NIFTC welcomes international broadcasters to Northern Ireland

The NIFTC has been named Hosting Partner for Discovery Campus’ first event in the UK or Ireland, which will bring executives from the world’s leading broadcasters and 150 documentary film producers from all over Europe to Belfast from March 4-6 2005.

Co-sponsored by Skillset, Screen Training Ireland and BBC Northern Ireland, 'Discovery Campus Belfast – Commissioning Editors Pitch their Slots', is a unique event for the local, national and international documentary industry to meet and listen to broadcasters pitch their slots for documentary, opportunities for co-production and pre-sales and, in this case, discuss recent changes in the UK broadcasting sector.

Taking place in BBC Studios, Belfast, the event has already secured the attendance of Richard Klein, BBC Network; Sidney Suissa, National Geographic International; Marijke Rawie, AVRO Netherlands; Hans Robert Eisenhauer, ZDF and ARTE Germany; and is continuing to confirm the attendance of up 20 further commissioning editors from Poland to the USA.

Discovery Campus, supported by the MEDIA Plus programme of the European Union, is the only professional training initiative in Europe dedicated to international co-productions of high-quality documentaries for a large audience. As a European initiative for vocational training, Discovery Campus offers professionals and up-and-coming talents in the documentary film sector specially tailored training possibilities and connects them with international decision-makers. Through practice-oriented workshops, seminars and symposia, Discovery Campus conveys know-how and all-important contacts for working in the international market.

NIFTC Chief Executive Richard Williams commented: "The NIFTC is delighted to be bringing Discovery Campus to the UK for the first time. It is important that this event is seen as a UK event and not merely a Northern Irish event. With the change in the terms of trade in the UK, this is an extremely timely opportunity for UK producers to explore other European markets for documentary film. Historically, UK producers have not looked to Europe to finance their projects but as the level of finance available within the UK lowers, it will be important to exploit all the potential financing avenues."

(GB)