This afternooon’s activities

Lunch ends at 2.30pm, and the next panel runs until 3.30pm.

WRITERS RESPONSE I: Interventions on writers issues
• Chuck Slocum, associate executive director of the WGA West will outline the American deal following the strike
Robert Staats, managing director of VG Wort will examine the complex question of reciprocity and multi-territory licences
• Cécile Despringre, executive director of SAA, the new organisation of Audiovisual Authors’ collective management societies in Europe, will talk about European collective management societies’ collaboration to improve writers’ remuneration
• Maureen Parker, executive director of WGC will discuss the issue of collection from the writers perspective looking at how and what to collect? How can writers best arrange to collect what is paid to them?

The following panel will run from 3.30pm – 4.30pm.

WRITERS RESPONSE II: What are the key issues for writers?
What are the key issues for writers in the context of the scenarios outlined over the last day and an half? How can writers enhance their status worldwide?
• Lowell Peterson, executive director of WGA East (chair)
• Tim Pye, president of the AWG
• Bernie Corbett, general secretary of the WGGB
• Peter Henning, board member of the VDD
• Daniele Cesarano, president of SACT
• Olivier Lorelle, president of UGS
• Marcilio Moraes, president of the Screenwriters Association of Brazil
• Leora Kamenetzky, chair of the Scriptwriters Guild of Israel

A coffee break will last until 5pm, and the final session will last until 5.30pm.

Closing session: GLOBAL RESPONSE
• Christina Kallas, president of the FSE
• Michael Winship, chair of IAWG/President of WGA East

Participant profile: Lars Boom

We leave Greece temporarily to travel to the Netherlands to meet Lars Boom.

Lars Boom

Lars Boom has been writing since 1990 for television, film and theatre.

In theatre he has written musical plays like the award-winning In the shadow of Brel (about Jacques Brel through the eyes of his driver and friend Jojo) and two libretti for opera: Van Gilse and Slauerhoff, the Dutch poet.

Lars has also written about 100 episodes for comedy serials such as: Zeg ‘ns Aaa, Oppassen, Victorie, Sam Sam, Flodder, Bradaz and Sprint; drama and police serials Westenwind, DOK 12 en Baantjer; and a variety of drama formats for companies like Eyeworks and Endemol.

His feature film screenplays include Frans, a man with mental damage who runs away with his favourite pig because of the swine flu, and Rikshawboy, a romantic comedy about a Rikshawboy from India who becomes a cyclist in The Netherlands.

This morning’s agenda

The bus will leave at 9am in front of the Titania hotel.

The first session will take place from 9.30am – 10.45am

CONGLOMERATES AND OTHER PLAYERS I: Role of the multinational conglomerates in the digital future
Will the multinational conglomerates continue to dominate production and distribution worldwide or will the telecoms, ISPs etc. step in in the digital world? Will smaller companies have any real opportunities in the context of lower production costs and lower costs to enter online distribution? Will independent producers, sales agents, distributors, broadcasters and other players change their behaviour in response?
• David Kavanagh, FSE board member (chair)
• Cameron McCracken, deputy managing director of Pathe
• Frederik Stege, head of legal affairs of TrustNordisk
• Chuck Slocum, assistant executive director of WGA West

Immediately afterward, from 10.45am – 11.30am:

CONGLOMERATES & OTHER PLAYERS II:Interventions

• Jacqueline Woodman, executive director of the AWG will consider whether the aspirations of the multinational conglomerates can be understood through an examination of trade agreements particularly bilateral agreements.
• Dr. Eva Inés Obergfell, professor of law at the RWTH Aachen University will address the issue of how consumers will pay for product – the German Green proposal for a flat rate for culture and other models.

The coffee break is from 11.30am to noon.

Followed by the next panel from noon to 1.30pm:

SECOND DEBATE: Has the independent production model failed?
Has the Independent Producers System Failed and What Are the Alternatives? Development i.e. Notes and Moral Rights – How Do we develop and does it ensure Original Writing?
• Gino Ventriglia, FSE board member (chair)
• Milcho Manchevski, writer/director, Razvan Radulescu, writer, Peter Mohan, writer/producer, Jan Sardi, writer, Stefano Rulli/Nicola Lusuardi, writers, Robin Swicord, writer, Larry Karaszewski, writer

Lunch will take place from 1.30pm – 2.30pm.

