one system more prohibitive or better than the other? Who typically has access to these grants and state funding? Furthermore, what are the pros and cons of the job market for DPs in Europe vs America?

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Hi Austin.

Well I'm from Europe, more specifically Slovenia.

I won't say that I've got a lot of experience but I do have some experience.

For the most part it's a mix of the American system where you find a producer who somehow get's you some A list talent and then some funding and you're good to go.

But then you also have stuff like we have here, that's a local streaming service of a tv network which is much easier to pitch them a project and if they take it, you get funding and you're free to do your project. We're actually working on two TV shows that are most lightly getting funded by them and we're working on a feature film.
But they usually want to see a proof of concept pilot or something along these lines with regards to a TV show, which can be a problem since you need to produce something initially by yourself.
If they go for it you usually get a fixed amount of money and it's not a lot. But they do all the distribution all you have to do is deliver your project.

The there's our national film fund, which is intended for independent filmmakers, where you have to submit your proposal for a film and if your film gets picked as one of the projects that they decide to fund, you get a grant and help with producing and distributing your project.
But from what I've heard you almost have to be related to someone on the panel who chooses the project to get a project trough or again have some well known talent and an established producer working with you.
I've never put much hope in getting my project picked by the national film fund since I'm the new guy and am not experienced enough and don't have a formal film school education, etc., etc. the usual BS. Like I said you need connections for this and if you're a nobody, you het nowhere. 

Then we have European film grants for co-productio. Which I'm actually looking into right now for a comedy I'm trying to produce. 
These film grants are supposed to be much easier than the previously mentioned national grant because if you've got a good project they're willing to co-fund your project.
Honestly I don't have much experience with these but I'm hoping that I'll be able to fund my film this way. 

There's also our national TV network which also does production of narrative projects and honestly working with them would be one of the best things, since they've got everything you might need. From access to talent, locations, equipment and even good and experienced producers. But last few years they've been somewhat closed for cooperation with outsiders and focused more on their own stuff.
So I honestly wound't put much hope into that, unless again you knew someone who made the decisions personally and they did you a huge favore.

Also something that I've done in the past is tried to get sponsors for projects which has worked out great and I'm considering doing the same thing for the comedy feature that I'm planing to produce. 
In fact we did a proof of concept TV show pilot the same way, where we got a bunch of sponsors to help us with the projects. But it usually isn't in form of financing but rather access to locations, which we got to use for free and in form of food and drinks that we had during production. 
For the feature comedy that I'm planning, I'm going to try and get some sponsors who will in return also receive commercials for their products that they we will be asking them to donate along with some funding. I'm hoping this will be enough for part of the required budget. 

Hope this helps and if there's something I can clarify, just let me know.

In fact I'm also interested if anyone else has any other experience with this here in Europe. 

By the way why are you asking?

Honestly up till now I've had more luck talking with US based producers about doing projects, than anyone here. Except for the local streaming service that are for now really content hungry. 

Regards

Vital

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Thanks for the response, Vital. I'm mainly interested in the topic because I watch a lot of European films and am interested in making films and working on films that have more of an "arthouse" label to them -- essentially the kind of cinema that Europe is associated with because that's the kind that makes its way to American audiences.  I guess the impression, from my American eyes at least, is that "arthouse" movies that couldn't usually be made in America are made more easily in Europe -- whether that's due to the fact that the national film fund doesn't require that a film makes a profit, or because this type of film is more favored by European audiences, is something I'd be interested in knowing if you can answer it.

Do you happen to know what any of the requirements are for European co-production? I know very basically that usually a certain number of crew members from whatever partner countries are involved have to be hired for the project.

And I assume that for the national film funds, these are only open to residents (or citizens) of the specific countries? There are a lot of random grants and workshops through places like Sundance for films here, but they're probably as impenetrable as those in Europe.

Also, I know you said you didn't get a formal film education, but do you know to what extent film schools in Europe actually help students join the industry? There are countless film schools here, none provide any kind of placement for students post graduation, and even with the best, you have to pay an enormous amount of money for something that isn't guaranteed, although you might have a better network afterward.

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Well as far as requirements go I think they're different and don't necessarily need to turn a profit. I think the requirements are more along the lines as you said like having productions represented by different countries or having the film have special cultural importance for the country. Or something like having a lot of women on your crew. Which in my case is not a problem since my DP, editor and colorist is my wife. Then my co writer is also a woman and my wife's sister is one of our producers and production designer. So we're well covered. 

This is what I'm hoping to get my film funded this way and sponsor funds or maybe get funded by the streaming service, but the film has to be commercially viable. 

As far as education goes I think it only has any impact on the project unless with our national fund. But the thing that pisses me of is that most of the people I see who are involved with projects don't have a formal education in film and I think they only use it more or less as an excuse to turn people down who are not from their own little club.

Other than that I think education plays a very small role and even worse is that when we work with people on different projects, I find it very frustrating the low level of education of people. I would expect people that have been working in the industry to have more knowledge and what's even more frustrating is the lack of width of knowledge. People seem to be very focused on their job and not much else, even people who you'd expect to be able to do that and at the same time not very enlightened and knowledgeable in their own field. Of course this doesn't apply to everyone, but rather to a very large segment of people which is worrisome. At least to me. 

I'll send you and article that I wrote a few months ago in a privet message.

Anyway I hope I've helped some and I can hopefully tell you a little more in a few weeks time. 

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