08/05/2006

For the seventh year in a row, producers of ACE (Ateliers du Cinéma Européen) will take advantage of the Cannes Film Festival to hold five breakfasts for the members of its network and international industry professionals.

Due to take place from May 20-24, these events provide participants with an excellent opportunity to discuss projects in development and to meet potential partners for future productions, while also allowing ACE to discover young producers and upcoming talent such as writers/directors in the Cinéfondation and participants in the Masterclass.

Presided over by Simon Perry, ACE’s members include 175 European producers and its board of directors includes such well-known personalities as Ido Abram (Netherlands), Philippe Carcassonne (France), Roberto Cicutto (Italy), Tomas Eskilsson (Sweden), Bertrand Faivre (France/UK), Jens Meurer (Germany), José Maria Morales (Spain), Lynda Myles (UK), Mark Shivas (UK), Pavel Strnad (Czech Republic), Cecilia Valmarana (Italy) and Michael Weber (Germany).

At Cannes, ACE will also launch a call for submissions for its 16th annual session (2006-2007). Independent European producers interested in participating in the programme should already have made at least one feature and present a feature project in development for which they need scriptwriting and financial advice. Registration is open until July 1, 2006. Projects that have been pre-selected will be announced early September and meetings of the selection committee will take place early October in Paris or London.

The 16th ACE workshops will take place over three days in early November and during a week in early December. Each year, ACE chooses 15 producers. Recent workshops have brought together professionals from twelve European countries: Germany, England, Austria, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Czech Republic, Sweden and Switzerland.

(Translated from French)