March 2002 | Pygmalion
European Lab for Family Film, TV and Interactive Media: Part I (UK); Part 2 (Germany)
In 2002, PAL joined the Pygmalion partnership, the only European programme specifically for development of children’s projects across all audiovisual media
“Children’s appetite for good stories, inspiring characters and increasingly challenging games is undiminished and their demand for new drama remains as strong as ever. It does so, however, in a rapidly expanding media environment in which children are also targeted as consumers and as valuable objects for commercial exploitation by media and merchandising companies. There is increased demand for new product but also greater pressure on available funding for them. In this environment of low budgets and fierce competition for audiences, the challenge to producers and writers is how to create the rich variety of quality media that children still relish and which speaks to this generation of children and the world they live in”.
Jenny Thompson, Pygmalion Lab Director
With PAL’s experience and expertise Pygmalion was expanded to encompass writing for all audiovisual media, including interactive media. The aim is that all participants should benefit from the opportunities afforded by the cross-fertilization of ideas and expertise in an increasingly cross-platform world. The collaboration of training organisations from several countries offers a rich mix of European cultures and provides a platform on which to build a pan-European network. Pygmalion was also lengthened from a single workshop into a six-month programme, bound together by two Labs.
Lab Co-directors
Severine Gautier
Jenny Thompson
Beate Voelcker
Lab Mentors
Ahrend Agthe - screenwriter/director
Neil Richards - interactive media/screenwriter
Joan Sauers - writer, live TV
Barbara Slade - writer, animated TV series
Marleen Gorris - film director
Pitching Trainer
Sandford Lieberson —producer
Lab Participants
Laurence Arcadias - animation
Michaela Beck - writer
Thomas Borch Nielsen - writer
Matthew Cureton - actor
Sean Coleman - Lab support team, interactive
Sam Dale - actor
Paul Daudin Clavaud - writer
Charlotte Fields - actor
Jochen Franken - writer
Inka Fromme - writer
Peter Gilpin - PAL Chef
Markus Halberschmidt - Lab support team, feature film
Ian Handschke - writer
Axel Hellstenius - writer
Melanie Kuss - Lab support team, live TV series
Louise Lynch - producer
Fiona McCormick - writer
Siobhan Nicholas - actor
Caroline Pierce - producer
Stephen Potts - writer
Bruno Regeste - writer
Dan Rosewarne - actor
Sylvia Sabiwalsky - producer
Elizabeth Salel - writer/artist
Eva Schafer - writer
Becky Shaw - Lab co-ordinator
Iris Stark - writer/producer
Andrew Viner - writer
Guest Mentors/Speakers
Dr Michael Newton - writer/lecturer, UCL, Central Saint Martins
Jonathan Peel - Chairman, Millimages
Pitching Forum Day speakers/visitors
Peter Rommel - Peter Rommel Productions, Berlin
Susanne Muller - ZDF
Estelle Hughes - BBC
Susanne Schosser - Super RTL
Preben Vridstoft - DR
Margaret Albers - Festival Director
Pygmalion Partners
Conservatoire Europeen d’Ecriture Adiovisuelle (France)
Master School Drehbuch (Germany)
PAL (UK)
Funded by
MEDIA
Skillset
SE Arts
NESTA
Statens Studiesenter for Film, Norway
