Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland has congratulated John Wallace, who has been selected as Ireland’s ‘Producer on the Move’ for the EFP (European Film Promotion) networking programme, which usually takes place at the Cannes Film Festival.
The programme will now run independently of the Cannes Film Festival, which has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and EFP ‘Producer on the Move’ will take place as originally planned from 11 to 15 May 2020. 20 selected up-and-coming European producers will meet online this year and present their projects in speed meetings and roundtable sessions. A case study, as well as talks with experts, will round out the digital programme running over five days. EFP started the programme 21 years ago, and more than 420 producers have participated since then. Many of them have gone on to become internationally respected industry players whose works are screened at A-festivals around the world, winning Academy Awards and garnering critical acclaim.
John Wallace is an Irish film producer and co-Managing Director of Cowtown Pictures, producing the feature film Rialto, which received its World Premiere at the Venice Film Festival in 2019. In recent years, John also co-produced the features End of Sentence and Cellar Door with Samson Films, as well as several feature dramas, documentaries, and Kirsten Sheridan’s Dollhouse in 2012, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival that year.
Previous Irish ‘Producers on the Move’ include Cormac Fox (Animals), Alan Maher (Song of Granite), Katie Holly (Vita & Virginia), John Keville and Conor Barry (The Hole in the Ground), Juliette Bonass (A Date for Mad Mary), Rebecca O’Flanagan (Papi Chulo), and Macdara Kelleher (Black ’47).
Producers on the Move has become an established brand in the international film industry over the last 20 years. Being a Producer on the Move is an honour and ensures international recognition. It is very important for EFP to continue supporting, promoting and connecting promising creative people as well as raising the visibility of their work and fostering cooperation within Europe – especially at this moment and in spite of these challenging times. We are grateful to the Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the European Union and our EFP member organisations, the national promotion institutes, who are supporting this year’s online version of our initiative in a flexible and unbureaucratic way.
Sonja Heinen, Managing Director – EFP
The national film promotion institutes supporting this year’s edition of EFP Producers on the Move are: British Council, Bulgarian National Film Center, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Czech Film Center, Danish Film Institute, Estonian Film Institute, Finnish Film Foundation, German Films, Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales / ICAA (Spain), Instituto do Cinema e do Audiovisual I.P. / ICA (Portugal), Istituto Luce Cinecittà (Italy), Kosovo Cinematography Center, Lithuanian Film Centre, Norwegian Film Institute, Polish Film Institute, Screen Ireland, Slovenian Film Centre, Swedish Film Institute, Swiss Films and Unifrance.
EFP Producers on the Move is supported by the Creative Europe MEDIA Programme of the European Union and Eurimage and in partnership with Festival Scope. Main media partner is Variety. Interviews with this year’s Producers on the Move will be published on the programmes’ additional media partners’ websites: www.cineuropa.org and www.fadetoher.com.