At the 2026 San Sebastián International Film Festival, Europa Distribution hosted a three-day workshop from 21 to 23 September, bringing together twenty-five members of the association. The event featured an Audience Design workshop led by Benjamin Cölle, a consultant and trainer who is currently earning his doctorate in the field. Audience Design is a relatively new approach that views film distribution not as the end of a film's journey but as an ongoing part of its creative and strategic development. The workshop focused on how filmmakers and industry professionals can consider their audiences from the earliest stages of production, shaping distribution strategies based on audience insights. Participants explored how different professionals—directors, producers, and distributors—can work together to create films that resonate with specific audiences. The workshop combined theory with practical exercises, using case studies such as Andrea Arnold’s Bird, distributed by Kim Foss from Camera Film in Denmark, and Mati Diop’s Dahomey, distributed by Claire Honegger from Filmcoopi in Switzerland. Benjamin Cölle described Audience Design as a way to address the challenges faced by independent and arthouse cinema in today’s media environment, emphasizing that it is an iterative process that can begin during scriptwriting and continue through post-production and into distribution. During the second part of the workshop, participants used the case studies to simulate an audience design process that could have been applied earlier in the films’ development. They analyzed the themes, emotions, and values of Bird and Dahomey, identifying potential audiences and considering how these insights could inform the films’ positioning, loglines, artwork, and festival strategies. The final stage of the exercise involved developing fictional release strategies for the films across different countries, including Poland, the Netherlands, and Denmark. This exercise highlighted the importance of shared understanding among professionals, even when adapting strategies to local markets with different cultural contexts and audience habits. On the third day, the focus shifted to broader discussions about collaboration across the European film industry. Following the success of a similar event in 2024, sales agents from Europa International joined Europa Distribution members for roundtable discussions aimed at strengthening ties between different sectors of the industry. Participants divided into groups to discuss topics such as improving communication between sales agents and distributors, creating shared tools for marketing and market intelligence, and ensuring high-quality materials are available throughout the distribution process. These conversations reinforced the central idea of the Audience Design workshop: building stronger connections across the film value chain to help European films reach audiences more effectively. Europa Distribution continues to work toward this goal, with more information available on its website.