Nicholas met business and fellow filmmakers in first digital Tempo MeetUp

The opportunity to join the Tempo Documentary Festival 2021 was really valuable!

Because of FilmCloud I was able to participate in an amazing filmmaker meetup, watch great documentary movies and discuss the project I'm co-producing with Americk Lewis, a documentary feature about our journey creating the All My Friends Are Stars Music Festival in the amazing city of Gothenburg, Sweden. Speaking to representatives from funding organizations, co-production companies and distributors such as SVT, Konstnärsnämnden, SFI, SVT and producers, sales agents and fellow filmmakers, I received amazing feedback that has helped me understand the story I'm making and how to present it to audiences. 

One of the most unknown parts of making a documentary is how to speak about it in a pitch, because I'm part of the project so intimately, choosing the right two sentences can often be difficult. I could talk for hours because I'm so passionate, but where do I start and what specific words should I use to describe my project?  So after sharing my ideas and hearing other ideas in the Meetup group, we had the opportunity to learn from and speak to Irena Taskovski of Taskovski Films, an international sales agent who spoke about her masterful strategies behind the success of her films. She helped me further frame my idea into a solid pitch! I learned that the audience loves story, but also personal development of the characters, it's not always about the information, such as what happened, or the success etc, but how the people in the project change as a result of what they've been through. This feedback was enormously helpful! 

Filmmaker Lina Maria Mannheimer taught an amazing Masterclass to the Tempo Meetup group, sharing her inspiring story, how she sees sparks of light in her film subjects and she shared very valuable advice from her amazing international career. 

We learned from many of the funding organizations in Sweden what their criteria is, the typical budgets they see, and how many opportunities there are for funding and co-productions. 

During one of our sessions, Mats Agren of SVT gave a helpful tip, "Time is a documentary filmmaker's best friend."

Thanks to FilmCloud, Tempo, the filmmakers, all the Meetup participants, Santa (our Coordinator), all the Consultants, and Masterclass teachers.