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MIDPOINT Shorts 2022-2023

Shorts
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Take your short-film idea and make it a reality.

Benefits

Get closer to realisation of your creative idea

The only complex program dedicated to script and project development of the short films in Europe connected vitally to the film industry. The combination of in-depth script analysis and professional project development directs projects on their path in the cinema. Thanks to a multi-stage project selection process, the program allows to support more emerging talents. 

For teams of writers, directors and producers 

  • it will bring your project to the next level and prepare for entering the industry world (from one-pager to treatment, from treatment to script, from the first draft to final one, from scratch to pitch)
  • chance to get a deeper understanding of the creative aspects involved in the work, as well as insights into financing, sales, festival, and distribution strategies
  • showcase at When East Meets West
  • networking & meeting new industry partners
  • front gate to The Focus WiP section of Cannes Court Métrage

Program Structure

Comprehensive project-development program for short-film projects

  • Online Feedback Session
    September 5-7, 2022 | Online

    From all applications, the reading committee will select approximately 20 projects, whose creative teams will receive a detailed online assessment from two experienced professionals (script consultant and producer) during the online feedback session.

  • Online Ideas Incubator
    September 12-15, 2022 | Online

    Based on assessments from the online feedback session, approximately 10 projects will be selected into the Ideas Incubator, a 4-day consultation online workshop focused on further script and project development of your project.
    After this incubator, the final 4-5 projects will be selected for the MIDPOINT Shorts program (two residential workshops).

  • Workshop 1: Script Development & Project Packaging
    November 13–18, 2022 | Prague, Czech Republic

    This workshop focuses primarily on creative development and dramaturgy. Participants also begin to work on promotional materials and production strategies with the Producer Tutor. They also meet Guest Tutors from the short-film industry through special lectures and inspiring masterclasses.

    Lectures
    Masterclass: Love, Dad
    Diana Cam Van Nguyen
    November 14, 17:30 p.m | Mama Shelter Hotel, Prague, Czech Republic

    Masterclass by Czech-Vietnamese filmmaker Diana Cam Van Nguyen, mostly about her short film Love, Dad (2021) which is nominated for Best Short Film in European Film Awards 2022, won BFI Short Film Award, Clermont-Ferrand Connexion Award and several other awards. 

    The Do’s and Dont’s of Co-Production
    Dora Nedeczky
    November 15, 9:30 a.m | Mama Shelter Hotel, Prague, Czech Republic

    After long years of backbreaking work, you’re finally ready to spread out and look for partners for your film in development. Now what? Tallinn-based Hungarian producer Dora Nedeczky’s lecture on co-production from the filmmakers’ perspective will equip you with the essential toolkit you need for navigating the film industry and to choose the most fitting path for your film project. She’ll lend you her knowledge via practical info: from positioning your film on the market to building up your package. Expect a deep dive into maintaining healthy producer-director relationships but also examining out-of-the-box, hands-on ideas and advice on how to streamline the process and benefit from it.

    All You Need to Know About Co-Production Markets
    Alessandro Gropplero
    November 16, 9:30 | Mama Shelter Hotel, Prague, Czech Republic

    All around the year and all over the world there are hundreds of opportunities to pitch your film and find new financial and creative partners. No matter if you are developing a short or a feature, nor if it is a physical or a virtual presentation, it is always essential to plan your strategy and carefully combine all the ingredients you can use to best introduce your project.

    The lecture will be presented in a hybrid format. 

    Masterclass: The Chicken
    Una Gunjak
    November 17, 9:30 a.m | Mama Shelter Hotel, Prague, Czech Republic

    Una Gunjak will present a masterclass about her short film The Chicken which premiered at Cannes Film Critics Week and won the European Film Academy Award for Best Short Film in 2014. The film was shown at 270 festivals in total, including Sundance Film Festival, New Films and New Directors, and won 70 awards altogether. 

  • Online Consultations
    December 2022 | Online
  • Workshop 2: Industry Insights & Project Showcase
    20 - 26 January 2023 | Trieste, Italy / in collaboration with When East Meets West and Trieste Film Festival

    This workshop serves as a platform to develop scripts further, while also incorporating distribution strategies and addressing presentation skills and promotional materials. The entire program concludes with a project showcase within the When East Meets West Co-Production Forum, plus one-on-one meetings with important decision-makers within the industry.

    Lectures
    Pitch or Perish
    Stefano Tealdi
    January 21, 14:00 | Savoia Excelsior Palace / Trieste, Italy

    Public and on-line presentations of new projects and professional talent have become widespread and filmmakers and producers must master the skills of verbally presenting themselves and their new proposals in brief. The plenary examines what the pitch means for the various players attending a public forum, a one-to-one meeting or an on-line pitch, what it implies at different levels and how to structure and handle it.

