October 25, 3:00 - 4:30
With over $11,000 in prizes to be won! - FREE TO ENTER.Register Here
Do You Have a Film You Want to Make?
Don't miss this exciting opportunity to test the artistic merit and marketing value of your film concept before a panel of industry professionals. Pitching provides excellent feedback on where your idea works, where it doesn't and how to make your short film better. Entering is free and if your pitch is selected a $30 fee to pitch will be collected prior to the event.
“PitchFest was a great experience that not only provided us with a great start to our project “Henchman,” but also sharpened our skills as filmmakers and screenwriters. With the time limits imposed, and the industry professional judges critiques we were forced to hone not only the pitch but the essentials of the story itself. I stand by the belief that you see the most creativity in people when you give them limits. I repeated it a lot the night of, but I can’t thank the judges, and Forest City Film Festival enough for listening to a young filmmakers idea and giving him the chance to go forward with it.”ANDREW DICKHOUT - WINNER OF 2018 PITCHFEST
$11,000 + in Prizes
- $1000 Cash for best short film pitch that is ready to shoot
- $500 Cash for best short concept
- Script coverage and poster design by VORTEX PICTURES ($1000 value)
- $5000 Equipment rental voucher from WILLIAM F. WHITE!
- $1000 Towards audio post at EMAC STUDIOS
- $1000 Towards music composition by Award winning composer, RYNER STOETZER
- $1000 Towards pre-production Audio Consult with Award Winning Sound designer, MARK VOGELSANG
- $1000 Towards the final post-production enhancements by PLATERO VISUALS
- THE TOP 6 PITCHES WILL EACH GET 10 MINUTES OF SPEED MENTORING WITH ONE OF THE JUDGES
How it Works
Registered competitors are given 1 - 2 minutes to pitch their film concept (no TV concepts will be accepted but Narrative or Documentary shorts and features are acceptable) to a panel of industry experts. After the 2 minutes is finished, they will be asked a single question by each panelist and given 30 seconds to answer each one. Time is of the essence, so know your concept well and keep it short! Immediately following the PitchFest, our panelists will choose and present the prizes to our winner!
- Entries to be submitted by October 12 - please REGISTER HERE
- IT IT FREE TO SUBMIT BUT ALL CHOSEN APPLICANTS WILL BE REQUIRED TO PAY A $30 ENTRY FEE PRIOR TO THEIR PITCH.
- Limited space! The 10 participants will be selected by October 15
This is a fascinating and entertaining event for filmmakers and film fans alike, so please join us in the audience for this unique event and enjoy witnessing pitches for what may become the next award-winning films!
Moderator:
Jordan Morris (Writer/Producer/Screenwriting Instructor, Sighthound Studio). Jordan is an award-winning producer and director of films like Nintendo Quest and FCFF Best Documentary winner, Missing Mom. He has also worked on numerous films as an actor, production designer, art director and screenwriter. Since 2013, Jordan has been creating and hosting popular seminars and workshops on the nebulous art and science of writing screenplays.
Judging Panel:
To Be Announced
In the FCFF Pitchfest
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Submit a YouTube or Vimeo link of you making your 1-2 minute pitch.
Why a video submission? Because we do not want to grade anyone on a written submission when the entire point of a Pitchfest is to reward those who can effectively PITCH. With such limited time available for the event, viewing these videos in advance provides a simple way for us to choose finalists with the most potential.
The video quality is not important. Your appearance in it is not important. Sound quality is not important (as long as we can clearly understand what is being said). No-one but our panellists will ever see this video. It will NEVER be released to the public or shared with any other party outside of the festival. All we want is to see how you structure your pitch, how you communicate your ideas, and how well you understand the industry at large by pitching us a concept that has both artistic and commercial potential.
NOTE: Videos that are longer than 120 seconds will be immediately disqualified.
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Based on the pitch videos submitted, our panellists will choose TEN FINALISTS. These finalists will be invited to the FCFF Pitchfest that will take place on Sunday, October 25 - 3:30 to 5:00.
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EACH FINALIST WILL BE ASSIGNED A NUMBER with their invitation. On the day of the event, you will pitch in that order. Any finalists that are not present in the event space by 2:45pm will be disqualified. Numbers will NOT be reassigned; the event will move forward and simply skip any numbers/finalists not present.
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Finalists will be asked to remain in the cue in a specific area within the event space.
NOTE: Leaving that area will result in disqualification.
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In numerical order, each contestant will be asked to move to the podium where they will address the panel of experts. The moderator will tell you when to begin. At that point, you will have ONE MINUTE Minimum and TWO MINUTE Maximum to make your pitch to the panel.
NOTE: The Moderator will cut you off after 120 seconds and move on to panelist questions.
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Following the last panelist question, you will be asked to return to the finalist cue area where you started the contest where you will wait until all finalists have participated. After the last finalist has made their pitch, the panel will communicate with each other privately and collectively choose the grand prize winner.
We encourage you to stay in the event room as people may want to speak with you about your pitch and screenplay concept! Don’t miss your chance to mingle!
Learn to Pitch Effectively