{"id":16988,"date":"2026-07-06T09:09:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T07:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/?post_type=opportunitie&#038;p=16988"},"modified":"2026-07-06T09:09:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T07:09:49","slug":"audience-design-workshops-october-2026","status":"publish","type":"opportunitie","link":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/opportunitie\/audience-design-workshops-october-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Audience Design Workshops \u2013 October 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><em>Introduction<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Domestic Film Development and Strategy Unit within Arts Council Malta is organising Audience Design workshops this October whereby six companies will be selected to take part in intensive group workshops, working on a feature-length project of their choice alongside two other film teams. The workshops are led by S\u00edle Culley, a leading Audience Design consultant whose work has supported hundreds of films on their outward journeys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>What is Audience Design?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Audience Design is the process of identifying the potential audiences and appeal of a project as it moves from script to screen. It helps sharpen the Director\u2019s creative approach, strengthens the positioning and originality of the project in the marketplace, and reassures financiers and stakeholders that the end consumer has been considered. It looks at empathy and ways to engage with audiences, at what can be captured during production to support this, as well as at partnerships that extend its reach.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The aim of these workshops is to give the team focus and a strategy to work from, to encourage better-suited partners and to gain confidence in how to talk about target audiences.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>About the Audience Designer<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These workshops will be facilitated by S\u00edle Culley, an internationally recognised Audience Design consultant working with independent producers and established production companies across Europe, Australia and Latin America.<br><br>S\u00edle&#8217;s work has contributed to international festival premieres, world sales deals, theatrical releases, and millions in funding secured with bodies including Eurimages, Creative Europe and national funders. She also advises screen agencies on audience-centric approaches, including Film i V\u00e4st, the Nederlands Film Fonds and the Estonian Film Institute, and is a key partner of Screen Australia and TorinoFilmLab.<br><br>She is Director of The Audience Design Lab at the International Screen Institute in Vienna, an industry expert for Eurimages and Screen Ireland, and a member of the European Film Academy.<br><br><strong><em>Workshop details<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over two intensive days, three film teams will work through the Audience Design toolbox together, guided by S\u00edle. The exercises and questions are designed to help each team go deeper into the heart of what they&#8217;re making and get clear on who&#8217;s going to love it (or hate it).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The toolbox may include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Critical analysis of the project, including SWOT\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Setting and understanding USP (B2B + B2C)\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Defining core of the story through themes + emotions work \u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Audience cluster work + building personas and touchpoints \u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ideation challenges\u00a0to push thinking and unlock new possibilities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These workshops are open to Maltese production companies with a feature-length project currently in development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each selected company should send the Producer and Director team, and one additional team member if they wish (such as a writer, development executive or co-producer).<br><br>Each team will work on a single feature-length project across both days of the workshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Workshops will take place in person on one of the following sets of dates:<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Session 1: 6 &amp; 7 October 2026<br>or<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Session 2: 8 &amp; 9 October 2026<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Full attendance across both days in the chosen session is required. Applicants should indicate which session they prefer to attend (Session 1 or Session 2). Preferred slots submitted by accepted teams will be considered during the scheduling process. While the organisers will make every reasonable effort to accommodate these preferences, no guarantee can be made regarding final slot allocation. Applicants are therefore kindly requested to keep both available slots free until final schedules have been confirmed by the organisers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Criteria and Guidelines<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Applications can be submitted by production companies only. Applications received by sole writer \/ directors will not be accepted<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Applicants must have received Development funding in 2024 \/ 2025<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Applicants must apply with a project that is intended for the local market, or for co-production. Service production projects will not be considered<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Applicants must confirm that at least the Producer and the Director of the project will take part in the workshop<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A third team member, such as writer, development exec or co-producer, may also join but the team is capped at three individuals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Applicants must be available full-time on the following days: 6 and 7 October, or 8 and 9 October. Film teams that are not available on both days may not take part in the workshop<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How to Apply<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Applicants must apply with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Pitch deck for their selected film, which must include producer statement, writer\/director statement.<br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Story treatment, no more than 10 pages (A4)<br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Video pitch in English, which must include team introduction and motivation to attend, no more than 5 minutes. (Vimeo and YouTube link accepted)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>All the required documentation\/links are to be sent via email to <a href=\"mailto:filmunit.acm@artscouncil.mt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filmunit.acm@artscouncil.mt<\/a> by <strong>Monday 10<sup>th<\/sup> August 2026<\/strong>. Confirmations of acceptance or otherwise will be sent via email in the week starting 7<sup>th<\/sup> September 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction The Domestic Film Development and Strategy Unit within Arts Council Malta is organising Audience Design workshops this October whereby six companies will be selected to take part in intensive group workshops, working on a feature-length project of their choice alongside two other film teams. The workshops are led by S\u00edle Culley, a leading Audience [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":16989,"template":"","opportunities_category":[],"class_list":["post-16988","opportunitie","type-opportunitie","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opportunitie\/16988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opportunitie"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/opportunitie"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opportunitie\/16988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16990,"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opportunitie\/16988\/revisions\/16990"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"opportunities_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opportunities_category?post=16988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}