Europa Distribution is continuing its long-standing partnership with Sofia Meetings, the industry branch of the Sofia International Film Festival in Bulgaria. From 18 to 22 March, Europa Distribution will host its traditional workshop “Effective Communication in Professional Interactions, Team Management and Negotiation” at the 23rd edition of the market. The closed training will gather distributors from the association from all over Europe and yet again this year, it will be enriched by a closed working session with exhibitors from Europa Cinemas, the International Network of Cinemas.

Efficient communication is a powerful tool to manage different contexts such as negotiation and professional interactions, which represent the daily work of distributors. Through theory, exercises, shared experiences and situation analysis, participants will identify the most effective style of communicating and negotiating according to the situation. and learn how to improve their communication skills in order to acquire, sell and promote films, interact with colleagues and manage their team at best. This workshop will tackle the Process Communication Model and will be given by Patrick Zacharis, Business Coach & Sustainable Talents Developer (Belgium).

Europa Distribution and Europa Cinemas joined forces again to host another working session between their members on Saturday 21 March. The roundtable format will provide a valuable platform for all participants, distributors and exhibitors, to exchange best practices and ideas across the customer-facing areas of the film industry and to explore synergies between their strategies. The aim is to strengthen understanding and collaboration between the two sectors, to foster the promotion and circulation of European independent films.

Attending distributors will also participate to Sofia Meetings activities: Work In Progress Screenings of Bulgarian and Balkan films, market screenings, meetings and professional networking events.

Europa Distribution organises many events for their members during the whole year, in partnership with several international film markets & festivals in Europe, to create spaces where distributors can discuss with diverse film professionals and experts about the challenges related to the release and promotion of European independent films. The network’s next events will be the closing session for their mentorship programme EDMentorShe in Brussels on April 10, and a workshop focusing on Asian film releases in the scope of Focus Asia, Udine from 26 to 29 April.