Seventeen international projects have been selected for the 8th edition of the Closing The Gap equity investment training and equity investor pitching session, set to take place at the start of this year's Berlinale. From 8 February through 11 February, the selected producers will pitch their projects to a range of European equity investors including a business angel network from Germany, a business angel fund focused on film music investment, a venture capital fund from Sweden, a pan-European post-production equity provider, an international sales company/distributor, a UK gap financier, and an innovative audiovisual content fund that finances apps, videogames, virtual reality and other transmedia projects. 

The selected film companies include Schmidtz Katze Filmkollektiv (Germany), Dansu Films (Lithuania), Silver Salt Films (UK), Apricot Sky (India), Pencil Trick Productions/Genesis Flux (UK), IGNIS (Serbia), Hub Media (UK), They Film Features (The Netherlands), Bright Pictures (UK), Tengotwo (Spain/Ireland), and Vennerfilm (UK) among others. 

Launched in 2010 by creative industries financing consultancy peacefulfish (www.peacefulfish.com), Closing The Gap has worked with more than 170 film producers and other creative industries professionals, providing tailor-made online and on-site training to assist them in identifying, approaching, and pitching to different types of equity investors. 

'We work very closely with each participant or team of participants, helping them to optimize their financing plans as well as develop individual project- or company-based strategies to attract such investors,' said Marc Robert, who is Closing The Gap's Program Director and Senior Consultant at peacefulfish. 'This intense, targeted training culminates in the selected participants pitching their projects to a panel of experienced European equity players who are already quite active in investing in the film industry as well as other creative sectors.'  

The current edition of Closing The Gap is hosted by the Investitionsbank Berlin (www.ibb.de) and, in addition to the training and pitching sessions, sees the participants and investors taking part in a range of networking events sponsored by the pan-European investor network Media Deals (www.media-deals.org), the Laval Virtual VR Conference & Exhibition (www.laval-virtual.org), and European Film Bonds (www.filmbonds.com).

For more information, please visit www.closing-the-gap.net or e-mail the Program Director at marc_robert@peacefulfish.com    

We are currently accepting applications from producers, writers, and directors for the 2015 edition of the Closing The Gap investment training & equity investor pitching session, which will take place from late June 2015 through early September 2015. The call is open to film, TV, transmedia, and games producers, writers, and directors as well as producers seeking company investment. The application deadline is 27 May 2015 with the individual Skype consultations between the selected participants and the program tutors scheduled to take place from late June 2015 through mid-August 2015. The 4-day on-site session, which includes a financing strategies workshop as well as sees the selected participants pitching to a panel of 5 to 7 international equity investors, will take place from 1 September 2015 through 4 September 2015 in Berlin, Germany.

Film New Europe (FNE), a news platform focused on the Central and Eastern European film industry, interviewed Closing The Gap program director Marc Robert about why equity financing is a vital source of funding for filmmakers in the current financial climate. Marc spoke with FNE about what working with equity investors means for producers, the different types of equity money that can be found in Europe, and the changing film financing landscape and how equity will play a bigger role over the next years. The full interview can be found here: http://www.filmneweurope.com/news/region/108921-closing-the-gap-accepting-applications-for-investor-pitching-session/menu-id-384    

The 17 selected participants who make up the 5th edition of Closing The Gap will take part in the program's online session from early May through mid-June 2014. peacefulfish senior consultant and Closing The Gap program director Marc Robert will work with each of the participants, assisting them in refining their project pitches for an equity investor audience. Following this, the participants will pitch their projects to a panel of investors including business angel funds, venture capital financiers, gap equity funds, and post-production equity providers during an on-site session in Berlin. 

The most recent call for applications for the next edition of the Closing The Gap investment training and equity investor pitching session for film, TV, and transmedia producers ended on 18 February 2014. After receiving a large number of submissions from across Europe as well as from the United States, Australia, and Indonesia, the evaluation committee is currently selecting the 16 to 20 projects that will participate in the next edition of Closing The Gap. Selected projects are expected to be announced in early March 2014. 

The fourth edition of Closing The Gap culminated in an equity investor pitching session held in Berlin, Germany. The event was hosted by the Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB) and saw twenty-four producers pitching to a panel of five equity investors including a venture capital fund from Sweden, a gap equity fund from the United Kingdom, and representatives of individual business angels and business angel funds from Germany. The session took place from 25 November through 28 November 2013.

We are currently accepting applications from producers for the Summer/Fall 2013 Edition of the Closing The Gap training course, which will take place from September 2013 through November 2013. The call is open to film, TV, and transmedia producers who should apply with a specific project. The application deadline is 9 September 2013 with individual Skype consultations between participants and course tutors beginning in October 2013 and the on-site investor pitching workshop set to be held in late November 2013.