Acropolis photos

I’ve added some photographs to the Conference’s Event page on Facebook, and I’ve also created a Picasa Album with some of my images.

The low light comined with my average camera meant that they are good for viewing on the web only.I spotted a number of fancy gadgets among the conference members so I’m sure many of you took better quality images.

Feel free to upload your favourite pictures to Facebook. If you wish to add pictures to the Picasa Album, and have a Google account, then drop me an email to wcosblog [at] gmail.com and I’ll enable sharing on the album.

Or send the images to me at that email address and I’ll add it to the blog myself – make sure you let me know what attribution you would like.

I like this picture because of the juxaposition of the old Athens city under the shiny New Acropolis Museum, with screenwriters as a conduit in between.

Tomorrow morning’s schedule

Tomorrow the bus leaves the Titania Hotel at 8.45am for the conference venue.

The first session will begin at 9.30am and run until 10.30am

Opening session: GLOBAL CHALLENGE
Welcoming speeches and opening of the conference
• Representatives of the Greek Government and Government Agencies
• Michael Winship, chair of IAWG/president of WGA East
• Christina Kallas, president of the FSE

The next panel will run from 10.30am – 11.30am

PRODUCTION I: Global trends in production
An assessment of global trends in production for cinema and television – volume of production, budgets, how the production will be funded and how (and when) this will change in the digital age.
• Sven Baldvinnson, vice president of the FSE (chair)
• Michael Gubbins, film industry analyst and former Screen International editor
• Caterina d’Amico, CEO of RAI Cinema
• Jonathan Davis, coordinator of the EFAD
• David N. Weiss, writer

There will be a break for coffee from 11.30am  – noon.

The last session before lunch will run from noon until 1.30pm.

PRODUCTION II: Interventions on production related issues
•Yomi Ayeni, creative lead of Expanding Universe will discuss writing and producing for the net: new formats, new dramaturgies, new procedures.
•Kelly Sweeney, head of original productions at Bebo will address new decision making for production and the building of new audiences.
•Alison Taylor & Peter Mohan, writers, will address the role and form of drama for television considering such questions as: will reality continue to be important; will the pilot season model in the US continue; will seasons of half hour or one hour drama continue to be the structure and the reality and future of the “created by” (showrunner) model.

Lunch will occur from 1.30pm – 2.30pm

Participant profile: Francesco Ranieri Martinotti

On the eve of the conference it’s time to meet Italian film director Francesco Ranieri Martinotti.

Francesco Ranieri Martinotti

Francesco is a film director, an independent producer and recently the director of Festivals such as France Odeon in Florence.

He started in the industry in the ‘90s and with his production company Iterfilm, and its films quickly won several awards, such as two David di Donatello, a Nastro d’Argento, the Prix du Jury at Montreal and the Prix du Publique at the Annecy Festival. His first feature film Abissinia (1993) also participated at the Cannes Film Festival and at the Sundance Film Festival.

His other films include Downdelions (1990), Artichokes will grow in Mimongo as writer and co-director with Fulvio Ottaviano (1997), Gills (1999), Ti lascio perché ti amo troppo (2007), and La seconda volta non si scorda mai (2008)

He is an active member of A.N.A.C. (Italian Author’s Guild) and co-founder of Venice Days, the new section of the Venice Film Festival.

Participant profile: Marcílio Moraes

We’re just in time to meet with Brazilian writer Marcílio Moraes.

Marcilio Moraes

Marcílio was born in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and writes short stories, novels and screenplays for television.

He has written for famous Brazilian soap operas (known as telenovels) like Roque Santeiro, Noivas de Copabacana, Mandala, and Roda de Fogo among others.

Recently he has written for the television series Vidas Opostas (2006 – 2007) and the sixteen-episode crime drama Lei e o Crime (2009).

He is also the President of the Associação dos Roteiristas (Screen Writers Guild).

Participant profile: Stefano Rulli

We jaunt over to Italy, to say ciao to Stefano Rulli.

Stefano Rulli

Stefano was born in Rome, and after graduating in Literature with a thesis on ‘Neorealism and the Cinema Critic’ in 1974, he organised the conference on Neorealism at the Mostra del Nuovo Cinema in Pesaro.  He wrote the book Polanski and began to contribute to the magazines Ombre rosse, Scena, Quaderni Piacentini, Essai, and Cinemasessanta, with articles about emerging cinematographies: Schlondorff and the New German Cinema; Bacso and the Hungarian Cinema;  Wajda and the third Polish generation.

