TRAINING NEWS

Entertainment Master Class back in SA

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:49

The world renowned international Entertainment Master Class (EMC) will hold its second module to be hosted in South Africa from 10 to 14 in Cape Town. Selected local television professionals will, for the first time, have the opportunity to pitch projects in the sitcom / comedy genre to an international panel for consideration and evaluation.

A non-profit executive education programme, the EMC Academy is built around the experience of leading practitioners who provide a learning experience rooted in best practice. Its creative faculty comprises experienced creators, pioneering entrepreneurs and business leaders from across the global entertainment industry.

According to EMC head of Programme John Gough, experts are selected from the initial requirements of each module’s curriculum – in this instance sitcoms and comedy.

Leading industry players with significant current or past experience of the topic are then chosen.

Among the international speakers at the Cape Town module is Humphrey Barclay, the UK’s most innovative and productive writer and producer of comedy and sitcoms over the past 40 years. He is joined by Christian Munder, director of Comedy for Sony Pictures FFP GmbH in Germany, Caroline Torrance, head of BBC’s Worldwide’s Content Acquisition team, and EMC director of Studies and MD Christoph Fey.

South African producer Roberta Durrant of Penguin Films (Sgudi Snaysi, Madame & Eve, Going Up), a participant at last year’s EMC module (also held in Cape Town), will present a session this year.

Gough continues: “I have known Roberta and her work for a number of years. She is a past winner at the Rose d’Or Festival in Switzerland and at one point purchased the UK hit comedy format, The Rag Trade, for South Africa. Roberta has long been a good ambassador for the South African television industry.”

EMC participants undergo a strict vetting process by the EMC selection committee. “This is to ensure that applicants have the right level of professional qualifications and standards to ensure that they can fully benefit from the programme in terms of both content and contacts.

“The EMC module is a fantastic opportunity for any entertainment based individual or company that could benefit from insider knowledge and industry contacts. Furthermore, the value of becoming part of the EMC is greater than the attendance at one module – its value lies in being able to stay in contact and to develop business opportunities globally.

“In fact, two co-production projects (a collaboration between Durrant and SevenOne International and an animation project, Digit, from Markus Davies in negotiation with a German company) were sparked as a result of last year’s module in Cape Town,” notes Gough.

Because the EMC is built around a business to business culture, the EMC keeps in touch with its participants and is aware of career developments through its Alumni Network, Mentorship Programme, EMC Newsletter and bi-annual Market Dinners in Cannes.

Last year the EMC module on reality formats was brought to Cape Town in October as a result of an agreement between the Services Seta (Sector Education Training Authority) and the EMC.

Waterfront Studios’ Liezel Vermeulen, the local co-ordinator for this year’s module, explains that the Services Seta / EMC partnership is presently on hold due to Minister of Higher Education & Training Blade Nzimande’s recent shifting of the Seta landscape.

Says Vermeulen: “Waterfront Studios offered to co-ordinate the 2011 Cape Town EMC and approached the newly formed Media Advertising Information Communication Technologies (MICT) Seta and the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) for support for 2012.

“Our involvement with the EMC stems from the participation at last year’s EMC of one of our producers, Markus Davies, who was very impressed with the event.”

There will be about 30 participants at the EMC with 11 speakers including veteran US literary agent Norman Kurland who represented the creators of Cheers, Frasier, Magnum PI and Will and Grace; Keri Lewis Brown, MD of K7Media which tracks the hottest TV formats and offers global insights; and Lee Walters, lead writer of children’s and teen comedy – both live action and animation for clients like BBC, Millimages, Canal + and France 2.

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