After a successful on-site workshop in Bari, the 3rd Edition of the Closing The Gap training course started its online session on 10 April. peacefulfish consultants Sebastien Aubert and Marc Robert are working with the 20 selected producers to assist them in refining a detailed equity investor pitch for their projects. The online session runs until mid-June, after which the producers will pitch to a panel of equity investors including business angels and representatives from business angel networks, venture capital funds, family office funds, public/private funds, and mediatech financiers.

Vanishing Waves (Lithuania), one of the projects selected for the Closing The Gap course, will be released in Lithuanian cinemas later this month. The sci-fi thriller has already won a range of prestigious awards including the Golden Melies from the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation and Best Film and Best Director at the Fantastic Fest in the United States. Furthermore, the film's Lithuanian theatrical release will be followed by a U.S. theatrical release this February. To view the film's trailer, go here: http://vimeo.com/44654099     

The 2012 edition of the Closing The Gap: Equity Investment for 360° Content training course culminated in a 3-day pitch workshop with equity investors during the Mallorca Film Week in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Nine of the Closing The Gap producers pitched their film and television projects to a panel of European equity investors including venture capital fund managers, business angels, and representatives from business angel networks. The investors gave each of the producers detailed feedback about their project pitches and investment offers both during the pitching session itself and through 1-to-1 meetings before voting to award the Closing The Gap Equity Pitch Prize. The 4,000 euro prize was split between two projects: Code Of Silence, a feature-length thriller from Norwegian production company Sweet Films, won Best Project Pitch while Crocodox, a transmedia documentary project made for children by children that integrates television episodes with a web portal and mobile apps, won Best Investment Offer for Spanish production company Unaymedia.             

The Closing The Gap teams continue developing their project business plans and the accompanying equity investor pitch presentations as part of the course's 2nd Online Session. This session sees the teams taking part in individual Skype consultations with the CTG tutors including Marc Robert (business plan development and equity investor deal terms & offers); Sébastien Aubert (financing plans, comparable projects, and revenue projections); Mahesh Ramachandra and Marc LePetit (transmedia marketing & distribution strategies); and Juliane Schulze (project pitching to equity investors).    

The twelve teams selected for Closing The Gap 2012 begin the 1st Online Session of the training course today. These online sessions consist of one-hour consultations held via Skype between each project team and the Closing The Gap course tutors focusing on business plan development, equity investor types and deal terms, co-production and financing plans, and transmedia marketing & distribution strategies. This year's course tutors are Marc Robert (peacefulfish / business plan development), Perrine Hamon (Media Deals / equity investor types and deal terms), Sébastien Aubert (Ad Astra Films / co-production and financing plans); Mahesh Ramachandra (Coruscate Digital / transmedia marketing & distribution strategies); Marc LePetit (Phoenix Film / transmedia marketing & distribution strategies).       

Learn more about the Closing The Gap 
training course, our selection criteria, and how 
to apply.

WHEN: 11 February 2012

10:00am until 11:30am

WHERE: Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung

Ben-Gurion-Strasse 1

across from the Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz


session held in: Room 212, Second Floor


meeting point: outside Ben-Gurion-Strasse 1 at 9:45 am

RSVP: closingthegap@peacefulfish.com 

by 8 February 2012

We are currently accepting applications from producers, writers, and directors for the 8th edition of the Closing The Gap investment training & equity investor pitching session. The call is open to film, TV, transmedia, and games producers, writers, and directors as well as participants seeking company investment. The application deadline is 20 November 2015 with the individual Skype consultations between the selected participants and the program tutors scheduled to take place in January 2016. The 4-day on-site session, which includes a financing strategies workshop as well as sees the selected participants pitching to a panel of 5 to 7 international equity investors, will take place from 8 February 2016 through 11 February 2016 in Berlin, Germany just at the start of the Berlin International Film Festival.

The 18 selected participants who make up the 6th edition of Closing The Gap will take part in the program's online session from late October through late November 2014. peacefulfish senior consultant and Closing The Gap program director Marc Robert will work with each of the participants, assisting them in refining their project pitches for an equity investor audience. Following this, the participants will pitch their projects to a panel of investors including business angel funds, venture capital financiers, gap equity funds, and post-production equity providers during an on-site session in Berlin in December. 