With the essay ‘Perrault: alla ricerca del paese perduto’ on Canadian Direct Cinema he developed a theoretical reflection which lead him to direct documentaries.

He has worked as a script developer at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and for European MEDIA programs.

Stefano has written many movies, among them: Meri per sempre, Il Portaborse, Muro di Gomma. Ladro di bambini, Arriva la bufera, Il toro, La scuola, Pasolini: un delitto italiano, La tregua,  I piccoli maestri, La meglio gioventù, Romanzo Criminale, and Mio fratello è figlio unico.

For television, he has written the series La piovra (seasons 3, 4, 5, 6), Don Milani, La vita che verrà,  Come l’America, Perlasca, and Cefalonia.

He has directed a number of documentaries, including Matti da slegare, La macchina cinema, Il pane e le mele, Settecamini a Roma, Lunario d’inverno, and Un silenzio particolare.

Participant profile: Eylem Kaftan

It’s over to Turkey now to meet screenwriter Eylem Kaftan.

Eylem Kaftan

Eylem was born in Turkey, she completed a B.A. in Philosophy at Bogazici University in Istanbul and a Masters degree in Cinema at York University in 2002. At York University, she worked as a teaching assistant and wrote her thesis on the identity crisis in post-1980 Turkish cinema.

Her first short fiction film called ‘A Swan Story’ was featured at the International Women’s Film Festival in Ankara in 1999. Her first documentary, Faultlines (2002), investigates the aftermath of the earthquake which hit Turkey in 1999. It won Best Short Film and the Jury Prize at the Planet Indie Film Festival in Toronto in that year.

Eylem then wrote and directed Vendetta Song (2005) produced with  DLI Productions in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada. This gripping hour long documentary about her personal journey into the honour-killing of her aunt in a small Kurdish village in Turkey was broadcast on Vision TV and Télé-Québec in Canada and has received several awards including CIDA Prize for Best Canadian Documentary on International Development at Hot Docs; the Quebec Film Critics Association Award for Best Medium Length Documentary; Best Documentary, Calgary International festival and Best Documentary, Female Eye Film Festival. The film also won the 3rd prize at the International Women’s film festival in Torino, Italy.

Her third documentary Bledi, This is Our Home (2006) tells the story of the non-status Algerians and their struggle to remain in Canada. The film is made for the Quebec broadcaster Télé-Québec and premiered at the International documentary festival in Istanbul.

Eylem has contributed to several documentaries on social and political issues ranging from immigration and women’s rights to mental illness and culture shock. She also collaborated on the award winning short fiction films of Turtle Productions. Eylem is presently working on her new documentary on Kurdish youth and developing a script for a feature length fiction film called My Secret Heart.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1549870/

Participant profile: Anne Hogben

We alight in England this morning to meet Anne Hogben.

Anne Hogben

Anne is the Deputy General Secretary of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, where she has worked for over ten years.  Every day she advises members on problems with  contracts, producers, broadcasters, agents, publishers and sometimes their fellow writers.  Addressing issues early on and having proper union minimum terms agreements in place prevents problems spiralling out of control. When disputes arise she handles the Guild’s screen credit arbitration process.

Most disputes arise from badly written contracts, faulty communication and poor preparation before a project even begins: this is the main reason why both the TV and Film Committee have spent a great deal of time preparing guidelines for writers. Delegates will find copies of both in their conference information packs.  If these guidelines are adhered to  the time, money, energy and human resources wasted on messy disputes can instead go to producing well-written and good quality film and television.

Anne also organises campaigns (such as the international day of solidarity for the striking members of the Writers’ Guild of America) and works directly with the Guild’s Film and Television Committees and Executive Council, where policy is decided.  She helps to organise lobbies at the Houses of Parliament with fellow entertainment unions (Equity Actors’ Union and the Musicians’ Union) and attends industry meetings and negotiations.  She liaises with the press and media.

Before working with the Guild Anne worked in education, publishing, event organising and journalism.  She has a degree in Philosophy and English from University College Cork.

Participant profile: Tilman Scheel

In Germany we find out more about the Managing Director of Reelport GmbH, Tilman Scheel.

Tilman Scheel

Tilman was born in Hanover, and studied art history and law in Hamburg and Berlin. In 2001 Tilman became a lawyer with Arthur Andersen and Ernst&Young consultants, his areas of expertise being company and media law.

