Innovative Production Tools: Shaping the Future of Filmmaking #2

12/20/24 • 50 min

Industry Insights – The EFM Podcast is presented by the European Film Market of the Berlinale. Hosted by media analyst, broadcaster and experience designer Johanna Koljonen, it delves deep into the rapidly evolving film industry.

This episode highlights three EFM Startups alumni of 2024, showcasing their innovative tools and technologies. In response to the growing concerns about AI replacing human roles in the global creative cinema industry, these companies offer valuable insights into current challenges and emerging developments. They demonstrate how AI can enhance production efficiency without replacing human talent, with a particular focus on the ethical implications of using these technologies. While the ethical debate surrounding AI continues, these three companies present cutting-edge solutions that streamline time management and promote greater diversity in the industry.

Applications for EFM Startups are open until January 3rd 2025.

Zoe Ramushu, Founder & CEO, Wrapped

Zoe is an entrepreneur with a legal background and a decade of experience working in film and tv, diversity and advocacy. She is a graduate of Columbia University, a Reuters Fellow of Oxford University and is Student Oscar and BAFTA Nominated. Her production company has completed a Netflix feature film and has an Amazon Original series in development. She has strong ties to the African, European and U.S. film industry and great personal networks. WRAPPED was nominated for an award in Cannes and has been featured in Screen and Variety magazine.

Frederik Merkel, Co-Founder and Product Lead, Phont

Frederik Merkel is an interdisciplinary designer who has been freelancing since the age of eighteen. He has created numerous products and developed several typefaces. For his master's thesis in type design, he started the project PHONT, developing fonts for different types of speech, which has since grown into an award-winning start-up. PHONT is developing the world's first automated creative captioning software for the media industry. With PHONT, AI and parametric design are combined to bring subtitles to life.

Ana Betancourt, CEO, Black Goblin

Ana Betancourt is the CEO of Black Goblin, an audiotech redefining sound design. Black Goblin is a UK-based sound research and technology company on a quest to transform the way creators work with sound. Currently, Black Goblin is developing Thol, an all-inclusive collaboration platform that allows content creators to design high-quality sound easily while fast-tracking the workflow and supporting teams from preproduction to release.

The host Johanna Koljonen is a media analyst, broadcaster, and experience designer. She is the author of the Göteborg Film Festival’s annual Nostradamus Report on the near future of the screen industries, which is in its 11th year. She lectures internationally on changes in the media sector, and on participation and narrative design. Her background is in public service broadcasting; in 2011, she received the Swedish Grand Journalism Award in the Innovator category.

The Berlinale’s European Film Market is the first international film market of the year, where the film industry starts its business. Industry Insights - The EFM Podcast puts a spotlight on highly topical and trendsetting industry issues, thereby creating a compass for the forthcoming film year. The year-round podcast is produced in cooperation with Goethe-Institut and co-funded by Creative Europe MEDIA.

Applications for EFM Startups are open until January 3rd 2025.

Zoe Ramushu, Founder & CEO, Wrapped

Frederik Merkel, Co-Founder and Product Lead, Phont

Ana Betancourt, CEO, Black Goblin

Previous Episode

Alive and Kicking: Company Strategies Today

In this episode, the Berlinale Co-Production Market invites two experienced producers to share their innovative strategies as part of a film industry in flux and how they address the changes of their own roles. Didar Domehri, producer and founder of Maneki Film and Maneki Stories, and Roman Paul, producer and co-founder of Razor Film Produktion, join forces to discuss the need for both, flexibility and collaboration while maintaining one’s own outstanding focus as an independent producer.

Cooperating with other producers in the creative collectives Athena Collective and The Creatives, respectively, is giving them a chance to work with creatives across borders with a high level of solidarity, and allows them to put together each independent producer’s strengths. Developing and sustaining successful business strategies and slates in disruptive and difficult times also means that the role of the producer is changing in the lifecycle of a film, and their relationship to audiences takes on new forms. Being original and thinking differently is key when connecting with today’s audiences, so the appeal to staying curious, teaching and learning at the same time is something they agree on. Being involved with training young producers, they also deliver a tip or two on how to stay sane in the industry while maintaining the passion for the work.

Roman Paul began his film career in acquisitions for German distributors and Celluloid Dreams in Paris. In 2002, he co-founded Razor Film Produktion with Gerhard Meixner. Razor’s work has earned two Golden Globes, three Oscar nominations, and recognition at major festivals. In 2019 was named professor at the Filmakademie Ludwigsburg, and received the “Chevalier des Arts et Lettres” by the Republic of France. Razor joined "The Creatives" in 2021, a global alliance developing high-end drama series and films.

Didar Domehri, founder of Maneki Films, has produced more than 20 features including Eva Husson’s Bang Gang & Girls of the Sun in Cannes Competition, Santiago Mitre’s Paulina, Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prix, La cordillera, Cannes UCR, & Petite fleur, Laurent Cantet’s Return to Itaca, Venice days Grand Prix, Erige Sehiri’s Under the fig trees,15 aine des réalisateurs Cannes, Godland by Hlynur Pálmason, Cannes UCR, and recently Une nuit by Alex Lutz, Cannes UCR, Me Too by Judith Godrèche, and MOTEL DESTINO by Karim Aïnouz, Cannes Competition.

Next Episode

Tailored Solutions: Film Funding in Europe’s Diverse Markets

Film i Väst Analysis’ upcoming report, "The Answers: Future Audiovisual Policies – Revolution, Reforms or Just Let it Be," looks at the diverse markets across Europe and gives the answers (or rather: values) to the burning questions that everyone is asking in regards to the current collision between public film funding and challenging cultural and economic policies. Answers are not given easily, as each market operates differently. Different funding systems call for different actions, and the right balance between economic and cultural arguments must be found locally – it doesn’t have to be a battle between economy and art.

In this episode, Tomas Eskilsson, founder of Film i Väst and Head of Film i Väst Analysis, along with producer and mentor Joanna Szymańska, explore the current state of public film funding and the creative sectors in Europe, drawing from the findings of the report. The rise of right-wing policies is increasingly affecting film funding strategies, ultimately challenging the freedom of cultural expression. However, the future is not set in stone, but rather shaped by the actions that are taken today.

Tomas Eskilsson founded Film i Väst in 1992, and was the CEO until 2016. He now works as the Head of Strategy in Film i Väst and Head of Film i Väst Analysis. He is the author of the reports ‘Public Film Funding at a Crossroads’ (March 2022) and ‘Public Film Funding at a Crossroads II’ (to be published August 2023). He is right now working with the third a final report in the series: The Answers: Future Audiovisual Policies – Revolution, Reforms or Just Let it Be.

Joanna Szymańska is a film producer with over 15 years of experience in independent and international co-productions. She co-produced the award-winning film “Red Path” (dir. Lotfi Achour) which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival. Joanna is a mentor for emerging filmmakers and serves as the Head of Studies for the Erich Pommer Institut’s workshop on European co-production. She is currently pursuing a PhD at the Łódź Film School.

Film i Väst is Scandinavia’s major regional film fund and one of the bigger regional film funds in Europe. Film i Väst has made co-production with all parts of the world. Film i Väst is mostly known for its long-time collaboration with some of the most interesting directors in Northern Europe and elsewhere: Ruben Östlund, Tarek Saleh, Susanne Bier, Thomas Vinterberg, Lars von Trier, Joachim Trier, Lone Scherfig, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Kaother Ben Hania are many more. During the last 30 years Film i Väst has co-financed and co-produced over 1000 feature films and a vast number of drama series.

The report will be released February 16, 2025. More info about the release can be found here.