Lab Outline
The Audience Design Lab is built around an intensive four-day in-person workshop in Vienna, centred on hands-on, project-based work and two online modules.
Dedicated work with an Audience Designer
Each team works closely with its own Audience Designer throughout the Lab, applying audience design methodologies directly to their project. This includes defining audience segments, refining positioning and developing clear communication strategies.
One-on-one sessions with industry experts
Individual consultations with professionals from areas such as international sales, festivals, and publicity provide targeted feedback and market-oriented perspectives on each project.
Peer exchange and collaborative learning
Group sessions, moderated discussions and peer-to-peer feedback create a supportive environment for sharing ideas, testing approaches and learning from other teams and disciplines.
Online preparation and introduction
An introductory online session will support preparation for the Lab and introduce the fundamentals and basics of Audience Design methodology. The online session will take place on Tuesday, 2 June – 12:30–14:00 (CET) and we recommend your whole team attend.
Outcomes
The Audience Design Lab equips participants with a combination of insights and strategic, creative thinking. By the end of the programme, teams will have developed:
- A customised Audience Design strategy tailored to the specific goals and context of their film
- Practical knowledge of audience segmentation, persona-building and campaign planning
- An enhanced ability to align visual identity, tone and communication with audience expectations
- Tools and confidence to navigate the international sales, festival and publicity landscape
- A sustainable roadmap for long-term community building
These outcomes support teams in approaching audience engagement as an integral, strategic part of their creative and professional practice.
Fees
Regular Programme Fee:
2.240,- Euros excl. VAT (For up to 2 Persons) +480,- Euros for extra Person
For more information regarding fees, visit: Fees and Funding Support Page
Participation in The Audience Design Lab could be an eligible expense in European funding schemes, such as the new Eurimages “Film Marketing and Audience Development Support” scheme. This fund is accessible to recipients of the Eurimages Co-Production Funding. You can find more information about the Eurimages support scheme here: https://www.coe.int/en/web/eurimages/fmad
Who is it for?
The Audience Design Lab is designed for a small number of creative teams working on feature-length fiction, documentary or animated films. Participating projects are typically in late-stage development or post-production, at a point where story, form and intention can be clearly articulated.
For projects still in development, we recommend applying with a script or concept that is sufficiently advanced to allow for a clear definition of story and genre. This enables teams to fully engage with the Audience Design process and apply the methodology meaningfully to their project.
For projects in post-production, we encourage including a rough cut, or some clips with the application. You may also be asked for additional materials, should you be selected for the Lab.
Each team is expected to consist of at least a producer and a director. If relevant, a third core team member may join the Lab. This member could include: screenwriter, exec producer, development producer, distributor etc. We welcome projects from all genres and languages; however, we kindly ask that application materials and subtitles, where possible, are provided in English.
The working language of the Lab is English, and participants should therefore have a good level of proficiency to actively take part in discussions, workshops and mentoring sessions.
Applications are welcome from teams of all nationalities.
Lab Director
Síle Culley has run a consultancy on Audience Design since 2019. She facilitates and runs workshops for film teams to help them identify potential audiences for their films and the positioning of their projects in the ever-competitive marketplace. Her contribution as Audience Designer has led to international premieres at top festivals, world sales deals and theatrically released titles, and millions worth in successful funding applications. She frequently collaborates with Torino Film Lab, Screen Australia, NL Film Fonds, Film I Väst, and more.
Before this, Síle held positions in Distribution at Pulse Films, CinemaLive, and Altitude Films, where she worked on award-winning campaigns and on box-office records, ranging from Cannes buzz indies and Oscar-nominated animations to boyband concerts and live opera.
Experts
Meet some of the experts joining the 2026 Audience Design Lab — with more to be announced.
Síle Culley
Lab Director - Audience Design Lab | 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 Audience DesignerSíle is a freelance Audience Designer and Development consultant based in Dublin. With nearly a decade of experience working in Sales and Distribution, Síle now runs an Audience Design consultancy helping independent producers and established production companies identify potential audiences for their films and the positioning of their projects in the ever-competitive marketplace. Since she began, her contribution as Audience Designer has led to international premieres at top festivals, world sales and theatrically released titles, and successful applications with Creative Europe, the BAI, and Screen Ireland. Síle is a member of the European Film Academy and the founder of The Breakfast Club, a peer-to-peer network for women working in the Business of Film in Ireland. She is an alumna of Berlinale Talents, Torino Film Lab, LIM Less Is More, and the NFTS.
