3rd Symposium 2007

GO EAST on the Crossroad of International Coproductions

Facilitating Creative and Strategic Partnerships with the East

For our 3rd international symposium in Romania, we invited compelling storytellers and commissioning editors who push the boundaries of TV. We discussed unusual and controversial broadcast decisions, uncovered trends and looked together for new ways to reach the public.

In exciting panel discussions and presentations, we turned the spotlight on:

· Eastern Europe to give the participants of our symposium the chance to learn all about the profiles of East European broadcasters, and to provide producers from those countries with the possibility to ask unsolved and open questions

· the US market by inviting the Director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program, and renowned distribution experts who promote the exchange of compelling documentary films between the US and other nations

· the Discovery Channel, its structure, slots and programming requirements in the different European territories, with special mention of German free TV channel DMAX and its commissions

· international coproductions: from the producer’s point of view (“Finding Good Content for a Worldwide Market”), the distributor’s perspective (“Having a Good Idea Is Not Enough”), the commissioning editor’s perspective (“Commissions We Love!”) up to the programmer’s decision-making (“Scheduling in a Digital Age”).

· Furthermore, special case studies focused on feature-length documentaries: we screened and discussed three compelling, recently finished documentaries as perfect examples of complex international coproductions and asked the filmmakers and commissioning editors involved about their experiences with long-form documentaries in the current cable and broadcast landscape.

Our sessions shed light on what a documentary filmmaker should know about scheduling, branding and distribution. During these sessions, the audience learned how television schedules are structured and how this determines the programmes that are commissioned, coproduced, pre-bought or acquired. Questions as to why some programmes get the great time slot and heavy promotion, while other deserving programs do not, or why some projects are rejected and what’s the reason behind it, were also discussed.

Concept:
- Christoph Jörg, Head of Thematic Sessions, Discovery Campus

Moderation:
- Rudy Buttignol, Knowledge Network, Burnaby, Canada
- Christoph Jörg, Head of Thematic Sessions, Discovery Campus

topDates & Programme

register Fri, 14 Sep 2007 - Sun, 16 Sep 2007

topLocation

West University of Timisoara
“Aula Magna“
Blvd. V. Parvan 4
Timisoara, Romania
www.uvt.ro

MAP OF TIMISOARA

topExperts

  • Richard Bradley Managing Director & Vice President of Content, Lion TV, London, UK
  • Michael Burns Director of Programming, Corus Entertainment Inc. - The Documentary Channel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • Rudy Buttignol President & CEO, Knowledge Network Corporation, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
  • Pepe Danquart Author / Director, Quintefilm, Freiburg, Germany
  • Margje de Koning Commissioning Editor & Head of IKON TV Department, IKON, Hilversum, The Netherlands
  • László Demeter Director of Programme Acquisition, Duna Television, Budapest, Hungary
  • Jerzy Dziegielewski Manager of Program Research & Development in Central Europe, HBO Central Europe, Warsaw, Poland
  • Hans Robert Eisenhauer Head of Thema, ZDF/ARTE, Mainz, Germany
  • Mag. Franz Grabner Head of Documentaries for Arts & Culture, ORF, Vienna, Austria
  • Olaf Grunert Director Development and Events, ARTE G.E.I.E., Strasbourg, France
  • Florin Iepan Director / Producer, Sub-Cult-Ura, Timisoara, Romania
  • Bert Janssens Head of Programmes & General Manager, HUMAN, Hilversum, The Netherlands
  • Christoph Jörg Producer, Pumpernickel Films, Paris, France
  • Nino Kirtadzé Director, , Paris, France
  • Tom Koch Vice President, PBS Distribution, PBS International, Boston, USA
  • Cara Mertes Director, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, Sundance Institute, Beverly Hills, USA
  • Ivana Milosevic Head of Studies, Institute of Documentary Film, Prague, Czech Republic
  • Hamish Mykura Head of History, Science & Religion, Channel 4, London, United Kingdom
  • Claudia Nedelcu Commissioning Editor, TVR, Bucharest, Romania
  • Gheorghe Preda Commissioning Editor & Artistic Director, Realitatea TV, Bucharest, Romania
  • Marc Rasmus Vice President Dokutainment & Reality German Free TV, ProSiebenSat1. Media AG, Unterföhring, Germany
  • Louise Rosen Managing Director, Louise Rosen Ltd., Brunswick, Maine, USA
  • Neil Sieling Acquisitions, New Media, and Special Projects, Link Media, New York, USA
  • Lisa Weinbrenn Head of Development & Production, EMEA, Discovery Networks Europe, London, UK
  • Marian Williams Vice President of Programming for EMEA, Discovery Networks Europe, London, United Kingdom
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