Home > MIFF 37ºSouth Market > FAQs
MIFF 37ºSouth Market occurs 6 August – 9 August 2026, around the opening weekend of the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF).
Application forms can be accessed on the Call for Submissions page. An overview of the application forms can be found below.
Producers
If you are a producer based in Australia or New Zealand and you have a script-stage feature film project or slate of projects (which can also include prestige TV drama) ready to pitch to distributors, sales agents, streamers and other screen financiers, then complete the application form for Bridging the Gap (Option A).
If you are a producer based in Australia or New Zealand and you have a completed movie that is seeking world sales representation or distribution, then complete the application form for Breakthru Screenings (Option B).
If you are a producer or development executive who is seeking new material to develop and/or finance (and you do not also have a script-stage project to pitch to financiers), then you may wish to attend some or all of the following modules (the application form for which is Option C):
Note: Producers accepted into Bridging the Gap or Breakthru Screenings are automatically entitled to “opt-in” for meetings at all or any of the content development modules (PS&D, BaM, Nexus), as well as Link Up (fostering connections and business opportunities between producers and 37°South partner organisations including screen agencies, service companies and more) and Team Up (meetings between independent producers and larger production entities to explore collaboration opportunities).
Book Publishers and Literary Rights Agents
If you are a book publisher or literary rights agent seeking to meet with producers and development executives to pitch your books for screen adaptation, please complete the Books at MIFF form (Option D).
Other IP Rights Holders
If you hold the screen adaptation rights to other creative IP (such as games, comics, stage-plays, musicals, short stories, online content, poems, podcasts, etc) and wish to meet with producers and development executives to pitch your creative assets for screen adaptation, then please complete the Nexus form (Option E).
Screenwriters/Directors/Creatives
If you are a screenwriter, director or creative seeking to meet with producers and development executives to pitch your scripts and talents, please complete the PostScript & Direct (PS&D) form (Option F).
Please note: MIFF 37ºSouth Market is designed for screen production professionals to meet with potential financiers to stimulate screen production and/or with IP owners to find new content to develop. If you do not fall into these categories, then your best interface is with 37ºSouth Market & Accelerator Lab public & industry partnership events, ticket purchases for which are open to all, as well as with MIFF’s public programs including films, Q&A sessions, panels and other special events.
If you are concerned that your application for Bridging the Gap or Breakthru Screenings might not be successful, you may wish to apply for more than one strand/module of 37ºSouth Market to increase your chances of selection. Only a maximum of one of your applications will be successful. Be assured that no matter how many applications you submit, you will only be charged once – and only if you are successful.
Producers who are selected for Bridging the Gap or Breakthru Screenings registrations to 37ºSouth Market will receive a lanyard entitling them to scheduled meetings with local & international financiers/buyers who have requested to meet them, as well as selected networking events and State of Play talks; plus the choice to opt-in (at no extra cost) or opt-out of participating in the following content-seeking modules:
And choice to opt-in (at no extra cost) or opt-out of participating in the following business development modules:
Producers who do not have market-ready scripts to pitch to financiers can apply to attend solely the modules where they can seek new content to develop – namely Books at MIFF and/or Nexus and/or PostScript & Direct.
For more information on 37ºSouth’s various modules, see here.
Yes. However, each registration is only good for one participant. Passes are not transferable, nor are they able to be shared, and only the passholder will be able to access the events associated with the module.
Should you wish to have any of your collaborators join with your meetings, then: (1) they must submit a separate application; and (2) both your application and their application (their application can be either with the same lead project as your own, or else one of your slate projects with your lead project as one of their slate projects) must indicate that you both wish to be ‘linked’ to each other and take meetings together. Linked participants will have the same diary of meetings for the entire Market.
Please note that participants can only link with other participants in the same module. So, only producers doing Bridging the Gap can link with others doing Bridging the Gap. PostScript & Direct participants (for example) are not permitted to join-in the financier meetings of a Bridging the Gap producer.
No. While you are required to provide your credit card details in the payment and declaration section of your application form, the amount will only be deducted if your application is successful.
