Developing and preparing a production has become an incredibly complex process, especially in the context of multi-country co-productions. The following training courses should help producers and production teams find their way through this complexity. Producers wishing to develop a project can choose between Maia Workshops (for young producers, mainly from southeast Europe), EAVE (for young producers) and ACE (for the more experienced). These courses include sessions on story and script development; legal, budget and financing; and marketing and distribution strategies. EAVE and ACE, in particular, have built an extensive network of alumni producers 1 over the years and very strong relationships with major co-production markets, which have facilitated co-production in Europe.

Nipkow offers a unique personalised mentoring programme on project development, including internships based in Berlin. Three other training courses are more targeted at directors and directors/writers. The Budapest Cinematography Masterclass is a biannual workshop that aims to help young cinematographers at the beginning of their career. Ekran is a three-session training course for creative teams (director, writer, cameraman and producer) including the shoot of a demo package. Les Ateliers Jeanne Moreau is an intensive week-long mentoring course under the guidance of Jeanne Moreau, helping young directors who are preparing their first film.

The pre-production phase is about making key strategic and financial choices and assembling the right team. We offer several courses to help producers make the best decisions. Production Value will help first AD and line producers with scheduling and budgeting of complex multi-country co-production films. EP2C European Post Production Connection focuses on the importance of the early involvement of post-production supervisors in the creative process, planning and budgeting. Digital Production Challenge gives producers, executive producers and production managers the methods and tools to choose the best digital production workflow for their feature film projects and to optimise the communication between the various partners involved, from the director to the post-production provider.