The San Sebastian Lau Haizetara Documentary Forum and Treeline Distribution have renewed the agreement which they signed in 2013 with the aim of continuing to boost and strengthen the documentary industry. For the seventh consecutive year, the distributor will grant the Distribution and Festival Consultancy Prize, consisting of 2 advisory sessions for the project: a first consultancy session during the documentary development stage, and a second one once the documentary is finished.
This initiative aims to offer the best commercial distribution strategy to follow (selection of distribution company or sales agent, television, internet, cinema, etc.) and suggest a guide to which are the most appropriate festivals, depending on the content and style of the documentary. Elena Mera, representing Treeline Distribution, will be attending the pitching sessions which will take place on 26th September, in the Kursaal Congress Centre in San Sebastián. She will evaluate the documentaries’ quality, subject matter and treatment, so that they can be sold to different channels around the world, and will aim to identify the best strategy for each of them.
TREELINE DISTRIBUTION is an independent sales agent active around the world and in media (TV, theatrical, home video, digital platforms, etc.) that carefully selects the titles to represent, taking into account key internationalization criteria, the fruit of the experience accumulated over many years of working in the industry.
In 2018, the project entitled “Lobster Soup” (Spain), produced by REC-Grabaketa Estudioa-Suica Films and directed by Rafael Molés-Pepe Andreu received the prize. It is a documentary that tells the story of a small café located in the Icelandic town of Grindavík and where, every day, one of the best lobster soups in the world is prepared. However, Iceland is a trendy destination and the constant arrival of tourists poses a challenge for the survival of a modest unpretentious establishment such as this one by the ocean. To give in to the forms and pace imposed by a globalized world, or to resist undeterred the spirit of the times, that is the question. This is the starting premise of Lobster Soup.
The winner of this edition will be announced at the closing ceremony which will take place once the 15th Co-Production Forum has finished.
Further information: www.lauhaizetara.eu