In July 2004 he developed reelport, an online film submission platform for festivals like Oberhausen and Tampere. In 2005 Tilman founded the reelport GmbH as an independent company. By now 15,000 film makers have uploaded more than 20,000 films to 60+ festivals from Korea to Finland and from Ecuador to Italy.

In 2008 Tilman created Europe’s Finest with the support of MEDIA. Europe’s Finest has by now acquired the Pan-European rights to more than 50 film classics and a dozen current Cannes and Berlin participants, digitised them in 2k DCI cinema format and is offering them to the digital theatres across Europe.

Tilman loves Film, Tango Argentino, Mark Rothko and Tafelspitz.

Participant profile: Sebastian Andrae

It’s over to German screenwriter Sebastian Andrae.

Sebastian Andrae

Sebastian was born in Hamburg, and studied history, German studies and law in Göttingen. From 1992 on he studied at the HFF (University of Television and Film) in Munich, Germany.

While studying he worked as a freelancer for a German newspaper and as a comedian and gag writer for formats like RTL Samstag Nacht, SketchUp und the PRO 7 Comedy Factory.

He was the head writer for the series Mit Herz und Handschellen, was part of the developing team and writer for SOKO Leipzig, and wrote for SOKO 5113 (ZDF) as well as many other series and television movies. His latest projects include a 26-part dramedy-series for children (SWR / ARD) and the comedy Sicilian Vacation for RTL.

Since August 2007 he has been a member of the board  of the Verband Deutscher Drehbuchautoren (the Screenwriters’ Guild of Germany). He lives with his wife and his two daughters near Hamburg in Northern Germany.

Participant profile: Arvind Ethan David

This morning we bid hello to Arvind Ethan David, CEO and a Producer at Slingshot.

Arvind Ethan David

Arvind co-founded Slingshot, the next generation film company, in 2005. He leads both business and creative strategy for the company, and has served as a producer on all of the company’s films to date – Sugarhouse, Faintheart, French Film, Tormented and currently, The Infidel.

Prior to Slingshot, Arvind served as Commercial Advisor to Headline Pictures, the production company set up by Stewart Mackinnon, Kevin Hood and the late Mark Shivas. Between 2003 to 2004, Arvind was Interim Managing Director of Ruby Films, working for Oscar-nominated producer Alison Owen. In 1999, he founded hahabonk, one of the UK’s early internet entertainment companies, which  produced more than 100 short animated films and interactive games for cable television and broadband internet, as well as helped launch the careers of such comedians as Jimmy Carr, Mackenzie Crook and The Hollow Men.

In addition to his career as producer and entrepreneur, Arvind is also a qualified solicitor and a writer. His stage-show Dirk, based on the Douglas Adams character, won three prizes in the 2007 LA Weekly Theatre Awards.

Arvind is a member of the British Screen Advisory Council and the PACT Film Policy Group. He also spends too much time speaking at conferences, writing articles for the trade press and is a regular guest lecturer at London Business School and the National Film & Television School. He grew up between Kuala Lumpur and London, speaks Malay (poorly) and Spanish (even more poorly) and enjoys neglecting his blog and twittering.

Participant profile: Jochen Greve

In Germany, we meet screenwriter Jochen Greve.

Jochen Greve

Jochen was born in Bielefeld, Germany, and studied Communication Studies, Theatre Studies and History at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (MA). He worked as an assistant director, cameraman, editor, location manager as well as a production manager and producer for various academic films and television movies.

Since the mid 1980s he worked as an advertisement writer. At the 36th International Advertising Film Festival in Cannes he was awarded the Silver Lion for his TV spot ‘Electricity’. Since the early 1990s he has concentrated on writing just for television and cinema. He received three German TV awards for Trickser.

He has written several popular and critically-acclaimed television movies as well as television series. His specialities are psychological and crime thrillers as well as intimate plays.

Since 2008 he’s been a member of the Administrative Board of the collecting society VG Wort, and since 2009 he’s been a member of the Board of the Verband Deutscher Drehbuchautoren (Screenwriters’ Guild of Germany).

Participant profile: Răzvan Rădulescu

Today we meet screenwriter Răzvan Rădulescu.

Răzvan Rădulescu

Răzvan studied Literature and Opera Directing in Bucharest. Afterwards he wrote two novels and worked as an art director for magazines.

