Going European A co-pro training for writers

Funded by the European Commission's MEDIA program for a period of three years (2023-2025), in partnership with the Séries Mania festival (Lille), the Conecta Fiction & Entertainment co-production market (Toledo), and the Cinelink Industry Days of the Sarajevo Film Festival (Sarajevo), this training aims to support five author pairs per year, a total of thirty professionals throughout the program, all involved in international co-writing projects.

The 2023 participants at the Series Mania festival Series Mania 2023 / Marc Vidal

Each year, the ten resident authors will participate in three one-week training sessions during the partner events. The program, co-constructed between these partners, includes meetings with renowned professionals, workshops and masterclasses on the specific issues related to the conception, production, sale, and distribution of an international series (creative, financial, contractual, regulatory, environmental aspects, etc.). The training fees and travel expenses are fully covered by the CNC and its partners.

Eligibility

Among the five pairs selected each year, three author pairs are selected by the CNC from the beneficiaries of the Fund for co-writing international TV drama (COCO-I) to participate in the training. Candidates for Going European are selected by the President of the CNC, on the advice of the commission for fiction innovation aid, and must meet the following criteria:

• Be composed of authors of different nationalities, from of the countries listed below (insert hyperlink to the list).
• Both authors must have artistic experience or training.

Selection is based on an application file containing the authors' CVs accompanied by a letter explaining their motivation to participate in the program.

Two other author pairs are selected by Conecta Fiction & Entertainment and the Cinelink Industry Days of the Sarajevo Film Festival on the same criteria related to the nationality of the authors and their experience, with the aim of creating a group of diverse screenwriters in terms of experiences, backgrounds, and nationalities, united by the desire to share their experiences and promote international co-writing.

Selection criteria

The selection of pairs is based on the following criteria:

• Balance of different nationalities within the pairs
• Proven artistic experience of the authors
• Relevance of the pair composition
• Authors' motivation to participate in the training program
• Proficiency in English as a working and exchange language

The authors must also commit to being available on the dates of the three partner events during which the training program will take place.

Beyond the training

The Going European program also aims to go beyond simple author training. In this perspective, the CNC and its partners rely on the feedback from participants and their work during the program to establish and disseminate a repertoire of best practices for international co-writing and co-production of series. The dissemination of this material to sector professionals will set up a collective reflection on the conditions of creation, production, financing, distribution, and promotion of international series, while contributing to the emergence of strong European and/or Francophone IPs.

Contact

Guillaume Marques
Going European programme coordinator
+33 1 44 34 35 27
Guillaume.Marques@cnc.fr