July 07th, 2015

CALL FOR FEMALE DIRECTORS' LAB PARTICIPANTS

Are you an aspiring female director looking to progress your career in the film industry?

BFI NET.WORK Wales presents their latest Launchpad event in conjunction with Creative Skillset, CULT Cymru and BAFTA Cymru at Barry Memo Arts Centre in the Vale of Glamorgan from 24th - 28th  August  2015. This is an intensive, 5 day Directors' Lab for 4 selected emerging female directors to receive high level mentoring and to shoot scenes from their feature projects with a professional cast and crew.  There will also be 4 Observer places, giving shadowing opportunities to new female directing talent.  

‘Women comprised 6% of all directors working on the top 250 films of 2013. This represents a decrease of 3 percentage points from 2012 and 1998. Ninety-three percent (93%) of the films had no female directors.’ - Celluloid Ceiling 2013 Report

According to research, in narrative film when looking at women directors over the last decade, only 41 women have made films in the top 100 released films every year across the decade, compared to 625 men. There are 15.24 male directors for each 1 female director. What can we do to make this situation better?
Things that help women succeed according to research are: Mentoring and encouraging women early in their career, improving access to financing, and raising awareness of the disparity. A proactive approach to talent and addressing barriers to diversity forms a key part of the philosophy of Ffilm Cymru Wales and the BFI NET.WORK.

 With this in mind, BFI NET.WORK are offering this intensive Female Directors’ Lab for 4 emerging female directors with live action fiction feature scripts in development, to work with established female Director-Mentors and professional cast and crew, rehearsing, shooting, editing and screening key scenes. Through this hands-on process, you will workshop scenes, collaborate with actors, and find a visual language for your film in an atmosphere where experimentation and risk-taking is encouraged.
The lab will offer sessions open to a wider audience of filmmakers, with industry experts covering aspects of pre-production, casting and working with actors, production, cinematography, visual storytelling, editing and post-production as well as examining what obstacles and barriers exist for female directors and how they can be overcome.
The Directors’ Lab will take place at Barry Memo Arts Centre, close to Cardiff International Airport and the heritage coastline of Wales, offering an opportunity for a variety of internal and external locations: beach, countryside or urban. The Memo Arts Centre will run a series of screenings of films by female directors which will be open to a public audience.

HOW DO YOU APPLY?
To apply for a place on the Lab as a Director, you should meet the following eligibility criteria:

1.       You are a female director;
2.       You have some previous visual/screen work to show us: this might be a short film, student film, artist film, web series or work in other related media (theatre, dance etc)  which demonstrates your abilities as a director (please only submit materials where your role was director);
3.       You are looking to develop a career in film directing;
4.       You are attached as director to a fiction feature film project in development (you do not need to have written this yourself and you do not need to have a producer attached);
5.       You were born in Wales or you are currently resident in Wales, or alternatively you are developing a project with a Wales born or based producer or writer;
6.       You are over 18 and not currently in full time education.

 If you are applying for a place on the Lab as an Observer, you should meet the following eligibility criteria:

1.       You are a female director;
2.       You have some visual/screen work to show us: this might be a short film, student film, artist film, web series or work in other related media;
3.       You are looking to develop a career in film directing;
4.       You were born in Wales or you are currently resident in Wales, or alternatively you are developing a project with a Wales born or based producer or writer;
5.       You are over 18 and not currently in full time education.

 WHAT SHOULD YOU SEND?

 If you are applying for a place as a Director, please send us (electronic submissions only - PDF or Word):

1.       Your CV detailing relevant screen credits to date;
2.       A link to previous screen work online (e.g. Vimeo, YouTube) No DVDs unless by prior arrangement;
3.       A short letter outlining your aspirations as a director and stating why you feel the Lab would be beneficial to you at this stage in your career.  You might like to reference directors whose work you admire and the kind of films you would like to direct;
4.       The feature screenplay you would like to work on during the Lab;
5.       A one page synopsis of the feature project you are developing;
6.       A brief summary on the project’s current stage of development – e.g is there a producer, have you had development funding, what is the plan for it towards production etc?
7.       Your director’s vision for the project – e.g. what style, tone, genre, cinematography you are aiming for;
8.       2 scenes from the feature script, totalling no more than 6 pages, which you identify as being suitable for shooting and editing during the Lab (see criteria below).  Please note: if you are attached to a feature script which is unsuitable for the Lab (i.e. It may be heavy on VFX), you may submit 2 scenes from a short film script which is tonally in keeping with your feature project, but which would be easier to film in a Lab situation;
9.       Completed diversity monitoring form.

You may select up to 2 scenes you wish to work on during the Lab, which should meet the following criteria:

1.       No more than 4 actors in each scene;
2.       No more than 6 pages in total;
3.       Up to 2 locations;
4.       Able to be shot within a day.

 Interior locations on offer include a variety of spaces within Barry Memo Arts Centre – please see photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/133826690@N06

Exterior locations on offer may include those in and around Barry which require minimum organisation or set dressing, e.g. a field, car park, the beach, forest etc
To find more information on potential locations for filming please visit:
http://www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk/en/our_council/press_and_communications/filming_in_the_vale/filming_in_the_vale.aspx

 We will be working with minimum cast and crew, so please bear that in mind when identifying scenes to work on – this is an opportunity to develop your skills with actors, DoP and editor primarily, under the mentorship of an experienced tutor-director.

 If you are applying as an Observer, please send us:

1.       Your CV detailing relevant experience to date;
2.       A link to previous screen work online (e.g. Vimeo, YouTube) No DVDs unless by prior arrangement;
3.       A short letter outlining your aspirations as a director and stating why you feel observing on the Lab would be beneficial to you at this stage in your career.  You might like to reference directors whose work you admire and the kind of films you would like to direct;
4.       Completed diversity monitoring form.

 Selection is according to the above criteria, please state clearly whether you are applying for a Director place or an Observer place.  Also whether in the event you are not chosen for a Director place, would you be interested in being offered a place as an Observer?

Please send your application materials to the BFI Talent NET.WORK Manager Tracy Spottiswoode:  tracy@ffilmcymruwales.com and cc the Talent Co-Ordinator Katherine Pither: katherine@ffilmcymruwales.com

The applications deadline is 5pm on 28th July 2015. You will be notified of selection by close of day on 4th August 2015. 

If selected, there is a Participant fee of £100 and Observer fee of £50. In cases of hardship, there may be a limited number of bursaries available upon application, however please note this Lab is already heavily subsidised. 
Lunch and refreshments are included on the Lab.