9. SCREENWRITING Retreat
August 8th to 27th 2022
From recognizing the potential to promoting excellence.
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The screenwriting retreat is a three-week work and writing retreat in which scriptwriters can further develop and present their work.
The Verein der Freunde des Filmfestival Kitzbühel offers filmmakers from Austria and Europe the opportunity to work together with colleagues, coaches and experts from the national and international film industry to discuss their works, to recognize their strengths and to work them out individually.
ABOUT US
The screenwriting retreat is a three-week work and writing retreat in which screenwriters can further develop and present their work.
The association offers filmmakers from Austria and Europe the opportunity to discuss their works with colleagues, coaches and experts from the national and international film industry, to recognize their strengths and to develop them individually.
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A maximum of seven participants are selected each year by the Verein der Freunde des Filmfestival Kitzbühel and a jury of international film experts.
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The cornerstones of the screenwriting retreat are the combination of writing phases, either alone or in a group, one-to-one discussions with the course instructor Sebastian Andrae and coaching with personalities from dramaturgy and film. In addition, lectures, case studies, guest lectures and discussions with industry experts deepen the knowledge and contacts of the young talents. The unique environment of Kitzbühel offers ideal conditions for discourse and writing.
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In 2021, the script retreat ended for the fifth time as part of the AlpenDating, which gave the authors the opportunity to present their projects to the participating agencies from pitching film and tv's forum for emerging production talent.
CONTENT & PRIORITIES
With the screenwriting retreat, we want to appeal primarily to young talents and screenwriters who feel connected to mainstream genre film in all its many facets with their projects or who are trying to further develop their art house project for a discerning audience.
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On the basis of 6 to 9 selected treatments, we can offer the authors useful support with our offer (lectures, case studies, individual discussions in the field of coaching and dramaturgy) and know-how transfer (as a platform for information exchange, connecting people), to improve their treatment or screenplay, to optimize it for submission to a grant and to practice pitch situations with production and editorial staff.
We turn to German-speaking talented young filmmakers, as German is the most spoken language in Europe (Austria, Germany, Switzerland and South Tyrol) and is therefore initially the focus of our interest. (However, knowledge of English is required for the lectures etc.).
SYNOPSIS
CASE STUDY
'DECISION MAKERS'
CROSS MEDIA POTENTIAL DIGITAL WORLD
PITCHING
AIMS
Similar to the Filmfestival Kitzbühel, which is committed to the presentation of debut films and the promotion of young international filmmakers and has thus been a meeting place for international talent since 2013, the support, promotion and further training of young German-speaking authors has been a priority since the institute was founded Focus.
The work of our institute is aimed at the promotion and in-service training of talented young German-speaking screenwriters in order to strengthen them for the constantly changing national and international competition and thus also for the requirements of the market, especially in Europe. For decades, Kitzbühel has been the focus of media attention once a year as an internationally renowned sports town. The high level of international recognition achieved through skiing also reflects on the screenplay retreat taking place in August and draws public attention to a new forum for authors, experts and film fans. The city offers an extraordinary infrastructure and thus young screenwriters and other filmmakers numerous opportunities to exchange ideas with colleagues and industry representatives and to further their professional education.
It is our goal to create an international forum for encounters and professional discourse in Austria, which has the potential to become a popular and important meeting place for the internationally networked film industry.
METHOD
‣ The extra-occupational further training mainly takes the form of a written exam accompanied by experts, which, in addition to imparting specialist knowledge, also enables and at least improves the ability to discuss one's own projects.
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‣ The screenwriting retreat offers participants the opportunity for mutual exchange with international experts and colleagues. The participants are supported by qualified feedback in the team and in individual discussions with the team leader to better position themselves with their film project on the market.
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‣ The clearly structured, but creatively relaxed working atmosphere, free from the usual obligations and distractions of the authors/filmmakers' everyday life, is beneficial to the improvement in quality of every screenplay - structural problems and technical weaknesses are often recognized and improved here for the first time. We use all our opportunities and good contacts to win over smart experts and important representatives from the world of film and media for the screenwriting retreat. In addition, we use opportunities for cooperation with established funding institutions and training centers in Germany and abroad.
INSTRUCTOR
Sebastian Andrae
Since February 2016, the renowned screenwriter and filmmaker Sebastian Andrae has been the new artistic director of the screenplay retreat.
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Born in Hamburg in 1968, he studied German, history and law at the University of Göttingen from 1988 to 1992 and then switched to directing at the HFF Munich in 1992. However, he specialized in writing early on and graduated with a diploma for a feature film screenplay. Andrae has been a board member of the Association of German Screenwriters (VDD) since 2007 and its executive board since 2015. He was a member of several expert juries and hosts the annual German film prize for the best screenplay (Lola) at the Berlinale reception for screenwriters. Since 2009 he has been a member of the award committee, the screenplay committee and the administrative board of the Film Funding Agency (FFA) and since 2014 he has been a member of the executive committee as a representative of the creative community.
FEEDBACK
Nicole MOSLEH
The screenwriting retreat was the main reason for the development of my project; without her, I wouldn't have thought of questioning my characters, their motivations, or their relationships with each other.
Alisa BERGER
It was very balanced and very diverse in content and approach. Not too many and not too few authors. All were respectful, dedicated and keen to meet the other fabrics with honesty and the greatest possible encouragement and challenge. I felt very well taken care of.
July BEEPER
Through Sebastian's suggestion to focus on my main characters and his persistent probing at the weak points, the protagonists, their Backgrounds and motifs are very much further developed. So I have that too Found the core of the story so I now have a very good idea where I want to go in further development.
Patrick Neuback
What really helped me was the intensive examination of my characters.
Sebastian's sensitive way of designing showed me new ways to develop tangible characters and to tell compelling stories from within. In Kitzbühel I learned to love my own figures in a whole new way!
CONTACT
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