New York, May 31, 2011 – The Independent Filmmaker Project is pleased to announce its fellows for TRANS ATLANTIC PARTNERS (TAP), a three-module, intensive training and networking program for producers from the U.S., Europe, and Canada seeking co-production/co-venture professional development.

IFP has joined the Erich Pommer Institut (Germany) and Strategic Partners (Canada) for this year-long series of training programs and workshops that will begin in Berlin June 2011.

IFP is proud to announce its inaugural fellows: Nekisa Cooper (Pariah), Jennifer Dubin & Cora Olson (Good Dick), Jared Moshe (Beautiful Losers), Amy Rapp (Return), Ron Simons (Night Catches Us), and Christine Walker (Howl).

IFP Mentors providing their industry expertise to fellows during Trans Atlantic Partners are John Hadity, Lars Knudsen & Jay Van Hoy, and Wilder Knight.

TAP Module 1 begins in June 2011 in Berlin. Module 2 takes place September 2011 in Halifax leading into Strategic Partners (SP), Canada’s international co-production market. Directly following SP, Module 3 takes place at the Independent Film Week in New York, the oldest and largest forum in the U.S. for the discovery of new projects in development and new voices on the independent scene.

TAP offers a unique combination of intensive, hands-on training with effective networking and targeted project partner search. Topics covered in the program include an overview of the European, Canadian and US audiovisual market-figures, structure, and players; the financial landscape for European, Canadian and US feature film production; and current marketing and distribution realities.

In 2010, 28 producers from 10 countries worldwide participated in TAP, with 3 co-production deals signed during the program including Dreamland, a Bulgarian film co-produced by Svetoslav Doytchinov, and The Sounding Line, a German film co-produced by Peter Kreutz of Aqua Film, both with producer Gregory MacKenzie of Canada’s Impatient Pictures.

“Our goal is to give these producers the skills they need to adapt and succeed in a thriving international market” said Nadja Radojevic from Erich Pommer Institut, “and we can’t think of a better addition to our partnership than bringing IFP to the TAP 3 team.” said Jan Miller, Strategic Partners Director.  IFP’s Executive Director Joana Vicente  adds, “TAP is a natural partnership for IFP to contribute to as our goal is to help the independents survive and thrive in the international marketplace.”

A full list of former TAP participants as well as the 2011 training schedule is available online at http://www.coproduction-training.com.

TRANS ATLANTIC PARTNERS is supported by the MEDIA Mundus Programme of the European Union and by Telefilm Canada.

Erich Pommer Institut (Germany) – www.epi-medieninstitut.de

The Erich Pommer Institut (EPI) is an institute for media law, media economy and media research based in Potsdam, Germany. Each year, EPI organizes and hosts close to 40 seminars, workshops, conferences and panels – both for the German as well as the European media industry.

IFP Independent Filmmaker Project (USA) – www.ifp.org

IFP is the U.S.’s oldest and largest non-for-profit advocacy organization for independent filmmakers. IFP represents a network of 10,000 filmmakers in New York City and around the world, with a mission of ensuring that independent films enrich the universal language of cinema, seeding the global culture with new ideas, kindling awareness and fostering activism.

Strategic Partners (Canada) – www.atlanticfilm.com/sp

One of the world’s pre-eminent co-production markets, Strategic Partners (SP) focuses on feature film, TV fiction, multiplatform and long form documentaries. SP is the place to discover and develop compelling projects and make investment happen. Strategic Partners is a property of the Atlantic Film Festival.