FeatureLab 2024

FeatureLab is a training programme dedicated to 1^st and 2^nd feature film projects from all over the world, at an advanced stage of development. 10 creative teams of director and producer are selected to take part in the three-workshop path starting in June 2024 and ending with the TFL Meeting Event in November, during which the participants have one-to-one meetings with market guests and the projects are assessed by an international Jury awarding production grants alongside collateral awards.

For a complete overview of the programme, please visit the FeatureLab page.

FeatureLab is organised by TorinoFilmLab - National Museum of Cinema with the support of Creative Europe – MEDIA Sub-programme of the European Union. Thanks to the partnership with the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, hosting the 1st residential workshop in 2024, and Unifrance who will support the participation of two projects from France.

If you missed the FeatureLab 2024 join the Q&A Zoom session with the FeatureLab curator Vincenzo Bugno please write to alessia.durante@torinofilmlab.it.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: Monday, 11^th December 2023, 2.00 pm CET.

FeatureLab is open to creative teams of director and producer (together with a scriptwriter, if on board) from all over the world, developing their 1^st or 2^nd feature film projects. The programme is focused on film projects - fiction, creative documentaries, experimental, animation and any possible kind of cinema form - at an advanced stage of development. 

Eligibility Criteria

a. The project must be the director’s 1^st or 2^nd feature film.

b. At least a first draft of the script in English must be presented when applying (or an analogue document, according to the type of project)

c. Shooting must not begin earlier than 1^st December 2024

d. Only one project application per year, per filmmaker, can be submitted. However, a project that is refused one year, can be resubmitted another year if the project has gone through substantial changes. The same project cannot be submitted a third time if rejected the second time around.

e. Considering that only 1^st and 2^nd time filmmakers are eligible to take part in the programme, those who have participated in a previous edition of FeatureLab (formerly called Framework) cannot apply to FeatureLab 2024, but they are eligible and welcome to take part in other TFL programmes

f. Applicants must confirm their full availability for all the residential and online workshops, as well as for the TFL Meeting Event.

g.The working language of all workshops, meetings and events is English; thus, a good knowledge of English is essential in order to participate, and all written materials, all versions and drafts of the project, must be translated into English.

Participation fee: 3,000 (+ VAT, if due) Euro per team of 2 people. Extra fee of 2,000 Euro (+ VAT, if due) if a scriptwriter or a co-writer also attends the programme).

The fee covers training activities (residential and online sessions) and organizational support (including accommodations and part of the subsistence during the residential workshops). Participants must pay their travel costs.

Our commitment is to guarantee accessibility to the TFL’s activities to as many talented participants as possible and to ensure diversity and inclusion through selection of projects/participants.

Across TFL programmes, a limited number of scholarships - covering half of the participation fee - will be available for participants from racial and ethnic underrepresented groups and/or being from a country not providing scholarships for this kind of training; or participants in any other proven situation of need for financial support. We strongly encourage our applicants to research and apply for financial support within your national/regional funding bodies first, who may have bursaries and grants to cover the training costs.

1^st residential workshop: 4^th - 9^th June 2024 (Opatija, Croatia)

2^nd online workshop: second half of September 2024, dates TBC
3^rd residential workshop and TFL Meeting Event: end of November 2024 (Turin, Italy)

The requested materials – to be submitted all together in 1 single PDF (10 MB max.), and all in English – are:

1)     Extended Synopsis containing detailed description of the narrative arc, characters, ending and other fundamental elements of the story  - min. 2/max. 4 pages
2)     Intention note about the project – 3 pages max.
3)     Artistic concept & audio-visual reference
4)     Web links to previous works of the director (FULL FILM)
5)     Biographies of director, producer & writer (if on board)
6)     Production company profile – 3 pages max.
7)     Detailed budget (Euro)
8)     Financing plan (Euro) - including structure of co-production (names & countries of companies, and percentages of financing from each country) according to the form
9)     Detailed development and production timetable (specify month/year)
10)  Marketing & distribution strategy – 3 pages max.
11)  Script in English, to be attached as the last element at the end of the dossier (an analogue document may be exceptionally accepted only for documentaries and hybrid projects)
12)  Applicants and project main data - for communication purposes, according to the form (to be submitted in a separate file).

Any application package that won’t include all the requested materials will be considered ineligible.

Shortlisted applicants will be notified by the end of March and interviewed online at the beginning of April 2024

Deadline for applications: Monday, 11^th December 2023, 2.00 pm CET.

Please click on the "Apply Now!" button to access the application form and submit your project. Before starting the process, you must create an account on the TFL Visitor Page.

For more information, please contact the project manager Alessia Durante: alessia.durante@torinofilmlab.it