Welcome to Storyville at the forum

Business opportunities are being bolstered at VIFF’s Film and Television Forum (Sept. 29 to Oct. 3 ) with the addition of Storyville Vancouver, a new event featuring a long-form documentary pitch session in front of a panel of international commissioning editors, plus seminars on creative documentaries.

Storyville Vancouver (Oct. 1) is a partnership between the forum and B.C. educational broadcaster Knowledge Network, which commissions creative documentaries for its Storyville programming strand.

‘Storyville Vancouver is about getting information, building relationships and selling projects,’ says forum creative director Michael Ghent. ‘It’s becoming essential to have coproduction partners – the days of one broadcaster footing the entire bill are gone. And there is much more willingness on the part of the international community to partner and help carry the freight on these projects.’

VIFF’s 24th annual Film and TV Forum is a series of seminars, master classes and networking opportunities.

From 42 submissions, the forum has chosen seven finalists who will each have 20 minutes to pitch their creative documentary idea, with forum observers in attendance.

With broadcasters worldwide facing a financial pinch, market fragmentation and the proliferation of digital platforms – plus the numerous challenges facing the indie feature world – the theme of this year’s forum is the major change happening on the film and TV landscape.

‘There has been a fundamental shift in the way business is being done,’ says Ghent. ‘Our goal is to inform people about these changes and encourage the creative community in Vancouver to capitalize on new business models and embrace new technologies and ways of content creation. Coming out of the forum, participants will be much more prepared to maximize future opportunities.’

The forum kicks off with a keynote address from U.S. entertainment lawyer Peter Dekom, who will focus on the changing financing and distribution models for indie features and the importance of exploiting a single concept across multiple platforms.

A sales forecast panel with Charlotte Mickie of E1 Films International and Peter Van Steemburg of Magnolia Pictures will size up the troubles facing the film industry, including a lack of upfront financing, few U.S. presales and weak foreign markets.

An episodic screenwriting seminar features writers on some of the biggest hit dramas, such as Durham County co-creator Laurie Finstad Knizhnik; Brothers & Sisters executive producer Molly Newman; Mad Men writer/coproducer Dahvi Waller; and from Desperate Housewives writer/producer Alexandra Cunningham.

My Name Is Earl creator Greg Garcia and The Office writer/consulting producer Jennifer Celotta will share comedy tips, while a U.S. co-venture panel includes Nancy Cotton, SVP scripted programming, Fox Television Studios, and Ben Davis, director of development and current series for AMC.

Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) is a special guest for New Filmmakers’ Day (Oct. 3) and will discuss his writing process.

The expanding market for short films is also being addressed.

‘Shorts are having a renaissance,’ says Ghent. ‘In this short-attention-span universe, they are becoming a hot commodity on many platforms.’

Doc Talk, a partnership with DOC BC, returns to the Vancouver Forum (it was held at the Whistler Film Festival for the past three years). Doc Talk (Oct. 2) provides networking opportunities for the local documentary film community, as well as panels and seminars.

Doc Talk guests include Jon Reiss (Bomb It, Better Living Through Circuitry), named one of the 10 digital directors to watch by Daily Variety, and Thom Beers, executive producer of the hit docudrama series Deadliest Catch (Discovery Channel) and Ice Road Truckers (History Channel).

The commissioning editors attending the pitch session include Claire Aguilar, VP of programming, ITVS (U.S.); Axel Arno, commissioning editor SVT (Sweden); Hans Robert Eisenhauer, head of Thema, ZDF/ARTE (Germany); Nick Fraser, commissioning editor Storyville, BBC (U.K.); Mette Hoffman-Meyer, commissioning editor, TV2, Danish Public Broadcasting; Cara Mertes, director of the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program (U.S.); Murray Battle, director of independent production and presentation, Knowledge Network; and Cindy Witten, director general, English Program, the National Film Board.