It’s day four of the Lab and despite a lot of late-night partying, energy and spirits remain high among all the producers. Even though there are 78 of us, the group seems much smaller than on day one, as we get to know each other better.

One of the advantages of being in the Lab is that you get full access to all IFFR Industry Panels. So I decided to check out one called “Stop Worrying and Love Online Platforms.” The panelists were Alessandro Raja from FestivalScope, Alessandro Iacoponi from MUBI and Elizabeth Holm from Kickstarter.

FestivalScope is an online platform that works with festival directors, sale agents and producers from around the world. They invite a selection of films to screen that would appeal to industry professionals, such as world premieres. Raja was quick to point out that the site, which is essentially an online screening room for industry professionals who must be members, is not a database and/or archive, but rather a very carefully curated service.

MUBI is also an online screening room with both global content and audience, but it’s open to the public. It also presents itself as a social network for film lovers and boasts 3.6 million members who can watch film and discuss with one another. As Iacoponi explained, “it combines a VOD platform with an audience.” MUBI is able to do this in large part thanks to partnerships with over 300 European distributors. It is both subscription- and transaction-based.

Both Raja and Iacaponi agreed that two of the major contributors to their success are that they are very flexible (for example, a filmmaker, producer and/or sales agent can approve screening requests on a case-by-case basis on FilmScope) and they are non-exclusive with respect to rights (certain territories can be excluded – geo-blocking is one of their most important tools). These factors allow filmmakers greater control over their films as well as the opportunity for exposure globally.

Kickstarter, an online crowdsourcing platform, has raised over 130 million dollars in the past three years since its inception. It is now raising over 2 million dollars a week, and it keeps 5% of that.

Holm pointed out that filmmakers should recognize the power of the platform beyond fundraising since a campaign on Kickstarter, which should be complete with compelling video, is also a non-traditional marketing campaign that can provide filmmakers with a profile, especially useful for first-timers.

Kickstarter is now only available for those with a U.S. bank account (however Holm did mention that this is easily dealt with by finding a U.S. “co-producer”, i.e. someone trustworthy with a U.S. bank account and address).  This is due to the fact that Kickstarter works with Amazon Payments.  Now in the process of developing their own payment platform, Kickstarter plans to soon expand into Canada and the U.K., followed by a rollout globally.

After that highly informative session came a highly entertaining Israeli producer named Katriel Schory, now executive director of the Israel Film Fund. The session was called “The Creative Producer and His/Her Role in the Development Process.”

Schory implored producers to ask themselves a lot of questions, not least of which are: “Why does this story matter to you?”, “Can this project generate financing”, and “Is this project right for today’s market (sensing the trends/zeitgeist) and will it be right when it’s ready, which could be as much as 3-plus years down the road?”

Schory also emphasized collaboration: my favourite part of Schory’s presentation was when he told us the story of how he will not work with any director who walks into his office and says “I want you to produce my film”.

After a lunch sponsored by TeleFilm Canada, another intense “speed dating” session ensued. This time, eight to 10 producers sat at large roundtables with one industry professional for 20 minutes at a time. Industry professionals included Nicole Mackey, EVP International Sales at Fortissimo Films, Lorna Tee, producer at October Pictures and an international film consultant and Morris Ruskin, CEO of Shoreline Entertainment.

Mackey, a seasoned veteran of the sales scene, was very forthright and reminded us of the importance of trying to get a sales agent on board before our films premiered at any festival, especially A-list ones.

She pointed out that thanks to the advent of the internet and other technology, the shelf life of films has been shortened considerably since information and word of mouth is now instantaneously communicated. Her opinion was that if a film hasn’t sold two weeks after being in a major festival, the chances of selling it have greatly decreased as buyers move on the new crop of films in the next festival.

When asked what type of producers Ruskin likes to work with he said, “ones that don’t steal.” Unfortunately, he was half-serious. He also went on to advise us to try and work with “fun” people because at the end of the day, we’re not doctors saving lives, we’re simply making movies.

Lee provided one of the more memorable quotes of the Lab so far . When asked how she chooses projects she replied, “When I don’t hate the director and I don’t want to sleep with them.”

Words of wisdom, no doubt.