We are currently accepting applications from producers for the Summer/Fall 2014 edition of the Closing The Gap investment training & equity investor pitching session, which will be hosted by the Investitionsbank Berlin, and which will take place from October 2014 through early December 2014. The call is open to film, TV, transmedia, and games producers as well as producers seeking company investment. The application deadline is 15 September 2014 with the individual Skype consultations between the selected producers and the program tutors scheduled to take place from early October 2014 through early November 2014. The 4-day on-site session, which includes a financing strategies workshop as well as sees the selected producers pitching to a panel of 5 to 7 international equity investors, will take place in late November 2014 or early December 2014 in Berlin, Germany (exact dates to be confirmed).

The 5th edition of the Closing The Gap equity investment training and investor pitching session offered by peacefulfish with the support of the Apulia Film Commission and Media Deals held its first on-site workshop of 2014 in Bari, Italy from 9 April through 11 April during the Bari International Film Festival. peacefulfish senior consultant and Closing The Gap program director Marc Robert moderated the workshop along with program tutors Pablo Carrera and Paula Crickard, who spoke about recoupment waterfalls and post-production equity respectively. During the workshop, the 17 selected producers also presented test pitches of their projects to the program tutors, receiving feedback that will assist them in revising their presentations before pitching to a panel of equity investors in June.    

Program Director Marc Robert will present Closing The Gap, how the program is structured, statistics on past editions, and tips on applying for our next edition during the peacefulfish Berlinale Information Sessions. The sessions will take place from 10:00am to 12:00pm on 8 February 2014 and again from 10:00am to 12:00pm on 11 February 2014 at the Tagespiegel Office, Room E, Askanischer Platz 3 (a 5 minute walk from the Martin-Gropius-Bau EFM location). There will be a Q&A and light refreshments will be served. Seats are limited, so please send an e-mail to Lisei Galpin requesting to reserve your place by 31 January 2014: lisei@peacefulfish.com

peacefulfish consultants Marc Robert and Sebastien Aubert work with the 24 selected participants who make up Closing The Gap's 4th Edition, assisting them in refining the equity investor pitches for their projects. These Skype consultation sessions run until mid-November, after which the participants will pitch their projects to a panel of equity investors including individual business angels and representatives from business angel funds, venture capital investors, and a gap equity provider.

The third edition of the Closing The Gap training course culminated in an equity investor pitching session in Berlin, Germany. The event was hosted by the Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB) and saw seventeen Closing The Gap producers pitching to a panel of six equity investors from Sweden, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The session took place from 24 June through 26 June 2013.

The 3rd Edition of the Closing The Gap: Equity Investment for 360° Content training course offered by peacefulfish with the support of The Apulia Film Commission and Media Deals held its first on-site workshop of 2013 in Bari, Italy from 18 through 22 March. peacefulfish senior consultant and Closing The Gap course director Marc Robert moderated the workshop along with peacefulfish CEO Thierry Baujard and peacefulfish senior partner Juliane Schulze, who spoke about equity investor deal terms and cross-platform strategies respectively. During the workshop, the 20 selected producers also presented "test pitches" of their projects to the course tutors and experts, receiving feedback that will assist them in revising their pitches.    

We are currently accepting applications from producers for the next edition of the Closing The Gap training course, which will take place from March 2013 - July 2013. The call is open to film, TV, transmedia, and games producers who should apply with a specific project. The application deadline is 21 January 2013 and the first on-site workshop starts on 18 March 2013 in the Apulia region of Italy during the Bari International Film Festival.  

Cineuropa interviews Gael McLaughlin, producer of Madame Samurai, which was one of the 10 projects selected for the 2011 Closing The Gap training course. For the full text of the interview, go to:

http://cineuropa.org/it.aspx?t=interview&l=en&did=227021

After an intense four days in Bari, our 1st On-Site Workshop is now complete and the selected teams are heading home to work on their project business plans. The director of one of these projects, animator Alex Williams, has blogged about his experience in Bari during Closing The Gap and his thoughts on the workshop can be found here:

http://flipanimation.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/closing-gap-film-financing-for-dummies.html?spref=fb

After reviewing the large number of applications submitted for the 2012 edition of the Closing The Gap training, our selection committee has chosen twelve projects for this year's course. They are: Vanishing Waves (Lithuania), Heaven Consulting (Hungary), The Other Africa (Norway), Las Cuevas (Spain), My Haunted House (United Kingdom), Sound Catcher (Belgium), Emerson & Co. (Hungary), American Massacre (The Netherlands), Sexperiences (France), Crocodox (Spain), Nicholhouse (Italy), and Blazer (United Kingdom). Congratulations to the twelve selected project teams and thank you to all the producers who submitted applications for this year's call.    

