Screen International proudly presents Stacey Parks of FilmSpecific.com & Thomas Mai of FestivalDarlings.com in a special half-day workshop at the Berlin Film Festival entitled:

DAWN OF THE MICRO MAJOR FILM PRODUCER

Let's face it..... independent film financing & distribution models are changing fast! We want to help you stay on top of all the changes and harness the power of it all to create your very own "Micro Major". You've heard of the Major's (the studios), and the Mini-Majors (the 'independent' arms of the Studios), but right now what we are seeing is the dawn of the Micro-Major where independent producers can take control of their projects like never before.

At this half day intensive you're going to learn how to:

• Engage & aggregate your target audience via Social Media platforms

• Bring on marketing & promotional partners for your film at the various stages of production

• Execute effective email campaigns to your target audience

• Leverage Crowd Funding for financing your next film & combining it with traditional forms of financing

• Optimize your film's website for direct-to-consumer sales

• Maximize VOD revenue

• Capitalize on specialty screenings

• and much more!

PLUS.... Mike Goodridge Editor of Screen International will be giving an Introduction!

*** Seating is limited and we expect to sell out fast ***

About Workshop Leaders:

Stacey Parks is an expert in the area of Film & TV distribution, with over 15 years experience working with independent film producers. As a Foreign Sales Agent since 2001 she has secured distribution for hundreds of independent features and programs worldwide. She has sold films and programs to NHK (Japan), RTL (Germany), Canal Plus (France), BBC, SkyTV, HBO, Showtime, Starz, PBS, A&E, History Channel, Travel Channel and countless others.

After spending several years in the trenches of independent film & program distribution, Stacey decided to write the book "The Insiders Guide To Independent Film Distribution" (Focal Press 2007), considered to be an essential handbook for independent filmmakers seeking production and distribution insight for their films. Simultaneously she launched FilmSpecific.com, a website dedicated to educating filmmakers about independent film financing, distribution, & marketing. Since it's launch, FilmSpecific.com has been named by Moviemaker Magazine "one of the 50 best websites for moviemakers", and "one of the top 25 websites that filmmakers need to know about".

In 2009 Stacey launched Media Sparks Entertainment and currently specializes in producing Film and TV projects for all media platforms, with international appeal. Stacey also works on putting together international co-production and co-financing for Film and TV projects with European partners.

Recognized as an expert in the field, Ms. Parks has spoken and lectured extensively on the subject of independent film distribution across the United States and Europe, including at the AFM, Cannes Film Festival and British Film Institute. She holds a Masters degree in International Business from Pepperdine University and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.

Thomas Mai has sold over hundreds of feature films to distributors around the world ranging from the smallest independet films to bigger films with Hollywood stars. Thomas has sold films by Lars von Trier, Lukas Moodysohn, Thomas Vinterberg, Susanne Bier, Baltasar Kormakur, Lone Scherfig, Josef Fares, Per Fly and many others.

You can watch Thomas Mai's presentation on VOD & Crowdfunding for free through Itunes, copy and paste the following link into your browser

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=342575704 

Dont use Itunes? http://festivaldarlings.23video.com/video/526600/vod-and-what-it-means-to-the

Thomas has also produced 4 feature films and won numerous awards. The latest film was One Point O selected for the main competition in Sundance 2004. In 2000 Thomas was singled out by film trade magazine Variety as one of Ten Producers to Watch.

Thomas was Managing Partner and producer in Klondike Film from 1996-1998, Copenhagen, Denmark and CEO of Trust Film Sales from 1998-2000, Copenhagen, Denmark. From 2000-2002 he was the Managing Partner and producer of ZentAmerica. Thomas was CEO of Los Angeles based Katapult Film Sales from 2004-2006. From 2006-2009 Thomas was Head of New Business at TrustNordisk, Copenhagen, Denmark

Thomas is an expert on the new digital possibilies and has been an invited speaker/expert at the following Film Festivals/events.:

EAVE Luxembourg 2009 Expert, Film Finance Forum, UK Film Council, key note speaker, London, 2009, Erich Pommer Institute, Speaker, Baden 2009, European Union’s Media Desk, Speaker, Brussels 2009, IFF in conversation with Ted Hope & Thomas Mai, Toronto 2009, Distribution U, USC LA with Scott Kirsner & Peter Broderick 2009, AFM / WIF The New Hollywood Studio LA 2009Film Workshop Nordisk Film & TV Fond 2008, Expert,Digital Distribution Danish Film Institute meeting 2008, Expert, Digital DistributionHaugesund Film Festival 2008 Panel for Film Sales Agents,Toronto Film Festival 2008 International Film Finance Forum, Krakow Film Policy Forum 2008, Expert on VOD, Bergen Film Festival 2008 Expert, Video On Demand, Sundance/NHK 2008 Jury member Int Filmmakers Award, Danish Producer Association 2008 Expert, Video On Demand, Stockholm Film Festival 2008 Expert, The Digital Revolution, EAVE Luxembourg 2008 Expert, Film Marketing Workshop. 

Thomas currently resides in Natal in Brazil.