PROMOTIONAL FEATURE
company 6Sales and brought two UK projects, The Runway and Locked In, to last year’s edition — sees the advantage of LUFF over some of the bigger markets. “It’s a must-attend event because sellers don’t have to compete with the thousands of titles at a festival or another market.” The other key event on the Film London cal-
endar is the PFM, which launched in 2007 to foster relationships between international pro- ducers and fi nanciers and which continues to grow in size and stature. Taking place during October’s annual BFI
The Future secured funds at the Production Finance Market
London Film Festival, the PFM is the only mar- ket of its kind in the UK and consists of two days of intensive match-making meetings between producers and financiers. Last year’s event attracted more than 153 delegates and featured companies including Summit Entertainment, Paramount, Focus, France’s Wild Bunch, Ger- many’s Bavaria Film International and Italy’s Rai Cinema.
The PFM brings together international producers and fi nanciers She, A Chinese gained profi le through LUFF’s Breakthrough strand
The business of London F
Film London-backed international industry initiatives the Production Finance Market and the London UK Film Focus have gone from strength to strength
ilm London remains as committed as ever to supporting fi lm business in the UK capital. Two key initiatives — the London UK Film Focus (LUFF) and the
Production Finance Market (PFM) — will not only be taking place again in 2011 thanks to renewed funding from the Mayor of London’s offi ce and a new partnership with the BFI, but look set to be better than ever through a series of new strategic partnerships with both local and international organisations. The success of LUFF and PFM and their
proven value to the industry has seen them con- tinue despite recent cutbacks. Helena Macken- zie, Film London’s head of inward investment and business development, explains: “These two events are central to the UK’s business development strategy for fi lm and are vital in ensuring the UK fi lm industry is equipped to compete in the international marketplace on every element of the film business — from fi nancing right through to distribution.” First on the calendar is LUFF, returning for an
eighth year in June. The three-day event offers a unique opportunity for the international buyers, setting a spotlight on UK fi lms and sales compa- nies in a relaxed, yet focused environment. “It is straightforward and it absolutely works.
Buyers come along, see the films, talk to the people selling the fi lms and do business,” says Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London. Each year Film London invites and pays for
120 international buyers — from across Europe, the US and beyond, to attend LUFF, resulting in around $4m worth of sales annually.
■ 26 Screen International at the Cannes Film Festival May 16, 2011
‘These two events are central to the UK’s business development
strategy for film’ Helena Mackenzie, Film London
But it is not just about promoting UK fi lms.
LUFF organisers are keen to ensure UK sales companies are well supported too, no matter which fi lms they are selling. Last year, the pro- gramme was extended for the fi rst time to include fi ve foreign fi lms being repped by UK sales com- panies. In return LUFF also invites a handful of non-UK sales agents which are selling UK fi lms. Also returning to this year’s edition will be
the Breakthrough strand. With an open applica- tion process it showcases up to 12 feature projects from emerging UK fi lm-makers yet to pick up sales representation. “The idea is to give these film-makers the
opportunity to show their fi lms to a huge sec- tion of the industry they wouldn’t normally be able to reach. As well as attracting international buyers, sales companies which are at LUFF to show their films can also watch the Break- through section and see if there’s anything they like,” says Mackenzie. She, A Chinese and Sons Of Cuba are just two of the UK films to pick up sales representation at the event. This year the Breakthrough strand will bene-
fi t from a new partnership with Bafta, by giving LUFF organisers access to Bafta’s membership list in order to target more emerging fi lm-mak- ers and fi lm producers than ever before. The LUFF formula seems to be working. “It’s
an event that has very quickly become a staple part of the buyers’ calendars and they attend very faithfully,” says Stephen Kelliher, head of sales and marketing at London-based sales company Bankside Films. Marina Fuentes — who heads up Spanish sales
Continental drift As a mark of the signifi cance placed on the PFM in Europe, the event continues to re- ceive signifi cant funding from the MEDIA Programme. “We’ve gradually changed the shape of the event to become much more continental. And now we’re looking at just how international it can become beyond Europe,” says PFM organiser Angus Finney. As well as its existing partnerships with the
Ile de France Film Commission, Melbourne and Rome fi lm festivals, Finney is also in talks with German regional funds including Berlin Brandenberg as well as targeting US east coast producers. Meanwhile, a session introduced at the 2009
event offering fi nanciers the opportunity to net- work with each other has become so popular that it has been extended from a two-hour slot to four hours. “Financiers fi nd it really useful to have space to meet each other with a view to talking about business and terms and pricing and risk, as well as giving them the chance to get a proper picture of what’s happening in the market,” says Finney. Roman Paul, who heads German production
company Razor Film Production, managed to secure the fi nal piece of funding for Miranda July’s The Future from Film4 at the 2009 event and is now a regular PFM attendee. “It feels a bit more elite than other events. It’s well organ- ised, they team you up with the right people and all the key players are there.” As the PFM heads into its fi fth edition, Woot-
ton is optimistic about its future. “We are not radically changing the format of the PFM, just consolidating. The fact we have producers from Australia to India to New York to France is tes- tament to the way it has become fixed in the international calendar.”
s LUFF/PFM EVENT INFORMATION
■ London UK Film Focus (LUFF): June 27-30, 2011
www.fi lmlondon.org.uk/luff
■ Production Finance Market (PFM): October 19-20, 2011
www.fi lmlondon.org.uk/pfm »
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