If you find yourself unable to attend the market refunds are not issued. However, on a case-by-case basis, a credit may be offered for the following year’s Market. A credit is valid for the one producer only and is not transferable or able to be shared.
Generally, MIFF 37ºSouth Market will contact you in June to let you know if you have been successful or not – although some modules allocate places in stages running through June and early July.
For some producers, further information will be sought and your application placed in reserve and you will be contacted again in late June based on the new information you provide.
MIFF 37ºSouth Market has always connected Australian narrative feature film producers with the local and international marketplace on their home soil – far away from the rest of the world’s producers (and buyers) competing for attention at major international markets. MIFF 37ºSouth Market now also admits producers whose slate includes prestige TV drama.
If you have a feature-length documentary that is a genuine theatrical proposition (think An Inconvenient Truth, Mad Hot Ballroom, The September Issue, Sherpa), 37ºSouth Market will have co-financiers in attendance of relevance to your project. If your documentary project is aimed more at international TV co-financiers, then there are other Australian events (such as AIDC) to connect you to those TV buyers/financiers.
If you have attended previously and you wish to return with the same project, that is not a problem – after all, screen project financing is a gradual business! Indeed, many of the projects that have attached financing elements at 37ºSouth Market were presented at more than one edition of the event. Each year, the mix of financing guests is different with some returning companies and always several new companies. However, in this circumstance, it is advisable to apply with a slate.
Each year, 37ºSouth brings together a carefully curated selection of screen production financiers (including sales agents, distributors, streamers, gap funders, cash-flow providers, and more) with a range of financial capacities and creative interests. Typically, this spread of companies will range from conglomerate level, through to major independents, frequent partners in Australian projects, streamers and companies comfortable with lower budget work.
Each of the meetings goes for around 20 minutes – the typical meeting time at a major market. During the few days between getting your diary and the guest sales agent/distributor/financier profile document (generally four days prior to opening) and the start of the market, we recommend visiting the websites of each of the companies that are meeting with you to get a feel for their recent slate.
Generally, it is advisable to have a pitch on your lead project ready to take up no more than 10 minutes, leaving time for questions and also to quickly pitch the rest of your slate if the buyer is interested. It is also advisable to switch quickly to another of your projects should the buyer not bite at your main pitch. The key objective for most meetings is to induce the buyer to request a copy of your script – after all, a requested script generally gets read a lot sooner than an unsolicited one!
For other producers, the key outcome is just having made contact with the buyer, which might be useful in the future. For foreign sales agents especially, 37ºSouth Market works as a “feeder & filter” market – they meet a very large number of producers over the four days and tend to pick a handful of projects that they would like to read the script for (Feeder element) and then take follow-up meetings with at future international markets (Filter).
Please note that 37ºSouth Market meetings are determined mainly by the preferences of the invited buyers (sales agents / distributors / financiers) – while organisers cannot guarantee the number of buyers meetings in your diary, the benefit here is that when you have a meeting scheduled, odds-on it has been at the request of the buyer!
In addition to your scheduled meetings, there will also be several more informal networking events – so if you don’t have a meeting with a company that you were hoping for, there are other chances to make contact over the four days (e.g. networking events, roundtables, talks, screenings). There are also other meeting opportunities in non-financier modules, such as BaM, PS&D, Nexus, and Link Up.
It all starts with your application: the 37ºSouth Market application process asks for specific information on your projects to assist the invited distributors, financiers, sales agents and other funders in deciding if they are interested in meeting with you. It is very important that you provide full information on the form because if you are selected to participate at 37ºSouth Market, this form becomes your entry in the confidential project book from which the financiers then select who they wish to meet.
If you are attending the market and are from outside Melbourne, there is a large range of hotels close to 37ºSouth Market’s main venues; at the luxury end is Rydges on Exhibition Street, The Westin on Collins Street, Next Hotel on Little Collins Street, Sofitel on Collins, Sheraton on Little Collins, and Hyatt on Collins, while on the more budget side is the Victoria Hotel on Little Collins and the Mercure on Swanston Street.
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