In addition to screening films, the ttff seeks to facilitate the growth of the Caribbean film industry by hosting workshops, panel discussions, seminars and networking opportunities. Here is a list of industry initiatives taking place at the ttff/14.
FRIDAY 19 SEPTEMBER
Hyatt Regency Trinidad
9.00am–12noon
Distribution for Film and Television
Sponsored and presented by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company
This workshop on distribution will be especially focused on film and television outlets. Lorène Gaudet, founder and president of Cap Programmes, will lead the workshop. She will review French-language markets and platforms suitable for Trinidad and Tobago film and television content, and discuss the kinds of programmes suitable for different channels and platforms, the range of fees available, and the possibility for co-productions, among other topics.
Facilitator
Lorène Gaudet has 30 years’ experience in the global television industry. Her company, Cap Programmes, advises media corporations on production, acquisition and distribution of television shows. She was formerly Editorial Director of Canal+ France.
$300.00 per session. Pre-registration required. Call the TTFC office at 625.3456 to register.
Drink Lounge & Bistro
5.00pm–6.00pm
FILMMAKERS’ PANEL 1
Every year, the Festival provides a public platform for local and visiting filmmakers to discuss their craft, from the creative idea to production to the business of financing, marketing and, ultimately, distribution of films. The Filmmakers’ Panels provide an opportunity for local, regional and international filmmakers to come together to discuss the shared experience of making films within an independent industry context.
Free and open to the public.
SATURDAY 20 SEPTEMBER
Hyatt Regency Trinidad
9.00am–12noon
Directing Workshop
Sponsored and presented by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company
In this workshop, Jérôme Guiot—director of the opening night film Pan! Our Music Odyssey—will cover the technical basics of filmmaking, the international production process, the main tasks of the director, and the importance of a good team in making a good film. He will also talk about his experience on various projects, including Pan! Our Music Odyssey.
Facilitator
Born in Belgium, Director Jérôme Guiot studied editing and directing at the National Institute of Radio Engineering and Cinematography (INRACI). He has directed several music videos for the Belgian pop artist Stromae, including “Alors on danse”, “Allez vous faire” and “Tous les mêmes”. He also directed the short film Retour simple (2009), and has directed web documentaries and commercials.
$300.00 per session. Pre-registration required. Call the TTFC office at 625.3456 to register.
9.00am–12noon
Film appreciation workshop
It takes a variety of talents and interests to foster a healthy and thriving film industry. This workshop targets film enthusiasts—people who may not be interested in making films, but are fascinated by questions of cinema, and image-making and meaning in general. The workshop will encourage a culture of appreciating film by equipping participants to think and talk about themes, motifs, styles, psychological and historical references, and more.
Facilitator
Kaleem Aftab is the author of Spike Lee’s authorised biography, Spike Lee: That’s My Story and I’m Sticking To It. He is a film writer for the Independent and National newspapers and Filmmaker magazine; Film Editor of VS magazine; Contributing Editor of Interview magazine; and Editor-at-Large of www.thetalks.com.
Free and open to the public. Pre-registration recommended. Call the ttff office at 621.0709 to register.
1.00pm–4.00pm
Producing workshop
Sponsored and presented by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company
This workshop will be led by Barthélémy Fougea, producer of Pan! Our Music Odyssey. Some of the topics he will cover include the job of the producer, the different kinds of documentary films, budgeting and distribution.
Facilitator
Barthélémy Fougea is a French documentary film producer with over 25 years’ experience. He has produced some 30 documentaries for cinema and television, which have screened and been broadcast all over the world. He is the producer of On the Way to School, which received the César, the French equivalent of the Oscar, for best documentary in 2014.
$300.00 per session. Pre-registration required. Call the TTFC office at 625.3456 to register.
4.00pm–5.00pm
The National Registry of Artists and Cultural Workers: Let’s talk taxes
Hosted by the Ministry of the Arts and Multiculturalism, this workshop will address certification of film and how this can benefit business owners within the film community. The focus will be film production companies and clarifying how claims can be made for their own productions by accessing the Art and Culture Allowance of the Corporation Tax Act. Be sure to attend this session for information on how your registry certificate can work for you.
Free and open to the public.
SATURDAY 20 + SUNDAY 21 SEPTEMBER
University of the West Indies, Film Programme building
10.00am–4.00pm
Documentary masterclass
The documentary masterclass will address topics such as how to develop a documentary treatment, the differences between creative, traditional and reportage documentaries and deciding what form the project should take, how documentary sales differ from narrative film distribution, the subjective nature of the documentary form, using archive footage, research and scripting.
