STORYVILLE VANCOUVER - Thursday, October 1

Presented in collaboration with Knowledge

Storyville Vancouver, in partnership with BC public broadcaster Knowledge Network, is scheduled for presentation during the Film and TV Forum on Thursday, October 1. Its aim is to stimulate the co-financing and co-production of the creative, feature length documentary. The Forum and Knowledge is delighted to have attracted some of the world's leading broadcasters to Vancouver to help Canadian filmmakers develop long-term strategic relationships and enhance project development. This initiative is i nspired in part by the Amsterdam Forum organized by IDFA and with a nod to Nick Fraser's BBC strand. Storyville Vancouver will be complimented by a series of panels and networking opportunities.

Pre-selected creative, Canadian feature length (minimum TV hour) documentary projects at various levels of development will be publicly pitched to international commissioning editors with accredited Forum observers in attendance.

Get up close and personal with those who are passionate about long form, creative documentaries. Hear directly from Canadian, American and European commissioning editors about what is going on in their respective markets when it comes to documentary development, financing and production plus the long-term forecast for non-fiction entertainment.

Moderator:
Rudy Buttignol, President & CEO, Knowledge Network Corporation

Guest Speakers:
Claire Aguilar, VP of Programming, ITVS
Axel Arnö, Commissioning Editor, SVT
Hans Robert Eisenhauer, Head of Thema, ZDF/ARTE
Nick Fraser, Commissioning Editor, Storyville, BBC
Mette Hoffman-Meyer, Commissioning Editor, TV2, Danish Public Broadcasting
Cara Mertes, Director, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program
Cindy Witten, Director General, English Program, NFB

10:45 – 12:00 PM
Art of the Biography (FTV13)

Everybody loves a good story – especially when it is about someone’s remarkable life. Biographies have become a mainstay of non-fiction programming for many networks around the world. They can take a variety of styles such as tabloid THS style fodder, investigative re-enactments or intimate and personal tales of a lifetime of achievement. From the filmmakers POV, taking on someone’s life story can be a daunting task. The director / subject relationship in a biography is highly specialized and must balance authenticity against sometimes gritty realities in the subject’s past. Our filmmakers discuss recommendations for research, access, rights, interview techniques, fresh approaches to an old format and the do’s and don’ts of taking another’s life and putting it on film.

Moderator:
Gillian Hrankowski, Producer, Force Four Entertainment

Guest Speakers:
Ondi Timoner, Director, We Live in Public
Peter McCormack, Director, Facing Ali
David Paperny, President, Paperny Films
Thomas Riedelsheimer, Director, Seelenvögel (Soul Birds)

12:10 – 1:40 PM
Speed Dating Sessions - Docs (FTV14)

Designed for emerging and transitioning filmmakers, these sessions are the perfect opportunity to have one-on-one meetings with broadcasters and local senior producers, pitch projects, get feedback and forge new relationships! For application guidelines and a list of participating producers and broadcasters please click here. Limited capacity – first-come, first-served basis, pre-registration required. You must have purchased either a STORYVILLE Day Pass or DOC TALK Day Pass to register.

REGISTRATION FOR SPEED-DATING SESSIONS IS NOW CLOSED.

1:45 – 3:00 PM and 3:15 - 4:45 PM
Storyville Pitches Part 1 + 2 (FTV15)

The creative documentary is the crown jewel of the non-fiction world – passionate, cutting edge, filmmaker-driven, in-depth, up close and personal… The 2009 Forum, in collaboration with Knowledge Network is proud to support this essential format by pre-selecting six projects for live presentation to an international panel of commissioning editors. Each producer/filmmaker team has 20 minutes in the hot seat to pitch their film plus an opportunity to source financing for their documentary project.

Commissioning Editors:
Claire Aguilar, VP of Programming, ITVS
Axel Arno, Commissioning Editor, SVT
Murray Battle, Director of Independent Production and Presentation, Knowledge Network
Hans Robert Eisenhauer, Head of Thema, ZDF/ARTE
Nick Fraser, Commissioning Editor, Storyville, BBC
Mette Hoffman-Meyer, Commissioning Editor, TV 2, Danish Public Broadcasting
Cara Mertes, Director, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program
Cindy Witten, Director General, English Program, NFB

The Projects :

After Mao’s War Against Nature
Director: Gary Marcuse
Producer: Betsy Carson
Production Company: Face to Face Media

Bongo
Directors: Leah Nelson/Jay Grandin
Producer: Leah Mallen
Production Company: Twofold Films Inc.

Elephants Never Forget
Director/Producer: Patricia Sims
Production Company: CanazWest Pictures Inc.

Family Portrait in Black & White
Director: Julia Ivanova
Producer: Boris Ivanov
Production Company: Interfilm Productions Inc.

Rajaneeshpuram: The Battle for Antelope
Producer/Director: Lawrence McDonald
Producer/Director: David Paperny
Writer/Researcher: Doug Murray
Production Company: Urban Media Film and Entertainment

Shutter
Directors: Sally Aitken/Jessie James Miller/Dan McKinney
Producer: Peter Klein
Production Company: Moose Productions

Ton Up!
Director/Producer: Karen Porter
Production Company: Tony Devenyi Inc.