Anita K. Sharma is a Canadian entertainment lawyer and producer attending the Producer’s Lab at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. She has been blogging about her experiences all week in a four-part series.

It’s day five and the Lab continues to provide us with amazing, direct exposure to top industry professionals courtesy of another “speed dating” session. This time, the professionals included Marie-Pierre Vallee, artistic director at Paris-based Wild Bunch, Susan Wendt head of sales at Denmark’s TrustNordisk and Gabor Greiner, head of acquisitions at Berlin-based Films Boutique.

Wild Bunch, a top player in the field of international sales, releases about 15 films a year and largely chooses films based on the script, although they will watch rough cuts and finished films but prefer to get involved earlier in the process. This seems to be the trend among the top European sales agents we met. They will advance an MG, but will not finance the gap because the risk is too high, nor do they finance any development.

Films Boutique’s Greiner was yet another sales agent we met during the course of the Lab who emphasized the importance of attaching a sales agent to a film before a world premiere since the shelf life for sales has shrunk considerably from previous years.

Wendt, from Sales Trust Nordisk, a company formed out of the 2008 merger between Trust Film Sales and Nordisk Film International Sales, echoed that sentiment. She also warned us against approaching sales agents at the busy A-list festivals such as Cannes, Toronto or Berlin since they are so busy at those times. She suggested contacting sales agents before big festivals if wanting to request a meeting, but we should understand that would likely not happen during a major festival.

She also mentioned that when making an intro via email, be specific and mention the budget, director/cast, what stage the project is in, when the film is expected to be finished and most importantly, why you’re approaching her company in particular, so she knows you’ve done your due diligence and checked out what type of films they pick up before wasting everyone’s time (including your own). She suggested Cinando.com as a great industry resource to check out various sales agents, etc.

After lunch, we concluded the Lab with two case studies. The first was a case study on The Loneliest Planet, a Germany-U.S. co-production directed by Julia Loktev and co-produced by Helge Albers, general manager of Flying Moon Filmproduktion, and Jay Van Hoy, Parts and Labor (producers of Beginners among other films), who explained how they built the co-production.

The second case study was on Days of Grace, a Mexican-French co-pro that premiered at Cannes 2011 (Out of Competition category), written, directed and produced by Everardo Gout, with producer Oscar Ramirez Gonzalez, head of production, Arte Macanica. This was really an exercise in what not to do.

Gonzalez was honest and direct (almost heartbreakingly so) as he walked us through a production that saw partners come and go, relationships destroyed and an editing process that took over a year, with massive expenses incurred in France thanks to a distributor who insisted on it, but who ended up shelving the film because of disagreements over the music.

A few key lessons I learned: plan, plan, plan. In other words, get post-production on board even before planning production. Days of Grace started shooting with no post-production budget. As a result, the producers scrambled to raise it along the way, and desperate for money, they jumped on board with a French partner that was not the right fit for them. As Gonzalez put it, “get to know who you’re marrying” since the relationship will likely carry on for at least three to five years, if not longer.

He also warned against showing rough cuts, pointing out that the biggest lesson in film is that nobody can watch a film not finished, no matter what they say.

Although I don’t agree with him 100%, I can see what he means. Disagreements over music were a big dividing factor in the film, largely because they screened a rough cut in which the editor put in temp music. However, since music is such an influential emotional factor in a film, Gonzalez felt this was a key mistake because everyone who saw the film, including the director, became too attached to music they could simply not afford.

I can honestly say that the 2012 Rotterdam Producer’s Lab has been one of the most enjoyable professional experiences of my life and I thank TeleFilm Canada for providing the opportunity. I have learned a ton and developed relationships with producers all over the world. Thanks to an industrious producer in the group, we now have a Facebook page set up so we can all keep in touch with other.

I really can’t wait to see what the future holds.