Greta Nordio
Audience Designer - The Audience Design Lab | 2026, 2025, 2024, 2022 Development Producer, Audience Design Consultant, and Fund Advisor | TorinoFilmLabGreta Nordio is a financing, development, and audience design consultant for independent films. She has worked as an audience designer since 2016, in collaboration with TorinoFilmLab, International Screen Institute, BrLab, and other international institutions and films, including the award-winning The Wound and A Land Imagined.
She was the head of financing, business and legal affairs of Vivo film for 6 years and currently is the Production and TFL Fund Advisor of TorinoFilmLab. She also offers consultancies in European and Italian financing.
Ewa Bojanowska
Audience Designer - The Audience Design Lab | 2026, 2025, 2024 Audience Designer & Festivals & Marketing ConsultantEwa Bojanowska graduated in Media Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and Film Producing from the Polish Film School in Łódź. She is also an EAVE Marketing and Torino Audience Design graduate. From 2015 to 2022, Ewa worked for New Europe Film Sales as Festival Manager, where she worked on festival hits such as The Last Family by Jan P. Matuszyński and Summer 1993 by Carla Simon. As Head of Marketing, she worked on campaigns for such films as SWEAT, LAMB, and CORPUS CHRISTI.
Since 2022 she has worked as an independent audience designer and marketing and festival consultant, and handled, among others, the Oscars® campaign for The Balcony Movie by Paweł Łoziński.
Benjamin Cölle
Audience Designer - The Audience Design Lab | 2026, 2025, 2024, 2022 Audience Design Consultant & Trainer | Pluto Film Distribution Network GmbHBenjamin Cölle has worked as an audience design consultant & trainer on a broad variety of film projects within TorinoFilmLab, World Cinema Fund, International Screen Institute, and BrLab.
He has an academic background in cultural studies (Humboldt University Berlin / Goldsmiths London) and has worked as a production assistant at Flying Moon Film Production Berlin (2010/11), as a creative producer at INDI FILM Stuttgart/Berlin (2011-2018), as a tutor and researcher in the production and directing department of Film University KONRAD WOLF Potsdam (2015-2023), and since 2022 as managing director of the world sales company Pluto Film Distribution Network.
Clara Miranda Scherffig
Speaker - The Audience Design Lab | 2026, 2022 Writer & Film professionalClara is an Italian writer and film professional living in Berlin. After a stint in publishing and journalism, she shifted closer to film, completing her MA in Visual Anthropology. She specialised in the sales and marketing of art-house films, working on titles by established and upcoming auteurs alike. Today she offers her expertise for training platforms, first features, and shorts, while freelancing as a writer and translator for a number of Italian and English-language outlets. Clara is an alumna of the Locarno Critics Academy and the Torino Film Lab.
Our Alumni
Rogier Kramer
Producer
Elżbieta Benkowska
Director“If you want your films to be watched – listen to Sile Culley and other audience designers. It’s worth it.”
Claudia Wohlgenannt
Producer and CEO„The workshop was a refreshing international experience, very much hands-on in small groups with a supportive spirit and great expertise.“
Yim Brakel
Writer/Director
Karen Newman
Producer“My time in Vienna, attending the Audience Design Lab and Business and Legal Affairs courses, was incredibly enriching. The blend of theoretical knowledge and practical insights provided a comprehensive understanding of the subjects. I highly recommend these courses to anyone looking to deepen their expertise in these areas.”
Marie Kjellson
Producer
Monika Łuczyk
PR & Marketing Manager“The knowledge we received was really valuable, and we’ve already started using it in further work on our project.”
Chris Hees
Producer
Korek Bojanowski
Writer / Director
Ylva Olaison
Producer“Fantastic days at the lab with such great people!”
Partners
ABA – FILM in AUSTRIA
