Triangle Film Partnerships win praise from industry (29/06/2011)
Pan-Northern talent mentoring programme Triangle has produced a slate of commercially viable features, new industry development partnerships and impressive creative collaborations, according to a panel of industry decision makers at a London pitch session which marked the end of the six month programme.
The Triangle finalists pitched to a panel featuring Salt MD Sam Horley, Revolver boss Justin Marciano, Film4 Development Editor Lila Rawlings, BFI Film Fund Senior Production Executive Chris Collins and Film Consultant Sally Caplan. All four film projects will now be developed further by a range of industry partners. The 6 month talent development partnership from Screen Yorkshire, Vision+Media and Northern Film & Media encouraged the development of pan-Northern writer/producers/director ‘triangles’.
A pilot initiative funded by Skillset’s Film Skills Fund as part of the UK film skills strategy A Bigger Future 2, Triangle provided a structured initiative designed to both encourage creative collaboration and to widen regional talent pools.
A competitive, intensive programme of creative and commercial mentoring delivered by contributors including Vertigo Films, Raindance, Salt, Britdoc and Guerilla Films, Triangle saw four teams selected from 75 initial participants to develop their feature ideas. The mentoring received enabled successful participants to develop and prime feature film propositions for investment.
The pitch was attended by an invited industry audience of financiers, distributors, producers, talent agents, sales agents, trade associations and press.
The Triangle finalists were:
Group 1: Steve Bowden, Chris Green, Tom Marshall, Maria Forsstrom
Group 2: Simeon Halligan, Kirsty Peart, Andrew Walker
Group 3: Laura Degnan, Deanne Cunningham
Group 4: Carolyn Moat, Ed Connole, Sami Khan
Sam Horley, MD, Salt: “It’s always great to be pitched projects by filmmakers who have given serious thought to the commercial as much as the creative. Triangle was a highly professional event and unusually one which could also be lucrative. There is definitely one project in there I've got my beady eye on.”
Hugo Heppell, Head of Production, Screen Yorkshire and Triangle lead: “We are thrilled at the response to Triangle from both industry and participants. Triangle was a pilot pan-Northern initiative which could only have happened with the support of Skillset, and we hope it can be seen as a model for future training and development in the regions.”
Laura Degnan, Writer/Director/Triangle participant: “The workshops have given me the confidence and vision to take a radical, brave approach to filmmaking. Not only has the initiative inspired collaboration, it has also provided practical guidance on creative and commercial development.”
