A Touching Story Is Important in Co-productions

A Touching Story Is Important in Co-productions

Iva Sirotić

Pula Academy, Pula Film Festival’s educational programme intended for students, but also all those with accreditations, kicked off with the topic How to Produce a Children’s Film, a case study of the film Beanie.

The discussion over coffee with guests saw participation from producer Ida Weiss from the Slovenian Senca Studio and producer Marina Andree Škop from Pom Pom Studio.

At the beginning, Weiss emphasised that it is very important for producers to work on projects that are touching for them, and that it is the only way she has ever done her job. Andree Škop related to the emotions of the story about a boy who has nothing and a girl who has everything, and their Christmas story, and so decided to come on board this project. She added that the most important thing is to learn how to pitch a project in two sentences, even if you practice with your best friend.

Moderator Ozana Ramljak asked the students a useful question: Do they know what developing a project really means? The answers from the audience were honest, with students responding that their knowledge is only theoretical and very far from implementing a project. Both producers answered the question saying that it is the most important part of the whole process.

Andree Škop emphasised it is very important to pitch a project many times, at different platforms, and that this is how the project develops and changes. When pitching, one gets the reaction of the audience and can see what the audience finds interesting or not, and in which direction the story can continue to develop.

Weiss emphasised that, for any project, it is important to judge whether it can be co-produced on an international level or the film has to stay on the local level. She also mentioned a range of unsuccessful efforts to finance the film, saying that the budget of a film is like a live organism that is constantly changing, which can be extremely exhausting and frustrating. She underlined the importance of visual material such as moodboards and one to two-minute pilots to explain the project to coworkers, but also to use when pitching the project