    Festival Strategy for Shorts in the Long Run
    Wouter Jansen
    January 23, 12:00 | Savoia Excelsior Palace / Trieste, Italy

    With plenty of film festivals out there and new ones popping up every day, it is easy to get lost trying to find the ones that suit your film (and you) best. When and where to start whilst working on your film, what festivals to screen at in the beginning and what choices should you make after having your premiere? How can you get the most out of your festival run? What are the possibilities for spreading and screening your film online? In this we will explain the best way to get your short film out into the world.

  • Follow-up Online Consultations
    Spring 2023

Projects

Honey of War

In a War torn country, we follow Sasha, an old nomadic beekeeper, on his journey to make the finest honey. He will cross paths with Ari, a lost orphan. Through the life cycle of the beehive, Ari ...
Project detail

Certificate of Life

Vera, the 75 years old widow, living in a small town, is wrongly pronounced dead by the city administration. She struggles to prove that she is really alive so she can continue receiving her monthly ...
Project detail

We're Having a Boy

Nika, a soon to be mother, and her boyfriend Bojan are out shopping for groceries. While they are squabbling over pricey pasta, they get briefly interrupted by Jasmin, a Romani boy. At the till, ...
MIDPOINT participants: Lun SevnikRok BičekAtila Urbančič
Project detail

Welcome Home

Together with her son Jan, Vera returns to her hometown in Zagorje, a rural area in Croatia that she ran away from to Slovenia ten years ago. Upon her arrival, deep-seated family grudges connected ...
MIDPOINT participants: Eva Kučera ŠmonFilip Jembrih
Project detail

The Big Night

Sara, a middle-class teenage girl from Skopje, is a host of an exchange student Jill. The school year is over and the two girls are having their last party together, before Jill leaves for home. ...
Project detail

Participants

Tutors

Inspirational professional with a passion for sharing experience

Build on the solid foundations of traditional script analysis, MIDPOINT Shorts brings experts from the short-film industry to the service of your stories.

 

Head of Studies & Group Leader

Pavel Marek is a globetrotter – born in India, early childhood in the USA, now a writer and director of Czech features, shorts and docs, and professor of directing at FAMU Prague.

As Head of Studies, Pavel oversees the methodology of the program, ensures participants' needs are met, and guarantees the practical value and industry impact of the training you receive.

As Group Leader, Pavel also oversees the development of all projects from the beginning of the program through graduation.

Pavel Marek
Czech Republic  
Pavel Marek is a graduate of the Faculty of Computer Engineering, Technical University and the Directing Department at FAMU. He received a scholarship at the NFTS in the UK. During the communist era ...
Complete bio

Producer Tutor

The Producer Tutor makes sure each project develops effective promotional materials and realistic budgets and schedules.

Dora Nedeczky
Estonia  
Dora is a Hungarian producer and strategist, with a background in aesthetics and film theory/history. She's lived in ...
Complete bio

Pitching Tutor

The Pitching Tutor helps participants prepare the presentation of their projects, not only for the program's final pitching session but for any eventuality.

Stefano Tealdi
Italy  
Complete bio

Guest Tutors

Diana Cam Van Nguyen
Czech, Vietnam  
Complete bio
Alessandro Gropplero
Italy  
Complete bio
Una Gunjak
Bosnia and Herzegovina  
Complete bio
Wouter Jansen
Austria  
Complete bio

References

A motivational experience that elevates your project

Fee

Online Feedback Session

20 EUR
per project

Online Ideas Incubator

200 EUR
per project

Workshop 1 + 2: 700 EUR

700 EUR
per participant
The fee includes accommodation, board, and tuition during the residential workshops. Travel costs are NOT included.

Application deadline

July 29, 2022

Who can apply

  • teams of writers, directors and producers (2–3 members in one team)
  • open to projects of professional or graduation short films
  • eligible countries:
    open to projects from the whole world with a focus on CEE region

Application requirements

To apply for the workshop, please create an account on the MIDPOINT Visitor Page and follow the instructions within the submission form.

Application process:
The multi-stage application process runs online. Applicants are asked to fill out the application form and submit all attachments in PDF format (if not stated otherwise).

The application materials consist of:

  • basic information about the applicants and the project
  • synopsis (0,5–1 page)
  • author´s statement (0,5–1 page)
  • producer´s statement (0,5–1 page)
  • previous work of director - link(s) to previous reference film(s) of the director (including English subtitles)
  • short professional biographies of all team members in full sentences (max. 1000 characters incl. spaces per each biography)
  • photos of all team members
  • optional materials: script / treatment / step outline, moodboard

FAQs

You may ask...

Successful Shorts

Selection of our successful alumni

Contact

Did we forget something? Don't hesitate to ask

Sona Morgenthalova
Program Coordinator
sona.morgenthalova@midpoint-institute.eu

Funders

General Partners

In collaboration with

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