Six emerging producers selected to join upcoming writers and support development of their stories.

After hosting a first module in August with 14 upcoming UK screenwriters, The Bureau’s SOS development programme is set to enter its second stage.

Six emerging producers have been selected to join the writers to support them during the development of their story – now at treatment stage - the aim being to fast track their own development experience while connecting with writers and writer-directors.

SELECTED PARTICIPANTS & PROJECTS for MODULE II

WRITERS

  • Adam Dewar – The Safety
  • Al Mackay Mackay – The Farm
  • Aleem Khan – After Life
  • Ed Hime – Last Christmas
  • Jesse Quinones – Carlito Y Jane
  • Matthew Knott – Troll
  • Orhan Boztas - Twinelle

PRODUCERS

  • Amy Basil
  • David Allain
  • Emily Morgan
  • Farhana Buhla
  • Jack Tarling
  • Jessica Levick

The newly selected producers includes NFTS graduates Jessica Levick and Emily Morgan, who have been active in producing shorts since leaving the school, and Jack Tarling, a Newcastle-based producer with more than 20 shorts to his credit and production experience, currently co-producing his first feature.

Other producers include Cambridge graduate Farhana Bhula, who has just completed her first feature Bonobo by Matthew Knott, entirely financed through private investors; David Allain, a director and writer, who as a producer has been responsible for putting the film arm of Rankin’s company on the map; and Goldsmith University graduate Amy Basil, who has been working in the film industry both in the US and UK and maintains a relationship with foreign talents by working on international co-productions.

The selection reflects the Bureau’s intention of “connecting the writers with experienced professionals from diverse backgrounds, so that everyone will have the possibility of finding a working partner that best suits their aspirations for their film.”

The producers will now work with the seven writers, who will continue developing a combination of genre projects and indie stories. The Bureau will also continue promoting all the initial 14 writers who continue to work on their ideas after having brought them to treatment stage through the workshop.

The second SOS workshop will take place in Genova at Genova-Liguria Film Commission from Nov 6-8. As in the first module the writers will work with one another and with assigned mentors from The Bureau.

Additionally they will work with the selected producers who will provide one to one feedback on at least two projects each, giving the writers a unique opportunity to share their work with professionals in a safe and creative environment.

In addition to Valentina Brazzini, Matthieu de Braconier and Tristan Goligher of The Bureau, there are a number of confirmed speakers for the November Workshop.

These include script editor Stephen Cleary (who developed more than 60 features including Before the Rain, Rob Roy and Butterfly Kiss); story editor Anna Seifert-Speck (who worked as development and talent executive for independent producers and regional film funds such as Creative England, EM Media and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg) and Italian filmmakers Ivan Cotroneo (I Am Love, Loose Cannons), Michelangelo Frammartino and Marta Donzelli (writer-director and producer of Le Quattro Volte) will share their own development experiences with the group.

SOS 2013 is supported by Creative Skillset’s Film Skills Fund, which is funded by the National Lottery via the BFI, and through the Skills Investment Fund, and also through new partnerships formed with the London Film School, Three Mills Studios, and the Genova Liguria Film Commission.

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