SEE Fest Business Conference 2010
Monday, May 3 at UCLA

Address: UCLA Anderson - 110 Westwood Plaza, UCLA (Executive Dining Room).
Parking: Structure 4 - Enter Westwood Plaza from Sunset Blvd.

Organized by the South East European Film Festival Los Angeles
Sponsored by UCLA Center for European and Eurasian Studies, and co-sponsored by Center for Managing Enterprises in Media, Entertainment & Sports (MEMES) at UCLA Anderson
with additional support from Center for International Business Education and Research at UCLA Anderson

Why not be as creative about bringing your vision to the screen (and to audiences) as you are in creating the vision itself?

With money for independent filmmaking becoming even more scarce and with many U.S. studios closing down their in-house specialty divisions and reducing the number of films they release, it is important (in fact it is essential) that independent filmmakers look the world over to find new sources of funding, new ways to stretch that funding, new platforms to showcase their final products, and new media solutions to finding the audience for their films.
 

The half day seminar will include discussions on the following:

1. How to access and structure financing for domestic, and international productions;

2. Challenges and opportunities -- perspective on studio productions, independent films, and location filming;

3. Using local governmental incentives, banks and currencies;

4. What to expect when producing overseas including the use of local crews, stages, post-production facilities and locations, and the legal and business practices involved;

5. How to find distribution, pique interest and “get the word out” to both specialized as well as general audiences, and utilizing new media in the marketing mix.

Confirmed speakers:

From Los Angeles:

Richard Soames, former chairman, consultant Film Finances (he has financed films across the globe; FF is the world’s largest completion bond company and it backs hundreds of films every year);

Mace Neufeld, producer, Mace Neufeld Productions (“Invictus”, “The Sum of All Fears”, “Clear and Present Danger”, “Patriot Games”, “The Omen”);

Ron Yerxa, producer, Bona Fide Productions (“Cold Mountain”, “Little Miss Sunshine”, “The Switch”, “Election”, “King of the Hill”);

William Wilson III, Producer (executive produced all 3 “Santa Clause” films for Disney; “One True Thing” for Universal; supervised European production on the mini-series “War and Remembrance”);
Greg Schenz, Senior VP, Legal and Business Affairs at Endgame Entertainment (“The Brothers Bloom”; “An Education”).

Nelson Gayton, Executive Director of UCLA Anderson Center for Managing Enterprise in Media, Entertainment and Sports (numerous projects spanning branded entertainment, mobile entertainment, online social networking, sports marketing, to name a few).

Jonathan Handel, entertainment lawyer, author and professor (expertise in Hollywood entertainment unions and guilds, media law, digital media and new technology, and intellectual property among others).

Rob Aft, founder, Compliance Consulting (extensive industry experience in film sales, financing and international distribution; long time board member of the American Film Marketing Association and frequent guest speaker at industry panels).

Jeffrey Winter, co-president, New American Vision (distribution, marketing and creation of niche-oriented content that reaches out to traditionally underserved markets in both the entertainment and educational arenas).

From New York:

David Zellerford,Executive Producer, Eyepatch Productions, in-house production company for Ogilvy & Mather (digital non-fiction branded content
and entertainment).

From Europe:

Corina Suteu, Director of the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York. The Institute is the initiator and organizer, since 2006, of the Annual Romanian Film Festival in New York City, and promoter and supporter of Romanian cinema throughout the U.S.

Amra Baksic-Camo, producer and director of Cinelink co-production market at Sarajevo Film Festival (Cinelink helped finance such films as this year’s Berlinale Golden Bear winner “Honey”, Turkey; and Silver Bear winner “If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle”, Romania.)

Artan Minarolli, filmmaker and director of the Albanian Film Center (“Moonless night”, “Alive!”)

Bogdan Brkic, new media entrepreneur and principal, Agena and HugeMedia ad agencies, Belgrade (created webfest, the largest online event in the region; web support for the International Miami Fashion Week)

Conference moderators:
Rebecca Keegan, author ("The Futurist - The Life and Films of James Cameron"), entertainment journalist (TIME magazine, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Times);

Rob Aft, founder, Compliance Consulting (extensive industry experience in film sales, financing and international distribution);

Vera Mijojlic, founder, SEE Fest (festival director, curator of film programs and marketing consultant for independent films).