Breaking Through The Lens is a pitching initiative helping connect female-identifying directors to top tier film investors. The program is focused on practical actions and is a direct response to what the organisers, themselves female filmmakers, have encountered as barriers to their progress - access to finance.
The programme launched in Cannes 2018, and we are now accepting entries for our 2019 series. The 10 successful applicants will get the chance to pitch with their team at our event at the Cannes Film Festival 2019 - a guestlist-only event where the audience is limited strictly to people in film finance who are looking to fund female-led projects. All participants will then be connected via e-mail to funders that have shown interest in their project, and every effort will be taken to help them close the deal.
Beyond that, participants will also become part of the Breaking Through The Lens network. Throughout 2019 we are hoping to grow this support, with quarterly events focused on aiding specific stages of pre-production. These will be decided after the final group has been selected, depending on their needs.
You can find out more about the programme and application on BREAKINGTHROUGHTHELENS.COM
This project is open to female-identifying directors with a feature film project in late-stage development.
There is no restriction in terms of genre, but the project must have:
1. A strong, finished script in the case of narrative (or detailed beat sheet in the case of documentaries).
2. A producer with feature film experience attached.
3. Strong visual treatment, which includes a Director’s Statement and artistic references.
4. A full budget and finance plan ready should you be selected.
We will consider favourable projects that have:
5. Key crew and/or cast attached.
6. Initial finance raised.
This is about finding films with strong artist merit, that are in a position to receive finance and go into production within the next 12 months. We invite films that have already participated in or applied to the programme to submit again at a later date, as long as their project has moved forward significantly.
Submission Deadline: 18th March, 2019
Shortlist Notification: 1st April, 2019
Final Notification: No later than 15th April, 2019
Unfortunately at this time we are not able to give feedback on individual applications.
We hope to see you in Cannes!