Masterclasses
Description: Masterclasses are immersive learning experiences led by acclaimed
filmmakers, producers, casting directors, screenwriters, and creative entrepreneurs.
Each session offers participants a rare opportunity to go behind the scenes of groundbreaking projects, understand real-world creative processes, and gain practical skills essential to thriving in the global film industry.
With a focus on craft, vision, and empowerment, these masterclasses are designed for emerging
talent, mid-career professionals, and curious creatives seeking to deepen their knowledge
and refine their voice.
What to Expect:
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In-depth techniques and case studies
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Behind-the-scenes insights from successful productions
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Creative and business strategies
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Interactive Q&A and networking with industry mentors
Led by: Global experts committed to sharing knowledge and fostering inclusive
excellence in film
Duration: 60 to 90 min
Masterclass 1 | Authenticity in Cross-Cultural Collaborations
Building Meaningful Global Films Without Losing Cultural Truth
As international film collaborations accelerate across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, creators are increasingly faced with a critical question: how do we collaborate globally without diluting cultural specificity? This masterclass examines the creative, ethical, and practical dimensions of cross-cultural filmmaking, focusing on how to preserve authenticity while building commercially viable international projects.
Led through real-world case studies and industry insights, the session unpacks how filmmakers, producers, and writers can navigate cultural nuance, avoid tokenism, and ensure that collaboration becomes a space of mutual respect rather than creative extraction. It also explores how authentic storytelling can strengthen—not limit—global market appeal when handled with intention and precision.
Key Talking Points
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Authenticity vs Market Adaptation: How to stay true to cultural voice while designing films for international audiences
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Avoiding Tokenism in Global Collaborations: Recognising and preventing superficial or extractive representation in co-productions
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Creative Power Balance in Co-Productions: Who leads the story, who owns the narrative, and how decisions are shared
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Cultural Consultation & Embedded Collaboration: Best practices for integrating cultural advisors, local creatives, and lived experience
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From “Universal Stories” to Specific Truths: Why the most globally successful films are often the most culturally specific
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Case Studies in Successful Cross-Cultural Films: Examples of productions that successfully balanced authenticity with international reach across multiple territories and creative teams
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Building Trust Across Borders: Long-term collaboration models that go beyond one-off co-productions and transactional partnerships
Host: Tera Carissa Hodges, Entrepreneur, Producer, USA
Date: Saturday, May 16, 2026
Time: 4.30 PM
Masterclass 2 | Inside the Casting Room: Acting, Auditions & Career Survival in a Changing Industry
What Gets You Seen. What Gets You Chosen. What Keeps You Working.
This masterclass offers a rare, practical look inside the evolving relationship between actors and casting in today’s global screen industry. From self-tapes and remote auditions to international casting sessions and platform-driven discovery, the entry points into acting have fundamentally changed. For actors at every stage, understanding how visibility is built—and how decisions are actually made behind the scenes—has become essential to navigating a sustainable career.
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This session is led by leading casting professionals and is hosted in conversation with a special VIP guest: a high-profile actor with extensive international credits, offering first-hand insight from both sides of the camera. Together, they unpack what truly defines opportunity today: not only talent, but preparation, positioning, adaptability, and the ability to translate performance across formats, genres, and global markets. The masterclass also opens up an honest conversation about access, longevity, and how actors from African, diasporic, and diverse backgrounds can build real, lasting careers in an increasingly competitive ecosystem.
Host: Luci Lenox, Academy Member, Casting Director, Co-Founder, The Actors’ Home, Ireland + Spain
Guests:
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Jimmy Jean-Louis, Actor, Author ,Haiti
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Maria Gal, Actress, Producer, Brazil
Date: Sunday, May 17, 2026
Time: 2.00 - 3.00 PM
Masterclass 3 | The Financing Blueprint | Building Film that Attract Capital
From Public Funds to Private Investors, Brands & Multi-Format Funding & Revenue Strategies
Most films don’t fail in production—they fail in financing design. In today’s industry, creative ambition is only one part of the equation; filmmakers must build projects that are financially intelligible to multiple types of capital at once. From film funds and soft money systems to private investors, co-production structures, brands, and emerging platform financing—including the rapid rise of vertical storytelling formats—the challenge is no longer just raising money, but designing projects that are built to attract it across formats and markets. This includes understanding how mobile-first, short-form, and platform-driven content are opening new financing pathways and drawing in investors focused on scalability and fast audience engagement.
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This masterclass unpacks how financing works across today’s fragmented global landscape and how filmmakers can position their work strategically from the outset. It explores how public funds assess cultural value, how private investors evaluate risk, how brands integrate into storytelling as funding partners, and how multi-format thinking—across film, series, vertical, and digital ecosystems—is shaping investment decisions. At its core, it reframes financing as a creative architecture problem, where structure, positioning, format strategy, and audience logic determine whether a project gets funded, packaged, and ultimately made.