Transilvania Industry Program Primes Co-Production, Series Development

When asked about his main priority in the first edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival since taking the position of industry manager, Adrian Bilă has the answer at the tip of his tongue: “to keep everything in place and working well.” This answer, he says, is a testament to the work of the festival’s former industry head, Dumitrana Lupu, who helped turn TIFF into a key gathering for producers and filmmakers in the Balkans. 

The actor slash producer took the position in January and spent the last six months getting a better understanding of the industry structures in place at TIFF, both to continue to deliver programs that are already considered successful and to be able to tweak whatever wasn’t fully working. This year’s RO Days, the festival’s industry platform, will take place between June 19-23, with a focus on continuous collaboration and targeting local and regional filmmakers, and has seen an increased number of submissions from last year, a great sign ahead of events kicking off in Cluj-Napoca. 

“In a sense, everything I’ve done professionally up to now is helping me in settling into this new role,” says Bilă, emphasizing his relationship with the creative industries in the country and how connected he feels to emerging talent. Amongst the initiatives he is most excited about is the Transilvania Talent Lab, a program for emerging filmmakers, producers, and screenwriters up to 35 years old from Romania or the Republic of Moldova. 

“It’s not a project development initiative, it’s about taking into account where they are in their career and seeing what they can benefit from in terms of tutoring, mentorship, and meeting local experts,” adds the manager. “We want to give budding filmmakers a chance to fully see how the industry works.”

Speaking about the festival’s central co-production platform, the Transilvania Pitch Stop, Bilă highlights its importance at a time…