Year: 2018

Dear partners, colleagues and friends,

Creation of SerienScout

In January Suzanne Pradel founded the SerienScout Agency for Serial Content. The SerienScout team searches for serial content on the German bookmarked and among European talent scriptwriters. We develop, dramaturgically consult and broker innovative series for the national and international market. SerienScout is you rcfreative serial content developer.

2nd Female Scriptwriter Residency 2018

Workshop: This is a Man’s and a Woman’s World

At the EAVE producers workshop the script consultants Simona Nobile and Suzanne Pradel questioned current patriarchal thinking patterns in story telling and showed in the workshop possible ways out.

23. Filmfest Turkey Germany

6. Bosphorus Film Festival 2018

On the panel “Principles of Screenwriting“ which was moderated by the screenwriter Selin Tunc Suzanne Pradel discussed together with her colleagues the newest developments concerning filmic story telling.

The 3rd scriptwriter residency programme of the EUROPEAN WOMEN´S AUDIOVISUAL NETWORK is a great initiative dedicated to supporting the next generation of screenwriting talents among EWA members. It helps them to enter the industry with the best script possible by working on the strategic positioning of their project . Its purpose is to give a selected woman scriptwriter or director the opportunity to be mentored by a script consultant, to work with her before the Berlinale and to attend the EFM at the Berlinale to make connections.

The shortlisted female scriptwriters for the residency 2019 are:

Spanish scriptwriter/ director Fany De La Chica with her script her dramedy „Al ALBA“

Kroatian scriptwriter/ director Ivona Juka with her script antiwar-drama „LAMBS IN WOLFSKIN“

Romanian scriptwriter/ director Cecilia Stefanescu with her script for her mystery drama “THE GREAT ADVENTURE”

Suzanne Pradel is the script consultant attached to the programme. Suzanne is an international script consultant, lecturer and bookscout. For many years, she has been working as a script expert for Eurimages and MEDIA Programme. In 2009 she founded the BUCHSCOUT AGENCY which specializes in novel-to-film adaptations as well as international script consultancy, developing sophisticated TV features and cinematic features.

Focusing on supporting local up-and-coming filmmakers, the Bosphorus Film Lab (BFL), the industry section of the 6. Bosphorus Film Festival, took place from 27-31 October. The Bosphorus Film Lab is organised in partnership with Turkey’s national pubcaster TRT, and in its Pitching platform, 10 projects were presented.

The Jury of Faruk Güven (TRT), Suzanne Pradel (BuchScout Agency), Dervis Zaim (director) gave the  main TRT Co-production Award, provided by Turkey’s pubcaster and a partner of the Bosphorus Film Lab, to A Hope (Bir Umut), directed by Ümit Köreken, (director of Blue Bicycle). It is being produced by the director and his wife, Nursen Çetin Köreken, and shooting is tentatively scheduled for next year.

The 50,000 TL (€8,000) Digiflame VFX Post Production Support Award went to Stick Horse (Değnekten At) by Korhan Günay and Canan Çelik, their debut feature. Produced by Bulut Reyhanoğlu, the film will start shooting next year.

Independent producers have the opportunity to apply for a potentially lucrative grant from the MEDIA Development Fund to develop movie projects that have international marketing potential. In 2014 MEDIA launched the fifth round of its Program Creative Europe with a budget  of 5 Million Euro. The aim of the program: To strengthen Europe’s audiovisual industry. Individual projects in the area ‚Movies‘ can apply for up to 60.000 Euro. Bonus points are awarded, for example, to projects aimed at the Under-16’s. However, competition for these program funds is intense. If you wish to be successful nonetheless, you should consider the following:

Do not submit too soon
Only enter your project into the race when the material has taken concrete shape and you’ve attached a number of partners (internationally renowned creatives, co-producers or distributors) to your project. Formal letters-of-intent from your partners will strengthen your application.

Clearly identify any weaknesses of the material submitted
Rather than gloss over any weakness, do identify problems and articulate concrete suggestions for solutions. Be clear about the direction you wish to take your project.

Identify and name the partners you wish to attract to the project to add value to your script
For example, if your author has been unable to deliver a convincing exposé, treatment or first draft script, then look for a strong partner who will significantly improve the quality of the project. Identify and name the script consultant or dialogue writer you’ve attracted to the project and add their letter-of-intent and filmography. Explain clearly why you’ve chosen this particular person to join the creative team.

Make sure your MEDIA submission is coherent
We notice time and again that the proposed project phases do not match proposed costs in the requested funds calculations. A likely reason for this is several people, such as production manager and producer, will have contributed to the submission. It is therefore important that the whole application is carefully proofread for consistency and coherence. Check whether all proposed tasks have been sufficiently considered in the costs.

Do a detailed time plan
Include a time plan in your submission. You should allow sufficient time for each phase of development. Take care to make this time plan realistic, such that everyone involved in the development of your project is able to stick to it and deliver.

Identify your target group as closely as possible
You should reveal and elaborate on who the specific target group for your movie is. Explain which measures will be taken to reach this group. Consider who could be an attractive partner when it comes to marketing your film. Examples would be interest groups or forums.

„BuchScout & SerienScout“ is a Script Consulting and Sales Agency headquartered in Berlin. We search for content on the German bookmarket and among European talent scriptwriters. We develop, dramaturgically consult and broker innovative feature films and series for the national and international market. 

For more information check out:

http://www.ewawomen.com/en/news/apply-for-the-ewa-network-2019-edition-of-the-scriptwriteras-residency-in-berlin.html

09.03.-18.03. 2018 in Nürnberg
The Jury for feature films at the 23. Turkish German Filmfestival in march 2018 are Klaus Eder, Suzanne Pradel, Mahmut Fazil Coskun, Kyra Scheurer

Klaus Eder (journalist, film critic, FIRESCI)

Suzanne Pradel (creative content developer and owner/ BuchScout Agency)

Mahmut Fazil Coskun (director)

Kyra Scheurer (script consultant)