Following the film co-financing event MIFF 37ºSouth Market, three local producers have been awarded places at the Production Finance Market (PFM), held in London in October.
MIFF 37ºSouth Market is the exclusive Australia/NZ partner of the PFM, and the only three guaranteed local places are reserved for attending producers. The PFM runs in association with the BFI London Film Festival.
New Zealand producer Tom Hern won one of the coveted places, as well as a $2000 flight voucher towards his trip. Victorians Pip Campey and Jamie Houge also received places.
Selection was guided by the votes the international financiers and buyers at MIFF 37ºSouth Market.
The event, now its 10 year and the only Australian market of its kind held at a film festival, hosted 50 film financiers and buyers including film financiers/buyers including Amazon, Bankside, Catalyst, Double Dutch, eOne Australia, Embankment, Film Mode, Fulcrum, IM Global, Indie, Kaleidoscope, Lotus, Madman, Metro, Roadshow, Seville, Shoreline, Vendetta, and XYZ.
Meanwhile, some 28 publishers registered for 37ºSouth’s Books at MIFF, including Allen & Unwin, Hachette, Hardie Grant, Penguin Random House, Scribe and Text.
The companies met with a record 115 Australia/NZ producers including John Barnett (Whale Rider), Trevor Blainey (Cut Snake), Chris Brown (Railway Man), Robert Connolly (Paper Planes), Catherine Fitzgerald (The Orator), Veronica Fury (Electric Boogaloo), Tony Ginnane (Patrick), David Jowsey (Japser Jones), Liz Kearney (These Final Hours), Helen Leake (Wolf Creek 2), Marian Macgowan (Death Defying Acts), Kristian Moliere (The Babadook), and Leanne Tonkes (My Mistress).
Scheduled one-to-one meetings across the market’s strands (which include 37ºSouth: Bridging the Gap, 37ºSouth: PostScript&Direct, and 37ºSouth’s Books at MIFF) increased nearly 3 per cent to 2,506 from last year’s total of 2,428 and were almost more than ten times 2007’s tally.
Additionally, buyers viewed completed new Australian/NZ films seeking distribution and/or sales agents at the 37ºSouth: Breakthru Screenings, including MIFF Premiere Fund-supported films Ella, EMO the Musical and The Family.
The MIFF 37ºSouth: State of Play panel sessions also included a special address by Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason, an analysis of Roadshow’s distribution of 2015 title Oddball, a panel on Women In Film, and case studies on the financing of key MIFF Premiere Fund-supported films.