Speed Dating For Filmmakers

Matt Wilkinson: Young writer. Unattached. Good sense of humour. Likes independent films and foreign travel. WLTM a more mature professional with experience and similar tastes.

How did you apply?

You had to send a five page script sample by e-mail. I had lots of things: short films, a feature, some one-page ideas. In the end, I sent a scene I'd written about a mother who is at the end of her tether with her teenage daughter who has learning disabilities. It's quite a harrowing scene, but I felt it would stand out.

Where did you stay?

In a hostel, in an eight-man dorm. There were only four of us in there: myself, a Dutch producer, a Swede and a Finn. I didn't really get to know the Finnish bloke, he was part of some soundtrack competition that kept him out all night, so he'd sleep most of the day.

How did the speed dating work?

Actually, it was called 'Speed Matching'. The Talent Campus is part of the Berlin Film festival. It takes place in this imposing building called the House of World Cultures, away from the actual festival on the Potsdamer Platz. Inside there were lots of lectures and screenings taking place. In the 'dating' room, the organisers laid out two circles of chairs, one inside the other. The twelve producers sat on the inside chairs. After 5 minutes of chat they blew this whistle and us writers had to get up and move on to the next person.