The Berlinale Co-Production Market is a two-and-a-half-day event for about 450 international producers, sales agents, distributors as well as broadcasting and funding representatives active in the field of co-production.

 

The tenth Berlinale Co-Production Market took place from Sunday to Tuesday, February 10-12, 2013.

 

Each autumn, production companies from around the world seeking co-production partners can submit projects. By Christmas, the Berlinale Co-Production Market team selects the projects that will be presented in the Project Catalogue. This catalogue is e-mailed to all Co-Production Market participants about three weeks before the Berlinale.

After studying the catalogue, each participant can decide which producers from the selected projects he/she would like to get to know in a 30-minute one-on-one meeting. These meetings are set up by the Berlinale Co-Production Market team according to the availability of the participants. Upon arrival, each participant receives his own customised meeting schedule.

 

Intensive individual support in order to “make perfect matches” is part of the service offered by the Berlinale Co-Production Market. The team headed by project manager Sonja Heinen is ready to provide assistance.

 

Additional one-on-one meetings can be requested with selected, highly experienced international companies in the Company Matching Programme. These meetings are not centred around single projects, but offer room for structural exchange, for example to discuss business ideas, company strategies and potential common grounds for potential collaborations and international alliances.

 

Further to the one-on-one meetings, participants can find the latest hands-on information and make new contacts through the many networking opportunities during the market. Case Studies on Berlinale films elaborate on current trends in co-production and financing opportunities and in Theme Talks participants can exchange experiences with experts and colleagues on selected topics. Country Sessions and Speed Matching sessions round out the programme. At the Country Sessions, experts provide information about production conditions and co-production opportunities in a particular country. During a Speed Matching session, participating producers can make new contacts during successive, informal 5-minute meetings.

 

First launched in 2006, Books at Berlinale is the world’s first market for literary adaptations linked to an A film festival. At a seated breakfast, around ten selected books with a high potential for screen adaptation are presented to interested producers by international publishers and literary agents.

 

Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick describes the Berlinale Co-Production Market as “a home for international producers and financiers attending the Berlinale.” Here they find what they usually look for at a festival: high-quality international projects, excellent business contacts and new opportunities for co-operations.

 

The main partners of the Berlinale Co-Production Market are MDM Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (since 2004) and the European Union’s MEDIA Programme (since 2005).