Press Release
Screen content development and financing event, 37°South Market, is welcoming applications with reduced Early Bird pricing currently available. The annual event will take place 8-11 August 2024, during the opening week of the Melbourne International Film Festival – the Southern Hemisphere’s largest and oldest film festival.
Australia’s only screen content co-financing market to occur in the context of a major festival, 37°South Market brings the global screen content financing marketplace to Melbourne. The selective four-day event spans individually scheduled meetings, screenings for films seeking marketplace attachment, B2B meetings and panel discussions; presenting a unique opportunity for industry stakeholders to build valuable relationships and explore potential partnerships on a global scale.
MIFF CEO Damien Hodgkinson said: “MIFF’s 37°South Market is a critical platform for local screen producers to connect with international financiers and decision makers. We hope that again in 2024, the 37°South Market will be the catalyst that sees Australian and New Zealand productions make those vital connections with the international market and progress their financing. Holding the market alongside MIFF entwines the 37°South Market with the main festival, deepening the opportunities for showcase and network development.”VicScreen CEO Caroline Pitcher said, “VicScreen’s partnership with MIFF’s 37°South Market underscores our commitment to positioning Victoria as a leading force in screen content creation. This uniquely Melbourne event is pivotal in forging valuable connections with industry stakeholders that cumulate in creative and commercial partnerships.”.
Now in its 17th year, 37°South Market has hosted over 35,000 meetings, assembling local and international film and TV financiers and decision makers, to meet with producers and creatives from across Australia and New Zealand. In 2023 the event saw over 470 participants – including 34 publishers, 137 producers, 88 writers and directors, and 65 financiers and buyers – take part in almost 3,500 scheduled meetings.
Domestic and international financing guests have included the likes of AMC, Amazon, AppleTV, Bankside, BBC, Cornerstone, Disney+, Embankment, Endeavor, eOne/Sierra-Affinity, Federation, Film4, Film Nation, Foxtel, IM Global, Madman, Magnolia, Memento, Neon, Netflix, Pathe, Plan B, Protagonist, Stan and StudioCanal, while publishers have included Allen & Unwin, Hachette, Hardie Grant, Penguin Random House, Scribe, Text and many more.
The market itself offers a comprehensive suite of tailored programs to cater to the multifaceted needs of industry practitioners. Producers with pitch-ready, developed script-stage projects can apply to attend the core event, Bridging the Gap, while those with a completed film seeking world sales or local distribution can enter it into the Breakthru Screenings. While the Postscript & Direct program is an opportunity for selected writers, directors and creatives seeking to interest local producers in their work.
Publishers and producers can discuss the latest manuscripts ripe for adaptation at Books at MIFF whilst Nexus enables intellectual-property rights holders to pitch their creative assets to producers for potential screen adaptations. Link Up fosters conversations and relationships between producers and partner organisations, while Team Up enables business connections and creative collaborations between independent producers and larger production partners. Additionally, State of Play sees a line-up of screen executives and producers unpack the pressing screen-funding issues of the day.
37°South Market applications are now open with eligible parties encouraged to get in early and save up to 20% on the full-priced registration fee before the Early Bird window closes on 15 April. Early Bird pricing is available to producers with at least one pitch-ready developed script (or slate of scripts) and producers with a completed film seeking world sales and/or local distribution. Producers looking to develop their next project and acquire new IP can also apply now via the website.
