18.7.10

10th day - Financing, Distributing and Screening of the Films

Wow!...

This was the last day of the course... I can't believe how fast it all ended... I'm feeling very nostalgic while writing these words because by now it's all over... and these were some of the best 2 weeks of my life.

In the morning Rebecca Knapp gave us some notions on how to finance a film and of all the costs involved in the process. She also told us how the profits are distributed and more important - how to properly target and advertise your film to guarantee you have profits. After all, filmmaking is as much an art as it is a business.

 Financing and distributing class with Rebecca Knapp

In the afternoon the museum's auditorium was used for the screening of all of the 11 short films made by the students in the course. There were some pretty good concepts there, definitely. It's amazing how different minds can come up with such different ideas, all based on the same subject and having the same restrictions.

After the screenings the Vice-Mayor of Portimão handed over the course certificates to all the students and expressed his wish to establish a permanent partnership with LFA, which would be unquestionably terrific for all the aspiring filmmakers of Portugal, in my opinion.

LFA is all about know-how and that's exactly what's missing in Portugal's academic film panorama. Furthermore, its prestige would certainly attract more foreign and private investment in Portugal's film industry.

 Receiving the Course Diploma
Anna MacDonald and the Vice-Mayor of Portimão

After the ceremonies there was a little party at the museum with drinks and snacks.

 The LFA's Principal providing catering services.

We said some sad goodbyes as Anna and Becky left earlier to London, in the end of the afternoon.

In the evening, all the students and the remaining course staff went to Praia da Rocha to have dinner: take-away pizza on the beach, chatting under the stars with the fine tunes of a guitar and the sea in the background.

It was an absolutely delightful night. With the intensive rhythm of the course, and because we were separated in two different groups early on, we ended up not socializing very much with each other. After the course days we were frequently too tired to go out or had things to prepare for the next day.

This evening made me see what I had been missing. I got to know the other side of these people, outside of the course environment, and they were really great: deep, intelligent, fascinating...

My only regret is to have missed the opportunity to hang around more with them... At least we kept each other's contacts and I hope we can keep networking and that we'll meet again soon... It's great to know people who share the same dreams than you... and who have such interesting and different personalities.

The conversations I had this night were incredibly enriching and even though this bonding was created in a matter of hours, I hope it was strong enough to last.

For my part, It definitely was.

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