We proudly announce the selection for the ninth edition of TIES THAT BIND! 10 producers with feature films in development have been selected to participate together with 5 additional European professionals wanting to extend their knowledge and network towards Asia – please see the list below.
TIES THAT BIND Asia/Europe Co-Production Workshop has become the reference for developing European-Asian co-productions. To name just some of the most recent success stories from last year, Ties That Bind project A YELLOW BIRD by K. Rajagopal premiered in Semaine de la Critique Cannes 2016, DOG DAYS by Jordan Schiele had its premiere in Panorama section of the Berlinale 2016 and INTERCHANGE by Dain Iskandar Said was screened on Piazza Grande of Festival del Film Locarno 2016.
The first Ties That Bind workshop will take place in Udine (Italy) from April 25 – 29, 2017 within the framework of the Udine Far East Film Festival (April 21 – 29, 2017). The second Ties That Bind workshop will be organized in Singapore from November 27 – December 1, 2017 during the Southeast Asian Film Financing Forum (SAFF), an exciting new platform that brings together the best feature-length film concepts, together with the top filmmakers and producers from Southeast Asia and Europe, to meet with international coproducing partners, festival programmers, distributors, commissioners, and financiers.
Starting last year, TTB will partner with FOCUS ASIA, the Industry Section of the FEFF organising plenary sessions for more than 100 film professionals from Europe and Asia. The TTB participants will attend the sessions “Fixing a Broken Model: Global Distribution in the Digital Age” by Todd Brown (XYZ, US) and “Getting into the Mind of Investors” by Juliane Schulze (peacefulfish, DE).
Todd Brown will address the issue where the principal audience for each film is and what should be the ideal way to find a relevant sales model. Juliane Schulze will give insights how to deal with private investors and she will work together with the participants on improving their pitching skills to private investors.
Another session within Focus Asia programme will be a coproduction case study on MR. LONG, which premiered in Berlinale competition this year by producers Shozo Ichiyama (Office Kitano, JP) and Stephan Holl (Rapid Eye Movies, DE), himself a TTB participant this year.
Furthermore, Guillame de Seille (Arizona Productions, FR) will focus his session on independent distribution in Europe as a reality check between producers’ expectations and real numbers. The participants will also get an insight into Asian cinema in an interview conducted by Mathew Scott with Roger Garcia (Hong Kong International Film Festival, HK).
Sibylle Kurz (Pitching Consultant, DE) and Clare Downs (Script Consultant, UK) have been with TTB since its beginnings. Sibylle Kurz will be coaching the participants how to fine-tune their pitches and embrace pitching as a development tool. Clare Downs will introduce the main script development tools to strengthen the participants’ understanding of narrative principles, in order to enable them to assist their writers during the development process.
In addition to the plenary sessions, daily group work sessions will be the core of the workshop. The participants will be working in one group in which they will discuss and analyse each other’s projects under the guidance of 2 group leaders: Elise Jalladeau (Charivari Films, FR & Thessaloniki Int. Film Festival, GR) and Shanty Harmayn (Salto Film, ID).
Due to the launch of the first edition of the FOCUS ASIA Genre Project Market within the framework of the FEFF, the participants will meet key decision makers such as Meinolf Zurhorst (ZDF/ARTE, DE), Jongsuk Thomas Nam (Buchon International Fantastic Film Festival – BiFan, KR), Justin Deimen (Aurora Media Holdings, SG), Gin Kai Chan (Silver Media Group, SG), Vincenzo Bugno (World Cinema Fund, DE), Sten-Kristian Saluveer (Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, EE), Marco Müller (Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival, CN), Judy Ahn (Showbox, KR), Michelle Son (M-Line, KR), Shinji Sakoda (Pony Canyon, JP), Bruce D. Lee (Entermode, KR), Semira Hedayati (Elle Driver, FR), Leslie Semichon (Reel Suspects, FR), Nathan Fischer (Stray Dogs, FR), Martina Besier (M-Appeal), Katarzyna Siniarska (New Europe Film Sales, PL), Rickard Olsson (Picture Tree International, DE), Isotta Mc Call (RAI Cinema, IT), among others.
We are also delighted to announce that the line-up of the first edition of the FOCUS ASIA Genre Project Market shows natural ties to TIES THAT BIND: Trials of Chul, directed and produced by Danilo Bećković (Gargantua Films, SR) has been selected for both initiatives; Femme Fatale is produced by TTB expert Guillame de Seille (Arizona Productions, FR) and directed by TTB 2015 participant Kyoko Miyake (Brakeless, UK); Abracadabra is produced by TTB 2013 participant Isabelle Glachant (Chinese Shadows, CN); Tiong Bahru Social Club is directed and produced by TTB 2010 participant Bee Thiam Tan (13 Little Pictures, SG), and Vektor is produced by TTB 2012 participant Nandita Solomon (Apparat, MY).
The selected participants for TIES THAT BIND 2017 are:
- Tonee Acejo, Quiapost Productions, Philippines
Project: Never the Bright Lights, director: Dodo Dayao
- Danilo Bećković, Gargantua Films, Serbia
Project: Trials of Chul, director: Danilo Bećković
- Nadine Chaussonnière, Red Lion, France/Luxembourg
- Steve Chen, Anti-Archive, US/Cambodia
Project: Doi Boy, director: Nontawat Numbenchapol
- Stephan Holl, Rapid Eye Movies, Germany
- Valeria Jamonte, Tempesta, Italy
- Ying Liang, Chinese Shadows, China
Project: Ningdu, director: Lei Lei
- Diana Paroiu, Hi Film Productions, Romania
Project: Double Happiness, director: Sebastian Mihailescu
- Nicolas Piccato, Panda Media, France/South Korea
Project: Warm Blood, director: Yann Kerloc’h
- Ajay Rai, In Front Films, United Kingdom
Project: Yellow Poppy, director: David Tse
- Ivan Sanna, Culture Synapses, Italy
- Julia Terrey, Freelance Producer, Germany
- Ryohei Tsutsui, Trixta, Japan
Project: Synchronicity, director: Yusuke Kinoshita
- Sein Lyan Tun, PS Films, Myanmar
Project: Beyond Wishes, director: Sein Lyan Tun
- Céline Zen, KOI Films, China/France
Project: Bada, Director: Ji Un Choi
TIES THAT BIND is organised by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Audiovisual Fund, EAVE, Udine Far East Film Festival and Southeast Asian Audio-Visual Association (SAAVA), and supported by the Creative Europe – MEDIA sub-programme of the European Union, Silver Media Group and Aurora Media Holdings.
For more information please contact:
EAVE – Tanika Sajatovic, International Coordinator: tanika@eave.org
FVG Audiovisual Fund – Alessandro Gropplero, International Relations: alessandro@audiovisivofvg.it
