The Venice Production Bridge (VPB) is attracting a growing number of industry representatives. With a total of 2,470 professionals at the third edition of the Venice Production Bridge, attendance increased by 19% compared to 2017. “All the usual suspects were there”, says Pascal Diot, head of Venice Production Bridge. “In the Industry Club, the professionals had meetings with representatives from Netflix and Amazon. At the Gap Financing Market, there was a strong presence from companies such as Sony, Google, Paramount and, of course, StudioCanal. We also had industry professionals from Samsung, BBC Studio Digital and the Sundance Lab.”

In total, 850 one-on-one meetings were organised for 40 projects, including 25 fiction films and documentaries and 15 VR immersive story projects. At the Book Adaptation Market, 20 publishers from all over the world attended approximately 189 one-on-one meetings. “The publishers are delighted because we’ve been able to create synergy between the Venice Gap Financing Market and the Book Adaptation Market. Most of the producers from the Gap Financing Market went to see the publishers, including VR producers who are also looking for stories,” underlines Diot. “Content is the key.” At the Book Adaptation Market, producers can find everything from graphic novels, novels, essays, children’s adventures and comic books to short stories. “The publishers ask the producers what they are looking for instead of trying to sell them something they don’t want.” Producers who are interested in documentaries or romance, thrillers or westerns have a good chance of discovering a great book by talking to publishers in person.

Several deals were also closed at Venice between international sales agents and distributors. Bac Films sold competition film Close Enemies [+lee también:
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entrevista: David Oelhoffen
ficha de la película] by French director David Oelhoffen to Italy (Europictures), Spain (La Aventura), Turkey (Bir Film), Greece (Spentzos Film), China (Hishow Ent), and Benelux (O’Brother). StudioCanal’s One Nation, One King [+lee también:
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entrevista: Pierre Schoeller
ficha de la película] by Pierre Schoeller was pre-sold to Japan, Spain, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Greece, Portugal, Benelux, Switzerland, Taiwan, Singapore, Lebanon, Gulf, Hungary and the Russian Commonwealth. Another big sales hit was Non-Fiction [+lee también:
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entrevista: Olivier Assayas
ficha de la película] by Olivier Assayas, which was sold to Switzerland (Agora), Canada (Axia), Spain (BTeam), Latin America (California Filmes), Korea (Cineblooming), China (Times Vision), Greece (Weird Wave), Italy (I Wonder), Portugal (Leopardo Filmes), Sweden (Triart), Turkey (FilmArty) and the US (IFC). Playtime closed deals for Sunset [+lee también:
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entrevista: László Nemes
ficha de la película] by László Nemes with USA (Sony Pictures Classics), France (Ad Vitam), Germany (MFA), Spain (Avalon), Greece (Filmtrade), UK (Curzon), Italy (Movies Inspired), Japan (Fine Films), Latin America (California Filmes), Benelux (Cinéart), Austria (Thimfilm), China (Film Archive), Israel (Lev Cinema), Portugal (Midas), Taiwan (Flash Forward), Norway (Tour de Force) and Finland (Future Film). Lastly, Italian distributor BIM Distribuzione acquired The Quietude [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Pablo Trapero from Wild Bunch.

Buyers appreciated being able to access the digital video library with a password on their own computer at this year’s Venice Production Bridge. The Venice Production Bridge worked with Festival Scope, also a partner of Venice Film Festival for the Web Theatre, which presented 16 feature-length films from the official selection on the website. 

Furthermore, eight of the VR films that were presented in the Venice Virtual Reality section will be presented at the innovative multimedia platform VRrOOm from 8 September to 8 October 2018. VRrOOm’s VR app will be available on iOS, Android, and Google Daydream systems for VR-enabled mobile phones, or in VR with a mobile or PC-based VR headset, such as HTC and Oculus headsets. The app will provide free access to VR films such as Isle of Dogs: Behind the Scenes by Wes Anderson in Virtual Reality.