TRANSYLVANIAN MOVIEPRENEURS
I. ABOUT THE PROJECT
“Transylvanian Moviepreneurs” is a cultural project realized by the partners of the Foundation Civitas – for Civil Society, 23 FILM and PROJECTS – Iceland in the framework of the European programme RO-Culture funding programme, period September 2020 – March 2021.
Please note that “Transylvanian Moviepreneurs” is a project financed by EEA funds, started through the Ministry of Culture and the Management Unit through the RO-Cultura programme.
This entrepreneurial education project is aimed at young professionals in the cultural and creative industries, and its main objective is to create connections between top professionals and entrepreneurs in the creative industries, with a focus on business models in the entrepreneurial environment.
The overall objective of the project is to strengthen the cultural-creative ecosystem by developing knowledge of professionals in the field of cultural entrepreneurship and cultural cooperation.
The specific objectives are job creation and knowledge/expertise building through exchange of experience, job shadowing and mentoring with the partner in Iceland. Therefore, the specific objectives will be represented by the following factors: 10 jobs and strengthening knowledge of 5 promoters through cultural exchange of experience; development of entrepreneurial skills for more than 40 professionals from the cultural and creative sectors, including strengthening specific skills of 21 film industry professionals.
Last but not least, the focus will be on facilitating individuals’ access to culture and audience development for at least 700 people through the creation and dissemination of a film production related to minorities social, ethnic, cultural, sexual, religious minorities.
The target group of the project is young professionals aged 20-35, working in the fields of television and cinema, visual arts, journalism, video editing. The target audience will also include the general public, to whom the broadcasts of the film produced in the bootcamp will be addressed.
Furthermore, the direct beneficiaries of the project are professionals from the cultural and audiovisual industries, creative industries who want to develop their skills in the creative and entrepreneurial field, and the final beneficiaries are audiences interested in the consumption of cultural activities.
More specifically, more than half of the creative industries representatives who completed our questionnaire, study or work in Cluj county.
So the project is composed of the following 5 stages – management; working visit; business workshop; film bootcamp; promotion caravan, which will be further developed.
The educational project “Transylvanian Moviepreneurs” was launched following an online event on the zoom platform on 15 October 2020, attended by more than 60 Romanian entrepreneurs. During this online event the following topics were discussed – introduction and overview of the project; presentation of the partners; presentation of the concepts of entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial training courses and presentation of the concepts of bootcamp concepts.
The launch of the event involved a first interaction in the entrepreneurial environment, with discussions focusing on both the topics of entrepreneurship business models and on the reconfiguration of these models, which is necessary in times of pandemic.
II. PROJECT STAGES
The entrepreneurial education project “Transylvanian Moviepreneurs” consists of 5 stages – management; working visit; business workshop; film bootcamp; film caravan promotion.
a. Management – during this period, the focus will be on the project promoters and the working team – setting objectives and strategies to achieve them, brainstorming, discussions, debates. Afterwards, a work plan and agenda will be organised, as well as a communication plan. The next objective is to develop a marketing and communication strategy, with a focus on transparency and clarity of messages. Last but not least, all these mini-stages will lead to the final objective of stage one, namely the pre-production of the project – from logistics to organisation.
b. Working visit – this stage involves a working visit by the project promoters to Iceland, the partner country. The working visit is essential in the development of the whole project in order to generate brainstorming, exchange of experiences, documentation and job shadowing. The purpose of this visit is both to go through a process involving an exchange of cultural and business experiences and and the implementation of new visions and perspectives in the local entrepreneurial environment.
Through this step, the project will benefit from the added value of taking on board and adapting new business models, which we will find in the partner country. Furthermore, another key objective is focused on the fact that 5 professionals will have the chance to improve their skills as a result of this study visit to Iceland. This exchange of entrepreneurial and cultural experiences will strengthen bilateral relations through observation, interactions, visits to cultural-creative entities, understanding procedures, policies and best practices in the cultural-creative field in Iceland, relations that will continue after the end of the project.
c. Business workshops – the third stage involves business courses for entrepreneurs in the creative industries. This stage is essential in the development of the cultural entrepreneurship project by contributing to the dissemination of applied information from trainers specialised in business. The trainers will disseminate their own knowledge on ways and strategies for making a business plan, business strategies, strategies for financial education and not least, in shaping new business perspectives.
d. Film Bootcamp – the fourth stage involves a film bootcamp for young professionals in the film industry. Top trainers from the film industry (director, cinematographer, editor, producer and acting coach) will guide and participate closely in the process of this stage, which aims to produce a short film in 12 days.
The Bootcamp will also be divided into 5 sub-categories – directing/scriptwriting; image; editing and sound; production; acting. Trainees will be divided into groups and will go through 4 days of theoretical and practical courses with the trainers, followed by a pitch and a casting.
The following period will see the implementation of the pre-production, production stages, post-production and screening of the future short film. The theme of the short film will focus on ethnic, religious, sexual, social and cultural minorities and the results of this phase will be disseminated on the last day of the bootcamp, which will be dedicated to the screening, but also later online and in dedicated festivals. Furthermore, the aim of this stage is to strengthen the specific skills of 21 professionals in the film industry, create 10 jobs and attract a minimum of 700
participants in cultural activities to view the film produced in the project bootcamp, with direct results – 2 SMEs supported by the project.
e. Promotion caravan – the last stage involves disseminating the results of the project “Transylvanian Moviepreneurs” and will involve a promotional tour of the project together with promoters in 5 cities in Romania. During this stage there will be conferences, Q&As, discussions, debates and promotion of the project in case of its replication.
“Transylvanian Moviepreneurs” is therefore a complex and impactful project for strengthening a successful entrepreneurial environment. The needs of the target group will be addressed by the proposed activities, but also the networking that we aim to develop, both between project promoters through the working visit and through the establishment of a dialogue between the trainers of the project and young professionals. Through the 5 main stages, the project aims to provide a new insight into the entrepreneurial environment through strategies and working methods, study visits, business courses and last but not least, a film bootcamp supported by top professionals from Romanian film industry, a bootcamp whose final goal is the production of a film.
