Cork’s world-renowned film festival is fast becoming known as far more than that: This year, for the first time, it will host four separate seminars to educate on and discuss the art of film through its Talent Development programme, presented with the support of Tiger Beer.

 Keeping with its theme of Film, Music, Ideas, the Film Festival, which takes place from November 7^th to 16^th 2014, will host the “Emerge”, “Fund” , “Listen” and “Incubate” conferences. Each of the conferences provides its audience with an insight into different aspects of the filmmaking environment and equips them with the skills and knowledge to further develop their film careers.

“Emerge”, taking place on Friday, November 14^th from 10am to 3pm in the Stack Theatre, Cork School of Music, is returning for its second year at the Cork Film Festival. Following the success of its debut last year, the symposium will explore the convergence of art, digital technology and the media. This year there is a particular focus on audience building and digital brand enhancement. Guest speakers at the event will include Darragh O’Connell, Creative Director of Brown Bag Films, Vida Toombs, Executive producer of VICE Media Inc and Brian Newman, Founder of Sub-Genre Media.  This year the event will be partnered with the Cork Institute of Technology.

 “Fund”, which will run from 10am to 1pm on Wednesday, November 12^th, takes place in the River Lee Hotel.  New to the programme for the festival this year, “Fund” is a half day short and feature film funding seminar.  The event aims to provide independent film makers with a greater insight into the funding landscape in all its forms, from more traditional methods and modern approaches to DIY. Key speakers on the day will include Jane Gogan (RTÉ), Alan Fitzpatrick (Filmbase), Ciarán Kissane (BAI) and Andrew Hetherington (FundIt, Business to Arts) among others. Case studies will feature representatives from the broadcasting, crowdfunding, product placement and digital agency communities and is likely to provide a fantastic insight into potential film funding options.

“Listen”, a two day event, which begins Wednesday, November 12^th and continues on Thursday, November 13^th, brings together film sound professionals with composers to share expertise and ideas regarding the aural aspect of filmmaking.  Composer Stephen Warbeck will be a special guest and will discuss in depth his most famous film scores. Other aspects of “Listen” will include a sound design workshop and a screen composer masterclass.

 “Incubate” takes place on Saturday, November 15^th from 10am to 6pm in the River Lee Hotel. Making its debut at this year’s festival, the conference strives to inform filmmakers about the business aspect of being an independent filmmaker and covers topics from marketing, distribution, self-promotion, collaboration methods and industry practicalities. Represented at Incubate are JDIFF, Element Pictures, Distrify and many more. The session is presented with the support of Screen Training Ireland.

Speaking about the Talent Development programme, James Mullighan, Creative Director of the Cork Film Festival, said: “It is hugely important to us at the Film Festival to encourage and develop talent and to educate on filmmaking, so we are particularly proud to add the Talent Development seminars to the mix. It is a great addition to our programme, and we hope it will be of immense benefit to people involved in the industry. I am hugely grateful for the support of our partners Screen Training Ireland, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork County Arts Office and Tiger beer, and I would encourage anyone with an interest in filmmaking to book into the seminars.”

To book a place on the Emerge, Fund, Listen or Incubate festivals, or for further information, go to www.corkfilmfest.org.