Facilitator
Filmmaker Stevan Riley studied modern history at Oxford University, which was also the setting for his first documentary feature, Blue Blood (2006), on the Varsity boxing rivalry. Fire in Babylon (ttff/11), about the all-conquering West Indies cricket team of the 1970s and 80s, collected a prestigious Grierson award, among others. Stevan then directed Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007 (2012; ttff/14), to mark the 50th anniversary of the James Bond film franchise. He is currently helming a film on Marlon Brando for NBC Universal and Showtime.
Prerequisite: Participants must have made at least one short or feature-length documentary. Pre-registration required. Call the ttff office at 621.0709 to register. $300 for both days; includes lunch.
University of Trinidad and Tobago, APA building
10.00am–4.00pm
Acting workshop
In this workshop, actors will gain a strong understanding of how valuable a tool writing can be when looking to reveal a character’s truth with clarity and conviction, and directors will have an opportunity to work with their talent to collaboratively tell a story. Participants will have their work heard, developed and brought to life in a safe, collaborative environment, and will gain a better grasp on how to communicate in order to work effectively.
Facilitator
Kirk Baltz has been a working actor in film, theatre and television for 25 years and has worked with such noted directors as Warren Beatty, Oliver Stone, John Woo, Kevin Costner and Quentin Tarantino.
Prerequisite: Participants must have made or acted in at least one short or feature-length film. Pre-registration required. Call the ttff office at 621.0709 to register. $600 for both days; includes lunch.
MONDAY 22 SEPTEMBER
Hyatt Regency Trinidad
9.30am–1.00pm
EAVE script session
Clare Downs (Script Consultant, UK) will introduce the main script development tools to strengthen the participants’ understanding of narrative principles, in order to enable them to assist their writers in the process from the “white-hot first draft” to the final version of the script. In the workshop, principles of the script analysis will also be applied through the study of a selected film.
Free and open to the public. Pre-registration recommended. Call the ttff office at 621.0709 to register.
TUESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER
University of the West Indies, Film Programme building
6.00pm
Raoul Peck’s cinema from below
As an internationally renowned filmmaker of Haitian origin, Raoul Peck has spoken about how his consciousness of being from the “third world” while coming of age in a largely first world environment gave him insight into the nature of power. It was during his formative years that he made the decision to align himself with those who are disenfranchised by historical and contemporary systems of power in various “third world” contexts, including the Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Haiti.
Presenter
Toni Pressley-Sanon is a graduate of Hamilton College (BA), The New School for Social Research (MA) and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she earned her MA and PhD in African Languages and Literature with a minor in Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies. She has conducted extensive research in Benin Republic, West Africa and Haiti. Her work focuses on memory, history and cultural production in Africa and its diaspora.
Free and open to the public.
FRIDAY 26 SEPTEMBER
Hyatt Regency Trinidad
Pre-registration required. Call the ttff at 621.0709 to register.
Prerequisite: Participants must have made at least one short or feature-length film.
9.00am–10.30am
How the global film industry works
This presentation will address the evolution of film festivals, the diversification of the market, the role of sales agents, the variety of distribution models, crowdfunding, new patterns of content consumption and emerging opportunities in digital distribution.
Facilitator
Lucius Barre focuses his expertise on strategic planning and management of promotional campaigns for new films, filmmakers and companies. He was the first crossover international publicist for Pedro Almódovar (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown), Shinji Aoyama (Eureka), Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne (La Promesse), Atom Egoyan (Exotica), Zacharias Kunuk (Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run). In recent years, he has served on the organising teams of the Locarno and Rotterdam film festivals, and has represented films from 19 countries at key festivals and markets and promotional screenings in New York.
10.45am–12.15pm
EAVE pitch training
This presentation will address the tools of script development and pitching, presented by EAVE (European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs), the continent’s leading training, development and networking organisation for producers. Founded in 1988, their objectives are to provide professional training opportunities and to bring producers from different regions of the world together with the aim of facilitating co-production relationships. EAVE’s unique international network comprises over 1,300 producers and key decision makers (funders, sales agents, distributors and commissioning editors).
Facilitators
Diana Elbaum has produced a wide range of award-winning films since becoming a producer in 1989. Her films span all genres and cultures and have received worldwide critical acclaim. In 2009 she received the Eurimages Award, a prize given to producers playing an active role in European co-productions.
Clare Downs has been a member of the EAVE script analysis team since 1989. She is a script consultant and scriptwriter, and visiting lecturer at the National Film and Television School (UK) and the MA Screenwriting Department at De Montfort University.
