Closing the Gap

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS LAUNCHES FOR WINTER/SPRING 2014 EDITION OF CLOSING THE GAP: EQUITY INVESTMENT TRAINING & PITCHING
Seeking funding for your film, TV, or transmedia project?
Interested in pitching to equity investors?
Want to learn how to close your project’s budget gap?

Closing The Gap is a training course and pitching session for film, TV, and transmedia producers organized by creative industries financing consultancy peacefulfish (Berlin/London/Brussels/Cannes) in association with the pan-European investor network Media Deals (Paris/Berlin) and with the support of the Apulia Film Commission (Bari, Italy) and the Investitionsbank Berlin (Germany).

Launched in 2010 with co-financing from the MEDIA Programme of the European Commission and now in its 5th edition, Closing The Gap has been attended by over 65 international producers. The course addresses methods to identify, approach, and pitch to equity investors, teaching business skills that producers can use to find additional sources of financing in the current financial climate.

Investors participating on the pitch panel include:

> individual business angels

> representatives of business angel funds

> venture capital financiers

> gap equity fund managers

Through Closing The Gap, producers learn innovative financing strategies, prepare business plan content and pitch presentations targeted to an equity investor audience, have a range of networking opportunities with the invited investors and tutors, receive extensive one-to-one feedback and pitch coaching and—at the course’s conclusion—pitch their projects to a panel of equity investors.

Producers should apply with a specific project. About half the projects selected are at an early stage and about half are at a late stage (producers have attended with projects at the treatment/script phase as well as with projects in post-production, and several of the investors on our pitch panel can invest in development while several invest in production). The course fee is 900 euro per producer, which includes individual Skype consultations with the tutors, access to the two on-site sessions, and lunches and some dinners for the attending producer during the sessions. Producers must cover their own travel and accommodation costs. Scholarships are available from peacefulfish.

Application Deadline: 18 February 2014

For additional information about Closing The Gap including locations and dates of the two on-site sessions as well as to download the application form, visit:

www.closing-the-gap.net