Flanders’ central film commission, Location Flanders, won four AFCI Marketing Awards in Los Angeles. The awards, organised bythe Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI), are the icing on the cake for the film commission which since 1 January 2013 has been part of the new Screen Flanders initiative.
The AFCI Marketing Awards offer a unique way for the 300-plus AFCI members to present their most creative campaigns and products in different disciplines. Location Flanders managed to grab three first prizes and one third prize.
The commission’s promo reel, developed for the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, was awarded the first prize in the category Best Digital Video. The Best Digital Media first prize also went to Location Flanders for its electronic newsletters. The Location Flanders promo bag, distributed at the Cannes Film Festival last year, earned the commission another first prize for Best Specialty Item. And finally, the third prize in Digital Advertising was awarded for the internet banners used during Cannes, describing the launch of Screen Flanders, Flanders’ new economic support measure for audiovisual works.
Launched at the end of 2008 by the cities of Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent and Ostend, Location Flanders has picked up a number of honours at the AFCI Awards over the last few years, including in the categories Best Website, Best Production Guide and Best Digital Marketing Campaign. In total, no fewer than nine awards have come to Flanders in the past four years. Since the beginning of this year, all promotion and communication activities of the film commission will continue under the name of Screen Flanders.
Via Screen Flanders, the government of Flanders offers financial support to audiovisual productions that spend (part of) their budget within the Flanders region. Belgian producers can apply to receive refundable advances by way of economic support to cover their audiovisual expenses in the Flanders region. Foreign producers interested in applying for the fund can co-produce with a Belgian producer that satisfies all the selection criteria.
Fiction, documentary or animation films with a running time of at least 60 minutes and animation series consisting of at least three episodes with a minimum total broadcast time of 60 minutes for the whole series are eligible. The (co-)production must enrich the cultural heritage of Flanders.