a 9-month professional training programme focused on 21st-century film markets:
AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT, MARKETING, SALES, DISTRIBUTION, EXHIBITION, AND CURATORSHIP
| Designed and run by: | Partner: | With the support of: | ||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
ABOUT
NEXT WAVE is a 9-month professional training programme focused on the cinephilia of the future and the development of international film markets: How can film sales, distribution, and traditional exhibition models, alongside streaming and festivals respond to the challenges of the film markets in the 21st century?
Who is this programme for? NEXT WAVE is designed for professionals from the areas of sales, distribution, exhibition, festivals and marketing, with a working experience of 3-5 years, who are willing to gain in-depth knowledge of the industry, build a professional network, and develop their own strategies for future film markets.
Up until now, there has been no post-graduate level programme that brings together the professionals who will reinvigorate sales, festivals, marketing, programming, and audience development in the European landscape and beyond. NEXT WAVE aims to fill that gap, while responding to the rapid transformation of audio-visual markets in the digital age.
Lysann Windisch
Lysann studied theatre and film before going on to manage various arthouse cinemas in Munich. She organised and programmed a variety of film events focusing on Eastern European cinema, including five editions of the annual Polish Film Festival Munich. In 2017, Lysann moved to Berlin to become the general manager and programmer of the relaunched Eiszeit cinema. Following its unfortunate closing in 2018, Lysann joined the Sino-European producers association “Bridging the Dragon” as manager of festival relationships and partner liaison. Since summer 2019, she has been running the NEXT WAVE programme, while overseeing the marketing activities of MUBI Germany (starting in 2020). She also serves as a mentor and consultant for the training programme of the International Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas (CICAE) in Venice.
Foto: MIKA-fotografie | Berlin
Rebecca Heiler
Rebecca has worked as a freelance author, editor, moderator, programmer, and project manager for film festivals such as goEast, interfilm, Filmfestival Cottbus and Berlinale Generation since 2014. She holds a master’s degree in Eastern European studies from LMU Munich and a bachelor’s degree in translation. Rebecca is fluent in six languages and joined the DFFB to launch NEXT WAVE in 2019.
Selected Projects by Our Alumni
Film O’Clock International Festival
#film agencyThe festival’s first edition took place from February 27 – March 3, 2021
Time to Meet. It’s Film O’Clock.
From the Baltics to the most Southern tip of Africa, Film O’Clock International Festival uses meridians to connect audiences across cities, countries, and continents. With simultaneous screenings and live Q&A’s, audiences are given the chance to experience a film festival from miles away. FoC IFF will bring the Northern and the Southern Hemispheres together, because the love for cinema stretches beyond our borders.
Curated by a committee of programmers from each country, the festival selection will focus on the discovery of new voices, and highlight each culture’s storytelling trends.
FoC IFF aims to make the film festival experience more accessible by eliminating expensive travel fees and the “by invitation-only” tradition. Films can be used as a vehicle to communicate emotions and ideas and, thereby, enrich the audience’s understanding of themselves and others. By connecting different audiences in the same time zone, the interchange of films and discussions aim to instil empathy and broaden one country’s awareness of another. A love is cultivated as a result, not only for cinema, but also for our time zone-neighbours.
Film O’Clock International Festival was founded by our alumna Mirona Radu, who is also the festival director and responsible for the Romanian film selection. Her NEXT WAVE colleague Ioanna Kryona collaborates as the festival delegate for Greece.
Kino Prototype
#research projectWatching a film together gives us a chance to shape a common perspective of the present and the future. These last few months have highlighted in an unprecedented way how vital this feeling of community is. The coronavirus pandemic has forced movie-theaters to close everywhere around the globe, pushing moviegoers to adjust their way of viewing movies. In response to this situation, many exhibitors have tried not only to make films available, but also to recreate this dialogue which is essential to the cinematic experience.
Kino Prototype is a research project exploring the future of the collective cinema experience. By delving into creative strategies used locally to bring audiences together, this research aims to create an inventory of different innovative models experimented during this key period of transformation.
Through case studies of non-standard procedures, the project intends to map an uncharted territory: virtual screenings, watch parties, drive-in cinemas, experimental screenings conducted in movie-theaters etc… What are the innovative models that can help exhibitors and the sector as a whole to reshape the cinema experience? How can the industry empower local communities to watch ambitious and curated film programs?
We believe that learning from the diversity of models created can not only help us to thrive in new ecosystems, but also reinforce the power of cinema as a social and popular space.
Each screening is different and unpredictable.
Don’t hesitate to get in touch, we are actively looking for collective experiences from all over the world: contact@kinoprototype.com
MORETHAN
#film agencyA shared passion for film and a common commitment to a collaborative model of working across the value chain and beyond brought together five film professionals from different territories and inspired them to create MORETHAN as part of the NEXT WAVE programme.
As the film industry becomes increasingly global, they saw the need for a new kind of film agency, one that truly operates internationally through a network of partners working under the same collaborative roof.
The mission of MORETHAN is to bring together film professionals from around the world, aiming to create truly international projects, promoting diversity and supporting new voices.
MORETHAN is a collective film agency founded by five NEXT WAVE alumnae: Lorna Bösel from Germany, Emma Caviezel from Sweden, Lidia Damatto from Brazil, Queralt Pons from Spain and Magda Rotko from Poland.
The C-Report
#research projectTHE C REPORT – Changes, Challenges and Consequences for the Film Industry facing the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The C Report is a research paper that explores COVID-19’s impact on the global film industry.
Covering March through June 2020, the report analyses the trends that emerged as the film industry grappled with adapting to a sudden and unprecedented period of change. With the closure of cinemas and cancellation of festivals and markets, the industry largely turned to the digital realm for solutions. The report serves as an in-depth overview of this time and considers the ways in which cinema – as an artform and business – may be changed forever.
- The main topics covered include:
the digitalisation of film festivals and markets; - new approaches to windows and release strategies; and
- audience engagement trends and methods.
The findings of this report are based on the continuous observation of industry responses to the crisis, as well as interviews with film professionals. Film festival directors, sales agents, distributors, exhibitors and streaming service representatives offer their reflections and predictions on this (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime event.
The authors of the report are Magda Rotko (Poland/UK), Lorna Bösel (Germany) and Max Minkoff (UK/ Australia)with the supervision of Johanna Koljonen