12 international artists from the UK, Italy, Netherlands, Israel, France, Portugal, Canada, Germany, Greece, USA, Sweden and Poland have been selected to participate in the second year of Feature Expanded, the first ever training programme examining the methodologies, tools and skills needed for filmmakers with a background in visual arts to develop and produce feature films for the international market.
The two-part course is presented by HOME and Lo Schermo dell’Arte Film Festival, Florence and will take place from 22 – 27 June here in Manchester and in Florence from 16 – 20 November.
The 2016 participants are:
Fabian Altenried (Germany)
Kasia Fudakowski (UK/Poland)
Chaja Hertog and Nir Nadler (Netherlands/Israel)
Marine Hugonnier (UK/France)
Cristina Picchi (UK/Italy)
Wojciech Puś (Poland)
Jennifer Rainsford (Sweden),
Margarida Rego (Portugal)
Simone Rowat (Canada/Germany)
Alexandre Singh (USA/UK/France)
Rosie Toner (UK)
Stefanos Tsivopoulos (Greece)
Feature Expanded combines masterclasses, case studies, workshops, screenings, one-to-one meetings and pitching sessions for visual artists who are developing their first feature film. With peer-led training from industry experts including pitching expert Sibylle Kurz, screenwriter and script consultant Marietta von Hausswolf von Baumgarten and producers Samm Haillay and Jacqui Davies, participants will gain essential new skills and the expertise needed to advance their early stage feature film projects for theatrical distribution and exhibition, before being introduced to potential collaborations with relevant festivals, markets and other partners.
The course culminates with the presentation of the Feature Expanded Distribution Award and, new for 2016, the Feature Expanded Development Award. A partnership with ALO-OHA, this award provides one participant and their film project with an intensive residency in Stockholm to work with experts on script development.
Also new for 2016, the UK National Lottery through Creative Scotland Targeted Screen Funding, have provided a Feature Expanded bursary and Glasgow-based artist filmmaker Rosie Toner has been selected as the first recipient.
Sarah Perks, Feature Expanded Programme Co-Director, commented: “I’m thrilled we have another amazing group of respected artists for Year 2 of Feature Expanded and have further expanded our partners to include Creative Scotland. We also have a stellar line up of experts from the film industry and we’re excited to get working on developing another 12 exciting artist film projects for the cinema.”
More information about this year’s participants can be found on the Feature Expanded site.