EUROPEAN WORK IN PROGRESS European Work in Progress (EWIP) is a hybrid industry event taking place annually in Autumn. Originally held in Cologne, the event moved to Hamburg from the 2025 edition onwards. Each year, EWIP brings together around 300 international professionals, including filmmakers, producers, distributors, sales agents, festival programmers, commissioning editors and financiers. The core objectives of EWIP are to strengthen the international circulation, festival positioning and visibility of European audiovisual works; to support projects at key stages by facilitating access to sales, distribution and remaining financing; and to foster high-quality B2B exchange across the audiovisual value chain. The event also serves as a platform for cooperation and strategic alignment, enabling professionals to share best practices, develop innovative approaches to distribution and audience development, and contribute to the emergence of new business models within the European audiovisual ecosystem. EWIP will celebrate its 9th edition from 28th to 30th of September 2026. For the second time it takes place in Hamburg in the framework of the FILMFEST HAMBURG INDUSTRY DAYS in cooperation with FILMFEST HAMBURG and the MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein. Supported by Creative Europe MEDIA, EWIP will present up to 25 European feature-length projects. Participating films need to be close to completion or in post production and have at least one producer or co-producer from Europe.Projects are selected for exclusive presentations to international sales agents, distributors, festival curators, and other film professionals. The selected projects will be presented in a 15-minute-pitch along with short scenes of the film and a brief Q&A. Aside from the pitching sessions EWIP offers many opportunities for informal networking via one-on-one meetings, panels, workshops and after work events which provide valuable connections between filmmakers and industry experts. Since 2022, EWIP has been complemented by the International Film Distribution Summit, a dedicated platform for sales agents, distributors, platforms and other key marketing and distribution players to present, analyse and exchange innovative strategies and business models. IFDS is designed as a non-competitive space for peer-to-peer knowledge transfer, responding to structural challenges in distribution and audience reach. EUROPEAN WORK IN PROGRESS initiated by AG Verleih The field of film distribution has changed in various aspects in recent years. In connection to a EUROPEAN WORK IN PROGRESS convention, this, above all, applies to the considerably greater presence of distributors in the development and financing of film projects, since the distributor is often in demand as a contractual partner for the financing of films. However, it is also becoming increasingly important for the support and advice of film projects in regard of festival strategies, evaluation concepts, coordination with the activities of world sales, participating broadcasters and distributors from other territories, e. g. when applying for media funding. Here, the film distributors have acquired considerable competence and can exert a great deal of influence on their films’ presence festivals and can evaluate and influence the concept of a film’s distribution nationally and internationally. The presence at festivals of members of the AG Verleih in competitions and prize-winning films has increased steadily in recent years and the evaluation of festival development can always draw on current and concrete experiences.The evaluation of film projects based on screenplay or treatment has become a daily business for theatrical distributors and is in no way inferior to the editorial offices of broadcasters, sponsors and producers. An important reason is the acceleration of the market! An early evaluation at festivals of already completed films is often associated with the striving for a timely cinema release in domestic markets.Many distributors no longer buy films if the theatrical release is planned to take place after the release of DVD / VOD in competing territories (among other things due to pirated copies), many films are a few months later almost too old for the international market within only a few months. OUR GREEN MATTER We want to identify the environmental impact of the European Work in Progress event (EWIP). Our goal is to reduce the greenhouse gas it step by step. In order to implement these objectives, we assigned the companies Kiria and Green Film Shooting to develop a roadmap. The success will rely on the cooperation of all guests and participants. We want to identify the environmental impact of the European Work in Progress event (EWIP). Our goal is to reduce the greenhouse gas it step by step. In order to implement these objectives, we assigned the companies Kiria and Green Film Shooting to develop a roadmap. The success will rely on the cooperation of all guests and participants.
