Seven students from across Europe gathered at IADT, Dublin earlier this month to take part in the pilot C-Accelerate Plus 2025 programme
C-Accelerate Plus, promoted by the FilmEU Alliance, is an EIT initiative aimed at enhancing innovation and entrepreneurial capacity within higher education institutions, with a focus on the cultural and creative industries in Europe. It builds on the work completed in C-Accelerate (2023-2024), by focusing on business acceleration and supporting start-ups in the creative sector.
Consisting of seven higher education institutions: Tallinn University, LUCA School of Arts, Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT), Lusófona University, the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (VŠMU), the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA), and the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LMTA), C-Accelerate Plus aims to deliver targeted support for students, researchers, academic and non-academic staff to develop entrepreneurial mindsets, launch start-ups, and collaborate on solutions for real world problems.
This year’s IADT-led, student-focused pilot course saw participants attend online lectures for two weeks before travelling to Dublin for two more weeks of in-person classes, workshops, networking events, and a final pitch day with the aim of developing the businesses side of their artistic endeavour.
The students who took part were Marco Migueis from Lusófona University, Lea Stern from IADT, Melita Sinusaite from LMTA, Dominik Reisel from VŠMU, Diego Barajas from Tallinn University, Ivan Mironov from NATFA, and Jolie Ryckaert from LUCA School of Arts.
Five of the seven participants are developing a TV series, feature length, or short film.
Two students are working on alternative projects with Diego Barajas (Tallinn University) developing an AI-powered focus assistance solution for creatives while Jolie Ryckaert (LUCA) is working on a card game aimed at educating young people on the dangers of climate change.
Ryckaert, a third-year visual design and illustration student from Belgium said she became aware of the pilot programme through her institution and says that it felt like a “great chance to develop my project more especially when it comes to the business and marketing side.”
Dominik Reisel, a filmmaker and master’s graduate from VŠMU said he applied to the programme to “gain skills and the confidence to present and connect my ideas with others”.
Reisel is developing a feature-length surrealist sci-fi film and is currently searching for funding to advance the project further.
After two weeks of attending classes, connecting with fellow creatives and exploring all that Dublin and Dun Laoghaire has to offer, the group had the opportunity to pitch their endeavours to industry professionals as part of the greater 2025 IADT Student Accelerator Final Pitch Day.
The seven participants presented their ideas and plans moving forward before fielding questions from a panel of industry judges. The judging panels consisted of representatives from Enterprise Ireland, Nathean Analytics and Wild Atlantic Pictures.
The judges then decided on a winner based on several criteria such as creativity, business feasibility and presentation.
In the end, Lea Stern from IADT came out on top while Marco Migueis from Lusófona University finished second.
Migueis’ five-part television series centres around the complexities and consequences of the advancement of artificial intelligence and he said the initiative helped him “develop my project more broadly and also learn from experienced people in the industry”.
Stern, a film student who is going into her fourth year at IADT, has written ‘Splinters & Ashes’, a short film that she will soon direct.
“The film is inspired by my experience living in a women’s shelter in Austria in 2005 after my mother left my father,” she said.
“It is a story about trauma and losing a life but also how you work towards a new one.
“The project goes beyond cinema and will have a bigger social impact in the conversations around domestic violence from the perspective of a child”.
A successful four-week programme came to an with a deserved group meal in Dun Laoghaire as the students bid farewell to IADT and returned to their home countries – now with a bit more knowledge on how to make their creative projects a reality.
