In March 2011 International Film Festivals Forum "Eastern-Central Drift" will be held for the 2nd time in Vilnius as a part of 16th Vilnius International Film Festival "Kino pavasaris". The event intends to become an annual gathering place and creative ideas production lab for main international film festivals of the region.

The festivals Forum will take place on the March 28-31st at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Vilnius (http://www.cpvilnius.com/w/) and will make it possible for more than 20 International film festival representatives and highly experienced keynote speakers to discuss topical issues for contemporary film promoters, such as building up closer relations with other film industry players, improving cooperation with private sponsors, increasing the diversity of the audience, developing sustainable cross-border cooperation, , contribution to the growth of Europe's creative economy, and many other.  

The organizers of the Forum hope that this new initiative will generate answers and creative ideas that will help to meet new challenges and enrich film festivals of the Eastern-Central Europe in new cross-border undertakings.

AGENDA

Monday 28 March

Arrival of the participants.

20.30-21.30 Welcoming Reception and informal discussions.

(Vilnius Crown Plaza Hotel) 

Tuesday, 29 March

09.45-10.00 Registration.

10.00-10:10 Welcoming speech by the director of Vilnius International Film Festival "Kino pavasaris" and the representative of Lithuanian Ministry of Culture.

10.10-11.30 *"What Should I Know about Central-Eastern European Film Festival" (PART I)

This panel will open the floor for the guest-festivals and will give them an opportunity to introduce their individual festivals, their different programming, submission specificities as well as the scope of the initiatives within the festivals. It is expected that this panel will help to learn more about beneficial cooperation between main festivals from the region.

All the participants will have ~5-7 min. to present their festival.

1. General information & statistics.
2. Festival programme and its specifics.
3. Festival and industry events.
4. General budget and its structure.
5. How my festival can be useful to other participants in the future.

11.30-12:00 Coffee break

12.00-13:00 *"What Should I Know about Central-Eastern European Film Festival" (PART II)

13.00-14.00 Lunch break

14.00-15.30 A Short Panel on Lithuanian Films "Main Trends and Players"

This panel aims to introduce recent developments in Lithuanian Film to the participants of the International Film Festivals Forum and fostering future collaboration.

Panel will be chaired by film researcher Renata Sukaityte and include main Lithuanian film producers and directors. 

15.30-16:00 Coffee break

16.00-17.30 The festival circuit: community, Social Media sponsorship and Technology

Speaker and panel moderator: Bruno Chatelin (France) COO, http://www.filmfestivals.com/; http://www.fest21.com/

A social media workshop to help festivals optimize content and buzz around their festival.

Focus on sponsoring how social media can leverage sponsorship...

19.00-21.00 Reception of Vilnius city Mayor at Vilnius Town Hall 

Wednesday, 30 March, 2011

10.00-11.15 "Positioning Your Film Festival"

Speaker and panel moderator: Rik Vermeulen (Netherlands) Executive director Transylvania IFF

For numerous reasons festivals are continuously faced and challenged to re-address its identity and context. By presenting examples from different corners of Europe the talk centers on new relationships between festivals, audience and industry, in a fast changing media landscape.

11.15-11:45 Coffee break

11.45-13.00 Panel on "Festivals' cooperation with Private Sponsors"

Speaker and panel moderator Mr. Mindaugas Morkunas (Lithuania) "Sick Service"

The management of high quality event/festival as well as the development of sponsorship collaboration.

13.00-14.00 Lunch break

13.45-14.00 Registration for MEDIA DESK participants

14.00-15.30 Introduction to the EU initiative MEDIA Mundus / panel coordinated by MEDIA Desk LT

Introduction to the EU initiative MEDIA Mundus. Case studies and peculiarities.

Panel moderator:  Dominykas Širvinskas, head of the MEDIA Desk Lithuania.

Case studies presenters: Sofia CineLinks Sarajevo (Sofia International Film Festival Director Stefan Kitanov), Kaunas International Film Festival.

15.30-16:00 Coffee break

16.00-17.30 Film festivals -prospects and practice of regional cooperation.

Presentation of appropriate MEDIA Mundus project - "Operation Kino" (Anca Dragoi - Project coordinator at Romanian Film Promotion) and discussion on the prospects of the regional cooperation between festivals.

Panel moderator: Bruno Chatelin (France) COO, http://www.filmfestivals.com/; http://www.fest21.com/ 

17.30-18.00 Summing up of the forum

18.00-19:00 Dinner (TBC)

19.00-21.00     Lithuanian DOP award ceremony (optional)
20.30-22.30    "Lithuanian filmmaker's" party (optional)

KEY NOTE SPEAKERS

Rik Vermeulen

Rik Vermeulen studied Economic Engineering, Art and Culture Science and received his Master Degree at the Faculty of Film & Television Studies at the University of Amsterdam. He produced a number of short films before joining the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 1998 and worked until 2010 for the festival's CineMart and Programme Department. As a freelancer, Rik is Executive Director of the Transilvania International Film Festival (Cluj Napoca, Romania), programmer of the Noordelijk Film Festival (Leeuwarden, The Netherlands) and international curator for Expiff - Experimental Film Festival Bucharest. He is also a member of the advisory commission (fiction feature length) of the Dutch Film Fund. Earlier Rik managed the CentEast Market Warsaw and was a member of the organising team of the Sarajevo CineLink co-production market.

 Bruno Chatelin

Bruno graduated from HEC in 1977, he was in charge of the launch of over 250 films during his tenure as Marketing Director and Managing Director for Sony pictures and UGC/FOX joint venture in France which he has built for the two partners. It became in year two N° 3 in the market.

The past ten years he has been a pioneer in the digital economy launching filmfestivals.com & fest21.com (blog platform for the festival community).

The company he manages with Malo Girod de l'Ain runs the leading festivals portal and fest directory (listing over 4000 film events worldwide) and offers new Festivalexpress submission tools and a blog platform to the festival industry.

He runs a marketing consultancy for film and entertainment, and is currently representing and advising on three international feature films. He will shortly announce two new projects a film production company Emotion Film Factory and a film fund.

A voting member at Cesar and EFA, advisory board member at IFFS (The Festivals Summit)

Mindaugas Morkunas

Mindaugas Morkunas is the Managing Director of the event marketing company Sick Service. The core competence of Sick Service is the management of high quality event/festival brands as well as the development of brands in the lead-up to sponsorship collaboration. Mindaugas has worked with such brands like "Marlboro", "Philips", "Red Bull", "Swatch", „Nokia", "L'Oreal", "Evian", "Shark", "Ray Ban", "MINI Cooper", etc.

Sick Service also manages the Fashion Infection festival - the most prominent fashion event in Lithuania, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this March.

In 2010 Mindaugas Morkunas was the winner of the British Council International Young Fashion Entrepreneur competition. In the past Mindaugas Morkunas has worked as a promoter of various electronic music events locally and was in charge of marketing at the GRAVITY nightclub in Vilnius, chosen as one of "Top 100 Clubs" by DJMAG this year.