Marion Bridge a huge success

Marion Bridge opened at the Toronto International Film Festival to huge acclaim. As a result, von Carolsfeld has been hailed as an "exciting new talent" in Canadian film (Liz Czach, TIFF, quoted on the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television website).

Von Carolsfeld insisted on a strong script for her next project, too. This one, with its projected $3-million budget, came to her through Andrew Boutilier, a producer in Vancouver, who asked her to direct a feature based on the debut novel Stay by the Canadian author Aislinn Hunter.

In this case, Von Carolsfeld said she would direct only if she could write a first draft of the screenplay herself. Boutilier agreed.

"I have to feel very strongly connected [to the script]," she says. "It has to move me emotionally and intellectually."

Von Carolsfeld's script is so promising that it has been accepted at CineMart, an international co-production market that coincides with the Rotterdam film festival. Of roughly 400 applications to CineMart, only 45 are accepted. Each application has to have 30 per cent of the financing already in place.

CineMart gives independent filmmakers access to about 800 potential financiers, including executives from all major international sales agents, buyers and independent production companies.

The process involves sitting in rooms for three days, having 30-minute meetings with industry players, pitching the film and trying to round up financial support.

Von Carolsfeld's goal is to find funding from Ireland where Stay is set, and to get a co-production deal.

Her script was also one of just three accepted for a similar co-production market, known as the Berlin Rotterdam Express, a week later.

She compares the fast round of short meetings at these markets to speed-dating, where prospective dates assess each other in quick interviews. She and her producer would unlikely have access to this many sources of money so efficiently in any other forum.