In 1999 he started to write for films, among which are the award-winning Stuff and Dough (Cristi Puiu, 2001), Niki and Flo (Lucian Pintilie, 2003), The Paper will be Blue and Boogie (Radu Muntean 2006 and 2008) and the internationally-acclaimed The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Cristi Puiu, 2005).

Răzvan also worked as a script consultant for Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days.

Participant profile: Philipp Weinges

We arrive back in Germany to meet screenwriter and producer Philipp Weinges.

Philipp Weinges

In the late 80s Philipp Weinges started writing German-dubbed versions of American sitcoms. After attending Robert McKee’s seminar ‘Story structure’ he sold his first script Alone among women (1991), which became a major German box office hit.

In the 90s, together with Günter Knarr, he created scripts for film and television. In 2000 they decided to produce their scripts by themselves and founded ‘rome-film’. The company produced four television movies (including Crazy Race and Crazy Race 2) and one sitcom pilot.

In 2004 Weinges and Knarr left rome and, together with Andreas Richter, they founded a new company called ‘Crazy Film’. They have now produced five television films, and are in production for their first movie for the big screen.

Participant profile: Leora Kamenetzky

We zip into Israel today, where we can meet screenwriter and director Leora Kamenetzky.

Leora Kamenetzky

Leora studied at the Tel Aviv University and at the School of Visual Arts in NYC.

Since then she has  worked mainly in the field of television drama and has created  the following successful series: Alex (2008), Dog’s Life (2006), Adumot (Red Team, 2004-2005), The Good Guys (1999 – 2002) and Minutes of Fame (2001).

Dog’s Life was nominated for Israeli Academy Awards across every category,  Adumot won an Israeli Academy Award, and The Good Guys was nominated for Israeli Academy Awards  in every category.

Leora has also taken part in developing and writing many other television series, and has directed a variety of shows for children.

She has written scripts for three feature films: Wind over Water, which is in the early stages of pre production, Ship of girls an adaptation of Michal Zamir’s book that tells the  story of women in the Israeli Army, and Fairytale.

Leora is also the head of the Israeli Scriptwriters Guild.

Participant profile: Michael Gubbins

We land in the UK and meet Micheal Gubbins.

Michael Gubbins

Michael is a consultant and journalist specialising in film and digital change in the media.

He has been working with international business and organisations including BAFTA, the Swedish Film Institute, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, CineRegio, Europa Cinemas, UK Film Council, UK Industry Trust, Hogarth Pictures and Olsberg SPI.

From 2004-2009, he was editor of the international film trade Screen International. During his time as editor he spoke and chaired at more than 50 global events including the Cannes, Berlin, Hong Kong, Rotterdam and London Film Festivals.

He is also a member of the advisory board f international digital festival and consultancy Power to the Pixel and the Met Film School; a member of BAFTA’s learning and events committee; and a director of the International Screenwriters Festival.

He wrote an influential weekly column for Screen International as well as pieces for national newspapers, including The Times, Time Out and Sky Magazine. He is quoted as an expert by newspapers and broadcasters around the world.

Participant profile: Henner Merle

It’s time to meet German legal expert Henner Merle

Henner Merle

Henner has studied German, European and International  law in Münster, Paris and Berlin.

He was a Scientific Assistant at the Institute  for International and European Law at Berlin Humboldt University from 1993 – 1995, and founded his own law firm in 1998.

From 2004 – 2009 he was the legal adviser of Verband Deutscher Drehbuchautoren (Screenwriters Guild of Germany).

His legal focus is on cinematic and copyright law, press and media law, real estate and  property law.

Participant profile: Mark O’Halloran

We arrive in Ireland, early, to meet screenwriter and actor Mark O’Halloran.

Mark O'Halloran

Mark was born in Ennis Co. Clare, Ireland. His first feature film screenplay, Adam & Paul (2004), won ten international awards, including the London Evening Standard award for Best Screenplay, and the European Film Award for Best Screenwriter.

He followed it with the screenplay for the movie Garage which premièred at the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007, where it was awarded the CICAE award for best film. It went on to win a further ten international awards, including the Irish Film and Television Award for Best Screenplay,

Mark has also written a four-episode television series, Prosperity, for Irish broadcaster RTÉ, which aired in Autumn 2007.  He won the  ‘Best Script for Television’ award in that year’s Irish Film and Television Awards, and ‘Best Television Script’ at the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild’s annual ZeBBie Awards.

He currently has a number of projects in development.