Friday 17th and Saturday 18th November 2006
Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Making Your Film a Reality: A Rough Guide
11.00 – 12.30 FRIDAY 17TH NOVEMBER
Film director NICOLAS WINDING REFN burst onto cinema screens in 1996 with Pusher, a feature debut bristling with electric intensity. Eight years later he completed the trilogy with Pusher 2: With Blood on my Hands and Pusher 3: I’m the Angel of Death. Here he talks frankly about the film business. The film The Gambler illustrating the ups and downs of getting his films made will also be screening at the festival
Gift of the Gab: How to Pitch Your Project
13.30 – 15.00 FRIDAY 17TH NOVEMBER
Entering the dragon’s den of film finance and development can be a daunting task. Here an esteemed panel give advice on how to successfully pitch a project.
SPEED MEETINGS
15:00 – 16:30 Friday 17th November
Sign up for a chance to woo a film industry professional for 5 minutes with your feature/short film project and receive expert advice in return. (Sign up will be offered on the morning of Friday 17th November at delegate registration).
Show Me The Money: New Low Budget Feature Film Funds
16:30 – 18:00 FRIDAY 17TH NOVEMBER
Several established schemes will present their new film funds and talk about what kind of projects they are looking to support. An opportunity to find out first hand what the future holds in low budget feature land.
London to Brighton: A Case Study
10:00 – 11:30 SATURDAY 18TH NOVEMBER
Winner of the New Director’s Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2006 and described in Screen International as a ‘compelling tale in which the influence of Ken Loach is marbled with the brutality of Get Carter’, London to Brighton heralds bright new talents in the shape of director Paul Andrew Williams and producer Rachel Robey. Northern Lights summit is delighted to welcome them to talk about their experiences of making the film
The Art of Co-Productions: Pitching your film to an international market
11:45 – 13:00 SATURDAY 18TH NOVEMBER
Film might be a common language but international co-producing can be worlds apart. This panel event attended by a variety of high profile international film professionals discusses some of the key issues and how to pick the right international co-producer to be involved in your project.
The Pick-up: How to get your film on screen
14:00 – 15:30 Saturday 18th November
With so many films vying for distributor’s attention what will make yours stand out? A panel of distributors talk about screen successes: how to win audiences, how to market ‘difficult’ films and how to capitalise on having a cult hit on your hands.
IN CONVERSATION WITH… JONI SIGHVATSSON
15:45 – 16:30 SATURDAY 18TH NOVEMBER
Northern Lights are delighted to welcome Joni Sighvatsson to the festival who will talk about his incredible career taking him on a journey from iceland to LA where he was a pioneer for award winning music videos and commercials. Along with Steve Golin they founded Propaganda Films in 1986 where they launched the careers of directors such as David Fincher, Michael Bay and Spike Jonze. In 1990 they won the coveted Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for “Wild At Heart” directed by David Lynch. In 1995 Sighvatsson became the founding president of Lakeshore Entertainment where he worked on numerous features including “The Mothman Prophecies” and “The Runaway Bride”.
Most recently Sighvatsson has overseen the critically successful “Zidane, a 21st Century Portrait” as well as the controversial “Destricted”.
THE BIG PITCH
16:45 – 18.15 Saturday 18th November
Prior to the summit a nationwide call for submissions for feature film pitch ideas was circulated (www.nlff.co.uk/pitch). The shortlisted candidates are brought to Newcastle to meet with mentors before pitching to an audience and panel of film professionals. The winner will receive £1,000 and the Northern Lights Film Festival Pitch Award.
To buy a delegate pass contact Ruth Plater at ruth@tynecine.org or telephone 0191 261 7674.