Menu

MIDPOINT Shorts 2024-2025

Shorts
Now Running

Take your short-film idea and make it a reality.

Benefits

Get closer to realisation of your creative idea

A complex program dedicated to script and project development of the short films in Europe connected vitally to the film industry. The combination of in-depth script analysis and professional project development directs projects on their path in the cinema. 

For teams of writers, directors and producers 

  • it will bring your project to the next level and prepare for entering the industry world (from one-pager to treatment, from treatment to script, from the first draft to final one, from scratch to pitch)
  • chance to get a deeper understanding of the creative aspects involved in the work, as well as insights into financing, sales, festival, and distribution strategies
  • showcase at When East Meets West
  • networking & meeting new industry partners
  • front gate to The Focus WiP section of Cannes Court Métrage

Program Structure

Comprehensive project-development program for short-film projects

  • all Participants
    Online Feedback Session
    August 27 - 29, 2024  | Online

    From all applications, the reading committee will select approximately 20 projects, whose creative teams will receive a detailed online assessment from two experienced professionals (script consultant and producer) during the online feedback session.

  • ALL Participants
    Workshop 1
    September 30 - October 6, 2024  | Brno, Czech Republic / in collaboration with the ISFF BRNO16

    This workshop focuses primarily on creative development and dramaturgy. Participants also begin to work on promotional materials and production strategies with the Producer Tutor. They also meet Guest Tutors from the short-film industry through special lectures and inspiring masterclasses. The workshop is organized within the framework of ISFF BRNO16, offering short film screenings and networking opportunities.

    Lectures
    The Do’s and Dont’s of Co-Production
    Dora Nedeczky
    Wednesday, October 2, 2024, 17:00 - 18:30 CET | Brno, Czech Republic

    The puzzle pieces are finally coming together, you’re ready to spread out and look for partners for your film in development. Now what? Tallinn-based Hungarian producer Dora Nedeczky’s lecture on co-production from the filmmakers’ perspective will equip you with the essential toolkit you need for navigating the film industry and to choose the most fitting path for your film project. She’ll lend you her knowledge via practical info: finding and getting selected to the right co-production platform, positioning your film on the market and setting realistic expectations. Expect a deep dive into maintaining healthy producer-director relationships but also examining out-of-the-box, hands-on ideas and advice on how to streamline the process and benefit from it.

    From Script to Screen: The Art of Safe Intimacy in Film and TV
    Virginija Vareikyte
    Friday, October 4, 2024, 17:30-19:00 CET | Brno, Czech Republic

    Join Virginija Vareikyte, a certified Intimacy Coordinator from Baltic Intimacy Professionals (Lithuania), for an insightful session on crafting authentic intimacy scenes in film and TV. Learn how ICs ensure performers' boundaries are respected while staying true to the creative vision, from pre-production to post-production. Whether you're a director, actor, producer, or simply curious, discover how ICs contribute to a safe, seamless, and respectful filming experience.

  • All Participants
    Online Consultations
    December 2024 | Online
  • all Participants
    Workshop 2
    January 16 - 22, 2025 | Trieste, Italy / in collaboration with When East Meets West and Trieste Film Festival

    This workshop serves as a platform to develop scripts further, while also incorporating distribution strategies and addressing presentation skills and promotional materials. The entire program concludes with a project showcase within the When East Meets West Co-Production Forum, plus one-on-one meetings with important decision-makers within the industry.

  • Follow-up Online Consultations
    Spring 2025 | Online

Projects

Heart in your Throat

MARINA is a thirteen year old girl who lives alone with her grandparents. On a hot August morning, her grandmother JAGODA wakes her up and gives Marina a task to look after her depressed grandfather ...
Project detail

Kurkuma

Kurkuma follows Mahmood, a 31-year-old Indian immigrant in Berlin. Mahmood aspires to join Berlin's elite social circle and takes a cook-for-hire job to impress his girlfriend Lisa’s friends at a ...
Project detail

Meridian

In the Greek rural village of Meridian, where lignite is worshipped as a God, Marina, despite having had surgery for cancer, keeps working at the lignite mine. Her sister, Elina is pregnant, and the ...
Project detail

Pithead

Amidst an icy dreamscape, a woman braves a blizzard to seek refuge in a black metal bar, only to discover a penguin stranded in a nearby tree separated from its colony.
Project detail

Siren’s Cove

A guy pulls up to a drive-thru coffee stand, expecting nothing more than his usual coffee fix. Instead, he's greeted by a sardonic and captivating barista wearing only a bikini. She welcomes him to ...
Project detail

Slash

Ion, a 17-year-old teenager, is punished because of his younger brother’s actions (Nicu) and is left with a slash mark on his cheek. The parents go away for the rest of the day and leave Nicu under ...
Project detail

Time, Space and Everything in Between

Before her wedding, 26-year-old Juliet feels the need for a last-minute getaway but faces solitude and anxiety about her future. To cheer her up, her older brother Alex (28) offers a road trip. ...
Project detail

Unwellness

ILDIKÓ (52) is a prominent accountant whose comfort zone is numbers, where everything is precisely calculated, unlike with people, who she distances herself from. Ever since her divorce 10 years ...
Project detail

Participants

Tutors

Inspirational professional with a passion for sharing

Build on the solid foundations of traditional script analysis, MIDPOINT Shorts brings experts from the short-film industry to the service of your stories.

 

Head of Studies & Group Leader

Pavel Marek is a globetrotter – born in India, early childhood in the USA, now a writer and director of Czech features, shorts and docs, and professor of directing at FAMU Prague.

As Head of Studies, Pavel oversees the methodology of the program, ensures participants' needs are met, and guarantees the practical value and industry impact of the training you receive.

As Group Leader, Pavel also oversees the development of all projects from the beginning of the program through graduation.

Pavel Marek
Czech Republic  
Pavel Marek is a graduate of the Faculty of Computer Engineering, Technical University and the Directing Department at FAMU. He received a scholarship at the NFTS in the UK. During the communist era ...
Complete bio

Group Leader

Gabriele Brunnenmeyer
Germany  
GABRIELE BRUNNENMEYER is a script mentor, pitching coach, and project consultant. She ran the MEDIA Antenna ...
Complete bio

Producer Tutor

The Producer Tutor makes sure each project develops effective promotional materials and realistic budgets and schedules.

Dora Nedeczky
Estonia  
Dora is a Hungarian producer and strategist, with a background in aesthetics and film theory/history. She's lived in ...
Complete bio

Guest Tutors

Balint Kenyeres
Hungary  
Complete bio
Virginija Vareikyte
Lithuania  
Complete bio

Don't miss any open calls

Subscribe to our newsletter and be the first to receive information

Subscribe

References

A motivational experience that elevates your project

FAQs

You may ask...

Successful Shorts

Selection of our successful alumni

FUNDERS

GENERAL PARTNERS

IN COLLABORATION WITH

SPECIAL PARTNERSHIP