A cluster of European and North American film bodies have announced the launch of the 2018 JETS Co-Production Initiative. The acronym stands for Junior Entertainment Talent Slate, and will bring first-, second- and third-time feature filmmakers into contact with Canadian, German, Irish, Finnish, Norwegian, British and American producers, sales agents, and finance and distribution companies, during a co-production pitching session to be held at the next edition of the Berlin International Film Festival. 

The JETS programme will select 20-24 projects proposed by emerging filmmakers based in Canada, Ireland, Germany, Finland, Norway and the UK. The team must be in the first six years of their career, with the exception of the producer (who must have up to ten years of experience in the industry and a maximum of two feature-film credits).

All eligible projects must be fiction films in development or at the financing stage, and must have a duration of at least 80 minutes. Scripts can be submitted in languages other than English, but a translated three-page treatment must be provided with the application.

The total co-production budget for a single project may range from €300,000 to €2.6 million. However, the maximum budget for a first feature-film project should not exceed €800,000 if possible.

After being selected, each team will be expected to prepare a five-minute pitch for the jury members and other participants on the day of the event. Subsequently, each team will preselect three other teams as potential co-production partners, and they will have an exchange and discussion monitored by the jury. At the end of the day, the jury will choose up to ten projects that will be considered for possible funding.

The JETS Co-Production Initiative is organised by WEP Productions and WEP UK Productions, with financial support from Telefilm Canada, Screen Ireland, nordmedia, HessenFilm, FilmInvest and the Finnish Film Foundation. The deadline for applications is 20 December 2018. For further information, please read the programme guidelines here.