Market Talks, a new Doc Market initiative, opened on Tuesday, March 14, 2012 at the Excelsior lounge of the Electra Palace Hotel, as part of the 14th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. This practical guide for documentary filmmakers will be comprised of four talks, until Friday, 16/3. Producer/director Peter Wintonick inaugurated the event, focusing on the subject of co-producing a documentary film.
Making a brief introduction, Mr. Wintonick referred to the term "co-production" and the need to decrease the levels which come between the original idea and its implementation in order to explain the different ways of collaboration and co-production models. He likened a documentary co-production to a roller coaster, rarely following a smooth course, and talked about the need to create a consensus among the collaborating parties. He pointed out the need for good communication and a high level of communication skills in order to avoid misunderstandings. Mr. Wintonick stressed the importance of the prefix "co" before the word "production", which presupposes there being common ground and reciprocity between partners. With 35 years experience in producing documentaries and knowing the entire spectrum of the field of film market collaborations, he stressed the need for making compromises.
Referring to the Canadian funding model for making a documentary, he compared it to the complexity of the levels of hell in Dante's Inferno, as he noted: "Through the whole process of film making, the time available to us directors for that ultimate pleasure is severely limited, for those 8 minutes of pleasure that include conceiving the original idea, taking a perfect shot, doing a truly substantial edit and receiving the audience's applause. The rest of the long and painful process requires us to find a way to convince those who have the money to trust us with it."
He went on to define what he calls the five levels of co-production. He said that the main one is "the endless discussion between your own realistic side and that of the dreamer." The next level is good communication skills, since the vast majority of film productions require putting together functional partnerships involving many people. The third level, he said "requires finding a capable executive producer, who is called upon to create partnerships with other domestic companies." He named the fourth level as that where partnerships are created through specific agreements among producers from different countries (treaty co-productions), while the fifth level would be "clearing issues involving copyrights and rights to any possible profits from the production."
He also talked about alternative co-production models, based mainly "on mutual support between artists sharing ideas, resources and materials to complete their films". He called such projects a kind of communal creative adventure between the collaborating parties. However, despite the liberating character of such ventures, he warned of possible complications in areas not explicitly demarcated, because of the casualness that results from the friendship that often defines the connection between the partners.
Then Mr. Wintonick spoke briefly about the different ways documentaries are co-financed in the U.S., with money often coming from charities and wealthy individuals, while he called the model of obtaining funding from the general public for productions that are quite ambitious and cost in excess of 20,000 Euros "outdated". He also noted: "It is particularly useful for those looking for funding to apply to the Pitching Forums of festivals such as the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam and to look into this in the manual issued each year by the European Documentary Network (EDN).”
In closing, he presented the five laws that should determine every successful co-production: "First, only work on projects you love. After all, what’s important is always the film, not the money. Second, work only with people you love or with whom you share a common ambition or point of view, in short, people with whom you want to share this experience. Third, it is absolutely necessary to write the entire co-production scheme into a contract, even if you’re working with your best friend. Fourth, all films either live or die in the details. All the partners in a co-production must know exactly what their rights and responsibilities are, certainly before you start shooting. Fifth, you should be ready to face any obstacle or disagreement at any moment, always keeping in mind the need to achieve mutual concessions and compromises in order for the production to go ahead.”
The Market Talks will run daily from 17:30 to 18:00 in the Excelsior hall of the Electra Palace hotel, until Friday, March 16, 2012.
