Colombia. This week Bogotá is the scene of the Bogotá Audiovisual Market, BAM, an event that brings together new producers with extensive experience with the industry, which has an extensive academic program and exhibition of works. The first day of BAM Talks, as the conferences have been called, focused on the international market, leaving lessons on the global potential of Latin American films.
Professionals such as Stefan Laudyn (Warsaw Film Festival) and Trevor Groth (Sundance Film Festival) expressed their great interest in the potential that Colombia has and how to help it develop through their organizations. In addition, producers such as María Zamora from Avalon, Leonardo Zimbrón from Traziende and Yanick Létourneau from Péripheria showed the success of their experiences and projects that grew in Latin America and are impacting the world.
The #FavorteTips of this day were:
TALK 1: 10 key points to achieve a very good relationship between filmmakers and festivals:
1. Two already cause the disorder. It's important to have a leader.
2. Sales first!
3. Start the festival strategy very early
4. Give the festival the opportunity to offer its best.
5. Have so many plans. In some cases Plan H works best and is perfect.
6. Prepare the materials very well. As simple as it may seem sometimes it is not ready.
7. Size does matter: the biggest festivals go first and the others later, but the latter are also excellent opportunities for growth, visibility and networking.
8. Be discreet.
9. Speak at the right time. Not too far in advance. People forget easily.
10. Think about the long term. Festivals are career-building platforms.
TALK 3, tips on Latin American success stories in the international market:
1. Have a very clear strategy and plan
2. Identify very well who the target audience is (and be realistic)
3. Attend co-production markets to create a buzz of your project early enough
4. Identify international vendors that are suitable for your project through database research such as cinando.com
5. Find a co-production partner that is suitable and expands your possibilities
6. If in the case of having a commercial film you can work with a studio (instead of independent distributors) you have a golden opportunity to reach unimaginable markets.
7. The most important thing about the partners you identify is that they serve to tell the story and not to contribute the money.
