From November 23rd to 25th, 2020, Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event hosted some fascinating panel discussions featuring several ICDN casting directors, as well as other esteemed colleagues from around the globe.
The Black Nights Stars programme was designed to support young actors from the Baltic Sea region seeking to break into the international arena by connecting them to key international film professionals.
This year, due to COVID-19, the events took place online, and included:
- A panel discussion led by New York-based casting director Lina Todd on how auditions work in the States and how casting directors find European actors, featuring ICDN member Avy Kaufman (USA), and U.S. colleagues Joseph Middleton and Billy Hopkins.
- Industry Talk with ICDN members Piotr Bartuszek (Poland) and Simone Bär (Germany), plus Georg Georgi of Das Imperium and Gretel&Hänsel, and David Zitzlsperger of the online platform CastUpload, on the future of online casting and auditioning, the impact this has had on the way of working, and how it is changing the casting business.
- A BNS Workshop with ICDN member Tusse Lande (Sweden) on How to Promote Yourself in a Competitive Market.
- A Masterclass for actors entitled “What makes a good casting? How will we work in the coming time, and what is to be expected for actors?” with ICDN members Nancy Bishop (Czech Republic/UK), Magdalena Szwarcbart (Poland), Piotr Bartuszek (Poland), Kristina Kolyte (Lithuania), as well as several UK and European talent agents.
ICDN would like to extend thanks to Claudia Landsberg for her invitation and the warmest welcome. We missed seeing everyone in person this year, but we very much look forward to future collaborations in Tallinn!
Established in 1997, the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has grown into one of the biggest film festivals in Northern Europe and busiest regional industry platforms, hosting more than 1000 guests and industry delegates, and over 160 journalists. The festival screens around 250 features and more than 300 shorts and animations and sees an attendance of 80,000 people annually.
