19/12/2019 - With the new session ready to start, we had a chance to get feedback about what being a Development angel entails is by talking to some of last year’s participants

LIM's Artistic Director Antoine Le Bos during the Development angels collective sessions at the third workshop this year in Brittany (© Gabriel Brunet-Sanz)

Less Is More (LIM) has already opened its annual call for Development angels: creative producers, development and film fund executives, story-editors, and commissioning editors who want to strengthen their ability to follow the development of feature film projects. The deadline for applications is 15 January 2020.

To offer a wider overview of the programme, we talked to some of the participants of the 2019 edition who told us about their experience.

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Ukrainian producer Aleksandra Kostina gives detailed insight: “During the last three years, I have attended different workshops and for me, LIM is the best course I’ve ever had. It was the most result-oriented, offered great tutors and atmosphere, and allowed me to network with people from literally all over the world. As a Development angel, I attended the first part of the course in Malopolska (Poland) and the pitching sessions during the Transilvania International Film Festival. The training program in Poland was great. The balance between different forms of group and individual sessions was ideal and helped participants work on their projects in a very effective way to get great results in a short period of time. As Development angels, we also had additional training sessions that were very useful for me. I’m very thankful for the experience I got during the course, as I can use it now in my daily job with writers."

French producer Héloïse Noé also mentions: “I had already been involved in development, but until then, I was collaborating with directors following only my own intuition. In that process, I had to find out what their needs were and how to best approach their projects, though development sometimes led to a dead-end. What LIM really offered me during this intense week was a chance to test some things with writers and evaluate the whole development process. I also found out that we should really stop focusing on the script so much, even though as a producer this would be my first concern. Through these masterclasses, I’ve been exposed to other perspectives and found new ways to approach new projects, especially after taking the time to talk with the writers and thinking about whether I would be the right producer or not. As Development angels, we are really reinventing ourselves.”

Belgian producer Céline Pourveur tells us about her own experience: “I finally discovered that the uncertainty of being a Development angel is actually a great strength. Sometimes, I’m observing, listening, taking notes. Other times, I’m reframing questions, clarifying things. And sometimes, I am asking questions myself, or making propositions. But it’s a constant process of re-questioning, redefining your role in this conversation between tutor and maker, in order to help advance the conversation."

Polish communication expert Joanna Solecka underlined: "What I appreciated the most was being part of a creative process and having the opportunity to observe how creativity works and how it can be boosted."

Finally, Macedonian producer Elena Stanisheva stated: “I highly recommend this training course to all my fellow producers and screenwriters/directors from Macedonia and abroad, because it is an amazing opportunity not just to develop your project, but also to develop yourself as a filmmaker."

Development angels is an alternative to the more restricted notion of “Story editors” as the programme aims to enhance collaboration between everyone involved in the development of a film. A total of twelve participants will be selected from this call, and groups of four will participate in each of the three one-week LIM sessions throughout the year, and they will be able to monitor the development of four projects over that period. They will also be coached separately by a dedicated tutor and by LIM’s Artistic Director, Antoine Le Bos, and will attend masterclasses and sessions specifically designed for them.