Tobias Pausinger is co-founder of ART:FILM, an initiative designed to enhance and nurture artistic cinema and visual arts. He is also the co-founder of ChakaPro, a B2B social network and cloud office for international film production and co-financing.
1.15pm–2.45pm
World Cinema Fund
The World Cinema Fund (WCF) is an initiative of the Berlin International Film Festival, the German Federal Cultural Foundation, and the Goethe Institute. The WCF supports films that could not be made without additional funding: films that stand out with an unconventional aesthetic approach, that tell powerful stories and transmit an authentic image of their cultural roots. This presentation will give an overview of the WCF as well as address co-productions, and how they have impacted the global filmmaking landscape.
Facilitator
Marjorie Bendeck Regalado is a consultant for the Creative Europe Film Development Fund (European Union) and on the Project Evaluation Committee for the World Cinema Fund. She worked on the Selection Committee and as the Participants Coordinator for the Berlinale Talent Campus (Berlin International Film Festival) from 2003 to 2012. Marjorie is also a film producer and attended a graduate course in film production at the International Film and Television School of San Antonio de los Baños (EICTV), Cuba.
3.00pm–4.30pm
Group speed dating
Lucius Barre, International Publicist
Sydney Levine, Indiewire
John Lee, Tribeca Film Institute
Marjorie Bendeck Regalado, World
Cinema Fund
Paula Madison, Television Executive / Journalist
Drink Lounge & Bistro
5.00pm–6.00pm
Filmmakers’ Panel 2
Free and open to the public.
SATURDAY 27 SEPTEMBER
Hyatt Regency Trinidad
Free and open to the public. Registration recommended.
Call the ttff office at 621.0709 to register.
9.00am–10.00am
ACP Cultures + Projects: Caribbean Film Mart + Regional Film Database
The Caribbean Film Mart + Regional Film Database will be launched in 2015 and are intended to strengthen the production and distribution of Caribbean films through two main actions: the implementation of a film market through the framework of the annual ttff, and the development of an online database of regional films and filmmakers. This presentation will give an overview of the projects and provide filmmakers with information on how to apply for the Caribbean Film Mart.
Facilitators: ttff Creative Director, Emilie Upczak / Art Director, Melanie Archer / External Relations Director, Nneka Luke
10.15am–11.15am
Tribeca Film Institute
To cultivate exceptional and under-the-radar talent, Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) has established a strong presence in film festivals and industry markets throughout Latin America, hosting workshops in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile. The TFI champions storytellers to be catalysts for change in their communities and around the world. Through over US$2.2 million in annual grants and professional development programmes, TFI supports a diverse, exceptional group of filmmakers and media artists, providing them with resources to fully realise their stories and connect with audiences.
Facilitator
John Lee, Manager, Feature Programming at TFI, is a graduate of New York Institute of Technology with a BA in Communication Arts. John manages TFI programmes, Tribeca All Access® and Sloan Filmmaker Fund, among other things. He has held positions at Paramount Pictures in distribution, Rogers & Cowan in publicity, and Nickelodeon in marketing. Prior to joining TFI, he worked in the film festival world with seasonal positions at Sundance Film Festival, Independent Filmmaker Project, Hamptons Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival.
11.30am–12.30pm
Film collectives
Filmmaker Keith Miller, a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers’ Collective, will discuss participating in an association of filmmakers and the various forms this might take. Topics will include forming a collective, keeping it together, workshopping scripts, rough cuts and fine cuts, as well as how best to think about outreach and sharing information and production resources.
Facilitator
Keith Miller is a filmmaker and painter who made his first short film in 2004. His first feature was Welcome to Pine Hill (2012; ttff/13). Five Star (2014), his most recent film, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and is a ttff/14 selection.
1.30pm–4.00pm
Web series, music videos and short-form content
This presentation will explore creative approaches to the writing, directing, producing and positioning of short-form web content. Facilitator Terence Nance will address viable options for monetising web content and how to parlay the web space into television and feature films.
Facilitators
Terence Nance was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He studied visual art, and in addition to being an artist and filmmaker, he makes music under the name Terence Etc. An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, his first film, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012. He is at work on his second feature, The Lobbyist.
Chanelle Aponte Pearson is a visual artist, filmmaker, and photographer. Most recently, Chanelle produced the critically acclaimed feature An Oversimplification of Her Beauty. Chanelle is making her directorial debut on a narrative web series called 195 Lewis, about four queer women living in Brooklyn, and is also producing a feature-length documentary on the global practice of skin bleaching.
