Inside Pictures extends reach outside UK

UK training programme Inside Pictures is to be fully open to applicants from outside the UK for the first time, thanks to an injection of funding from the MEDIA Programme.

Now in its eighth year, the prestigious film business programme, which is run by Michael Kuhn’s Qwerty Films, was previously only open to those who could show a “commitment to the UK film industry”, but this year the remit has been widened to film executives and producers from the whole of the European Union. It will now be joint funded by the MEDIA Programme and Skillset.

15 applicants will be chosen to take part in the programme, which provides a “practical look at the business side of the film industry”, according to Jill Tandy who runs the programme along with Paul Moody. It will include workshops and seminars on strategy, neogotiation, networking and leadership, with an impressive range of speakers including Working Title’s Tim Bevan, Wild Bunch chairman Vincent Grimond, president of Paramount Pictures International Andrew Cripps and Arts Alliance Media CEO Howard Kiedaisch.

The National Film and Television School has also come onboard as a partner for the first time for the 2011 programme, which will be made up of three intensive week long modules and will take place in both London (for two weeks in June) and LA (for one week in December).

Kuhn said he was “very happy that our traditional funder Skillset has been joined by the MEDIA Programme in a further show of support for our innovative Programme. And that we are able to partner with the NFTS which I chaired for 7 years is an additional pleasure and will ensure this is an exceptional year for successful applicants.”

Tandy said the decision to extend the programme’s reach as “fantastic timing.”

“The industry is changing more than ever before and Europeans are fantastic at making high quality films on tight budgets, so it is a great time to extend the reach after eight years and to move on to the next stage.

The deadline for entries is April 4 with more info available at www.inside-pictures.com