MIDPOINT Cold Open is designed to train the skills of independent producers interested in shifting from feature films to television content.

Offering practical knowledge connected to the producing and financing television series in Europe, the program will familiarize its participants with the current landscape, genre and slot preferences within different territories, will compare the narrative and concept structures of feature films and scripted series and will supply hands-on skills of production planning and financing of drama content.

The one-off event runs in 3 training days (January 19/22, 2020) and consists of lectures, group sessions led by Gabor Krigler and individual consultations with several experts.

The program targets independent producers, with a background in feature film producing, aspiring to shift to high quality television content. The program’s graduates will acquire knowledge and skills connected to the processes of producing and financing TV series, and will get acquainted with European television industry landscape.The program is participant-based, with each producer required to select 1 – 3 series ideas to serve as a base for the purpose of training.

In order to submit your application and the required materials you need to create your own account and fill in the online form following this link.
Deadline: November 30, 2019.    

Required materials
Basic information on the attending producer
Brief profile of the attending producer
Motivation letter (explaining the applicant’s professional background, motivation to join the television industry and reasons for joining Cold Open)
1 – 3 series ideas (basic idea/outline for a series, in terms of story, genre, type or target audience)

Eligible countries
– Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, Republic of Serbia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine
– WEMW 2020 focus countries: Austria, Germany, Switzerland
– Italy

Participation Fee
300 EUR per participant
The tuition, half-board and accommodation are offered within the participation fee. Travel costs should be covered by the participants themselves.

Contact person
Katarina Tomkova
Program Coordinator
katarina.tomkova@amu.cz

FAQ
How many participants does the Cold Open program expect to select?
We’re anticipating approx. 6 participants.

What background should the applicants have?
The training is targeting feature film producers with the ambition to shift into series projects.

What is meant under a “series idea”?
This simply means just a one-page description of a series you’d like to produce in the future. You may have a writer attached to the series, but it may also just be a producer-driven series with no writer attached to it yet. You can describe this “idea” in a one-paragraph annotation, or can go for a full one-pager.

Yes, but what exactly?
If you’re hesitating how to describe this “idea”, you can share the story, the genre, the type of series (limited, ongoing, anthology…) or what target audience/market you have in mind. We’d however like to emphasize, the “idea” is not what we will be primarily selecting upon, it is just a tool we will use for our training.

Is it obligatory to submit “series ideas”?
No. If you don’t have any particular idea of a show in your mind, the second option is to send us just an idea of what kind of shows you would be interested in producing or what segment of the audience you’d like to address (e.g. family shows, limited drama series, teen series, fantasy/sci-fi, mind-twister…). Be encouraged to use examples of produced shows – international or European. This will help us to tailor the training to your needs.

Is it obligatory to submit three “series ideas”?
No, submitting just one is perfectly fine. The opportunity to submit three gives us the chance to prepare a better-balanced group and fine-tune your training.

Can I get a scholarship within Cold Open?
As the Cold Open training covers the tuition, as well as your accommodation, we won’t be allocating scholarships, sadly. However, we strongly recommend you to apply/contact your local funding organizations: national or regional film funds, associations, ministries of culture, which usually support or at least partially support training activities, even if they don’t support television development in general.