LONDON FILM SCHOOL AND EXETER UNIVERSITY PREPARE BERLIN SESSIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL FILM BUSINESS MA IN 2014
EUROPEAN APPLICATIONS INVITED
LFS/DFFB present third edition of pan-European workshop ‘Making Waves’ during Berlinale 2014
The London Film School announced in Berlin today that it is preparing a week of Berlin sessions for its first intake of a new Masters programme, MA International Film Business, starting in Exeter and London in September 2015. LFS director Ben Gibson, Exeter programme director Dr. Will Higbee and Angus Finney, LFS course director, are in Berlin talking to partners for next year.
“Berlin is natural home for a course which aims to bring together the fast-changing culture and business of independent film”, said Gibson. “We’re building on the wonderful achievements of the Berlinale, the Talents programme and our growing relationship with Jan Schuette and Berlin’s DFFB school. We are already running Making Waves, a unique programme putting graduates from six schools through their paces in distribution. This year we partnered with DFFB on Serial Eyes, a programme for professional writings wanting to work in new ways on long form television. The students from the new MA will form relationships with companies in the market and have daily classes here next year”.
“In addition to the global reach of the course, we’re putting a strong emphasis on recruiting European participants who want to look at changing markets in world filmmaking. We have good interest from Asia – but it’s still too rare that UK professionals build networks with emerging talent in Europe. The MA aims to attack that imbalance” says programme director Dr. Will Higbee
LFS, which is currently the most active school in Europe for MEDIA-supported programmes combining students from EU graduate film schools with 7 projects annually, is already heavily invested in running teaching programmes in the Berlinale, with Making Waves in its third year and Gibson presenting sessions every year in the Talents programme.
Angus Finney is former director of Renaissance Films, project manager of the Film London Production Finance Market, and author of The International Film Business: A Market Guide Beyond Hollywood, and a further four books on production, distribution and financing.
The MA International Film Business will equip students with a complete grounding in distribution history and structures, the entertainment value chain and international film markets. In addition, business tools for a career in film distribution, sales and production will be delivered by the Exeter Business School, with personal mentors and a final project in production or distribution built around LFS graduation work and independent film companies in London. The producer Scott Meek will chair an Advisory Panel for Production studies at the London Film School. Other members of the panel are Camilla Bray, David Garrett, Hilary Davis, Keith Northrop, Lee Magiday, Louisa Dent, Mike Goodridge, Peter Watson, Stephen Woolley, Steve Jenkins, Sue Bruce-Smith and Terry Illot.
"This is a new kind of degree which also works for distributors, programmers, producers, sales agents and business affairs executives" said Ben Gibson, "It starts from the realisation that the distributor’s, agent’s and curator’s job – like the producer's -- is as much about markets and business as it is about material and talent."
"The LFS and Exeter are offering a compelling, focussed and highly relevant course for future practitioners dedicated to a career in the independent film business," said Angus Finney. "Our ambition is to consistently populate the sector with some of the brightest and most informed players who grasp both current market demands and capture future value."
"The Masters programme aims to combine teaching expertise from world-class researchers in film and business studies at the University of Exeter, with the LFS's detailed knowledge of, and direct relationship to, the industry,” said Will Higbee. “Our students will benefit from a series of historical, theoretical and practical perspectives that will equip them with the right skills to succeed as the next generation of independent producers. We are proud and excited to be collaborating with the LFS on such a genuinely innovative programme."
More information on the programme at http://lfs.org.uk/full-time-study/ma-international-film-business
Further information;
Tel 07788 432 852 or 02 7836 9642