Gary Cranner is this year's Norwegian Producer on the Move

-In an uncertain time with major upheavals in the industry both here at home and abroad, it is important to continue to build international networks and relationships, says Gary Cranner, who is based in Stavanger.

-It is great to be selected to be Norway's Producer on the Move. I bring my perspective as a feature film producer outside Oslo as well as a bunch of strong projects into the programme, and hope to both find both interesting partners for my projects and to meet good people and projects I can connect with. For me, collaboration and mutual trust are an essential part of co-producing and working with film, says producer Gary Cranner.

Gary Cranner is a producer in Chezville AS, the focal point of Stavanger's unique feature film environment. He has a background as an editor, and made his feature film debut as a producer with Arild Østin Ommundsen's "Wonderland" in 2013, where he also won the Canon Award for best producer. He has produced Ommundsen's critically acclaimed "Now It's Dark" (2018) and several co-productions and short films. Gary is self-taught as a producer, but has furthered his education by participating in several producer development programs such as EAVE, ACE Producers and Inside Pictures. In 2020, he produced the cinema success «Tottori! The Summer we found our Superpowers ” (director: Silje Salomonsen and Arild Østin Ommundsen) who has so far won 14 awards at international film festivals.

444 predecessors

The 20 selected Producers on the Move (PoM) 2021 from all over Europe will go through a close, five-day tailor-made program that takes place from 17 to 21 May. The overall goal is to contribute to international co-productions, exchange of experience and new networks. This networking usually takes place during the Cannes Film Festival, but due to the corona situation, it also takes place digitally this year, but on the usual May dates of the Cannes Film Festival. The Cannes Film Festival, on the other hand, is postponed until July 6-17. The Producers on the Move program will nevertheless contain many of the same ingredients as previous PoMs, such as presentations of the producers' upcoming film projects, speed dating and roundtable discussions with renowned industry players.

Who is selected

The criteria for applying for participation in Producers on the Move 2021 is that the producer must, among other things, have been a producer on at least one international co-production. The selection is based on points awarded based on experience as a producer / co-producer in addition to international sales, distribution and festival participation with previous films.

European initiative

Producers on the Move is being held this year for the 22nd time, and since the start, more than 444 producers have participated in the program. Producers on the Move is organized by European Film Promotion (EFP), which since 2000 has used the Cannes Festival as an arena to focus on new European producers, and help them establish their own international network. The Norwegian Film Institute is one of the founders of European Film Promotion, where NFI's foreign director for feature films Stine Oppegaard is vice president.

Producer on the Move programme

EFP Producer on the Move is supported by the Creative Europe - MEDIA program for the EU and Eurimages and in collaboration with Festival Scope. The main media partner is Variety. Interviews with this year's Producer on the Move will be published on the website of the program's other media partner: www.cineuropa.org.

Norwegian participants through the ages

Previous Norwegian participants in Producers on the Move are Turid Øversveen (2000), Edward Dreyer (2001), Bjørn Eivind Aarskog (2002), Bent Hamer (2003), Gudny Hummelvoll (2004), Jørgen Storm Rosenberg (2005), Christian Fredrik Martin (2006), Eric Vogel (2007), Silje Hopland Eik (2008), Yngve Sæther (2009), Asle Vatn (2010), Maria Ekerhovd (2011), Brede Hovland (2012), Hans-Jørgen Osnes (2013), Teréz Hollo-Klausen (2014), Kjetil Omberg (2015), Bendik Heggen Strønstad (2016), Åshild Ramborg (2018), Dyveke Bjørkly Graver (2019), Alan R. Milligan (2020) and Gary Cranner (2021).