Last week, the call for entries opened for the European co-production forum Euro Connection 2019, which is organized by the Clermont-Ferrand Market and for which we have been the Spanish coordinators through Madrid en corto.
It takes place on February 5 and 6, and the national submission deadline is October 20.
It is increasingly important to start promoting your film when it is still just a project. Development and co-production forums are essential for financing and producing any audiovisual work.
But not only that, it is also important creatively; all the feedback you receive from professionals who will study your project can only improve it.
As soon as you have written a script, whether for a feature film or a short film, go out and share it; do not keep it in a drawer waiting for an opportunity that never comes.
For the development process, do not limit yourself to national forums; also look for international forums and, as far as possible, co-producers who can make the project viable.
Along these lines, Euro Connection values projects open to international co-production, so keep this in mind if you are considering applying.
Euro Connection Requirements
To apply to Euro Connection, you must also have funding from a source other than the producer, as is the case with many other development forums.
The advantage of Euro Connection is that there is no limit on the amount, which can be of any type, from project awards, regional or local grants, crowdfunding, and subsidies. Therefore, it should not be difficult for a short film project in development to meet this requirement.
Keep in mind that having this external source is a way to guarantee that we are dealing with a producer actively seeking funding, which is highly valued.
In addition to being open to co-production, the project cannot exceed 40 minutes, can be animation, fiction, or documentary, and its shooting must not be prior to May 2019. Keep in mind that if shooting begins earlier, or is already underway, it is not possible for a future co-producer to seek funding for the project, and therefore, participation does not make much sense.
One of the most common questions I receive is about having the information and form in Spanish. Keep in mind that we are talking about an international co-production forum, where English should not be a problem. But do not worry, you do not need a high level of English.
Furthermore, although in an initial phase the project can be in Spanish (as it is evaluated by a national jury), to submit it for the second evaluation phase, everything must be translated.
The Selection Process
The Euro Connection selection process has two phases. The first is at a national level, where a Spanish project is chosen to enter a second phase at a European level with all participating countries, which now number 28. This year, Iceland and Slovakia have joined.
These 28 projects (which can be more, as if more than ten projects are submitted in a country, two can be registered for the second phase) are evaluated by another jury, which selects the 13 finalists. As you can see, being selected would mean that your project has passed two professional juries; this process guarantees that the 13 chosen projects are truly of high quality.
There are several exceptions: the project chosen by the Baltic Countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) automatically becomes part of the forum, as does the project from Denmark, which is selected at the Pitch Me Baby organized by the Odense International Film Festival.
If your project is selected only at a national level, the Clermont-Ferrand Market invites you to attend as a producer, covering up to two nights of hotel accommodation, and you can attend all activities. It is very worthwhile.
From Spain, we have been collaborating with Euro Connection for four years. The projects selected by our jury have been Palabras de caramelo, by Jose Antonio Moreno, The neverending wall, by Silvia Carpizo de Diego, Mouras, by Olga Osorio, and Un cuento de buenas noches, by Jose Luis Montesinos.
The result has been very good, as two of them, Palabras de caramelo and Mouras, were chosen to be part of Euro Connection. In the cases of The neverending wall and Un cuento de buenas noches, their respective producers, Chelo Loureiro and Arturo Méndiz, were invited to all activities.
In Summary
If you currently have a project with these characteristics:
- Animated, fiction, or documentary short film up to 40 minutes
- With a portion of the funding from an external source to the producer
- Seeking European co-producers
- Not to be filmed before May 2019
you can apply to Euro Connection before October 20 through a form that we have enabled on the Madrid en corto website.
If you have any questions, you can write to me directly at ismael@madridencorto.es.