Twenty selected participants from across Europe and beyond will present their film, TV, transmedia, and games projects and companies to a panel of seven international equity investors during Closing The Gap's seventh pitching session, which will be held this week at the Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB). Investors include a venture capital fund from Sweden, a business angel fund focused on film music rights and games rights based in Germany and the UK, a representative of a group of business angels from Germany, a post-production equity provider with offices throughout Europe as well as in Australia and Asia, an international sales company based in Germany, and two gap equity funds from the UK.

The call for applications for the 6th edition of the Closing The Gap investment training and equity investor pitching session for film, TV, transmedia, and games producers as well as producers seeking company investment ended on 15 September 2014. After receiving a large number of submissions from across Europe as well as from India, the Bahamas, and the United States, our evaluation committee is currently selecting the 18 projects that will participate in Closing The Gap's Fall 2014 session in Berlin. Selected projects are expected to be announced in early October 2014. 

Italy, Poland, Spain, The United States, The United Kingdom, India, France, The Netherlands: producers from these countries and more present their film projects to a panel of international equity investors during Closing The Gap's fifth pitching session, which will be held this week at the Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB). Investors include a venture capital fund from Sweden, a business angel fund focused on film music based in Germany and the UK, a post-production equity provider from the UK, a gap equity fund from Germany, and two gap equity funds from the UK.

Seventeen international projects have been selected to take part in the 5th Edition of the Closing The Gap equity investment training and investor pitching session, which starts on 9 April during an on-site workshop in Bari, Italy hosted by Closing The Gap co-financing partner the Apulia Film Commission. Projects chosen for this edition come from a wide range of countries including Italy, Poland, The United States, India, Spain, France, The Netherlands, and The United Kingdom.

We are currently accepting applications from producers for the Winter/Spring 2014 Edition of the Closing The Gap training course & equity investor pitching session, which is supported by the Apulia Film Commission and the Investitionsbank Berlin, and which will take place from April 2014 through June 2014. The call is open to film, TV, and transmedia producers who should apply with a specific project. The application deadline is 18 February 2014 with the 1st On-Site Session scheduled to take place from 9 April 2014 through 11 April 2014 in Bari, Italy during the Bari International Film Festival. The 2nd On-Site Session, which will see the selected producers pitching to a panel of 5 to 7 equity investors, will take place in mid-June 2014 in Berlin, Germany (dates TBA).

Twenty-four international projects have been selected to take part in the 4th Edition of the Closing The Gap equity investor pitching, which starts on 1 October with Skype consultations between the selected participants and the course tutors. Projects chosen for this edition come from a wide range of countries including Estonia, Hungary, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, The Netherlands, Italy, The United Kingdom, Canada, and South Africa.

Closing The Gap project King Of Mont Ventoux, which participated in the 2011 edition of the training, recently closed a deal with one of the equity investors that the project was presented to during the course's pitching session. Producer Bram Crols was happy to confirm the investment and announced that the feature documentary, which posits a hypothetical competition between Tour de France winners from over the years, will be completed in July 2013.  

Following the most recent call for applications, 20 international producers have been selected to take part in the 3rd Edition of the Closing The Gap training course, which starts on 18 March with a Financing & Transmedia Strategies workshop in Bari, Italy during the Bari International Film Festival. Selected producers are from a range of countries including Lithuania, Bulgaria, Germany, Ireland, France, Sweden, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.  

Following their interviews with several of the 2011 Closing The Gap course participants, Cineuropa has published comprehensive coverage of the Closing The Gap training program including more interviews, photos, and videos. The coverage can be accessed here: http://cineuropa.org/id.aspx?t=event&l=en&did=229872

Deborah Micheletti, producer of The Secret of the Trees and a 2011 Closing The Gap participant, was interviewed today by Cineuropa about her project and her experience taking the Closing The Gap course. For the full interview, see:

http://cineuropa.org/it.aspx?t=interview&l=en&did=226191

The 1st On-Site Workshop of Closing The Gap 2012 begins today in Bari, Italy and is being held with the support of The Apulia Film Commission. The workshop runs from Monday 25 June through Thursday 28 June and includes presentations of expert cases studies on topics such as crowd-funding, gap financing, business angel investing, film banks, and equity investor types. Additionally, there will be more than 100 one-to-one meetings with each of the 12 selected project teams meeting individually with each of the Closing The Gap course tutors and experts.     

The application deadline for the 2012 edition of Closing The Gap has been extended from 15 March until the close of business on 22 March. Please be sure to submit all application materials by this date if you want to be considered for this edition of the training course.