Wellcome Trust Pitch Competition – Call for Entries

If you have an idea for a science documentary that you are trying to get off the ground, apply for a chance to pitch it to the Wellcome Trust for a development award of up to £10,000. Your proposal must be for a project on health, medicine or biology and be able to engage a large audience; it can be a documentary film, game or online proposal.

If you are selected you will pitch your idea to a panel at Sheffield’s Doc/Fest on 7th November, 2009.

For more information visit Wellcome’s Broadcast Development Awards.

The closing date for applications is 9th October, 2009.

(photo by Foxtongue CC BY 2.0)

NATPE LA TV Festival 09 – On Now!

The LA TV Festival is currently running a series of sessions with TV industry executives today and tomorrow (8th & 9th July 2009, PST), for example: 8th July – 4:15 to 5:15 PM Westside Room Main Session: Secrets of the Reality Heavyweights 8th July – 5:30 to 6:15 PM Olympic Ballroom 2 Clinics: Pitch Clinic [...]

Intelligent Factual Festival, London, 30th June -1st July 2010

The fifth Intelligent Factual Festival is a great place to gather intelligence, find alternative ways of funding your programme and network with 700 colleagues in the beautiful Baroque surroundings of Gibson Hall in the City of London.

This year you’ll be able to:

1. Meet the Commissioners: hear the commissioning wish lists of Steve Gowans (Five), Kim Shilllinglaw (BBC Science and History), Richard Watsham (Bravo), Jo Clinton-Davis (ITV), Simon Dickson (Ch4), Nick Fraser (BBC Storyville) and another ELEVEN commissioners.
2. Meet the Controllers: find out what makes Jay Hunt (BBC1), Danny Cohen (BBC3) and Richard Klein (BBC4) tick.
3. Pitch Smarter: four top industry insiders reveal the secrets to successfully developing, protecting and pitching your ideas (or at least how not to screw up your chances of a commission).
4. Find Funding: whether you need co-production funding, deficit financing or fancy dipping a toe into brand funded content, there is a session that makes sense of it all for you.

Click through for more information.

Sheffield Doc/Fest MeetMarket Open for Submissions

Do you have a documentary film or series that you’d like to pitch to 100+ interested international buyers? Sheffield Doc/Fest’s MeetMarket is your chance. You can submit your project online up until 4th September 2009 and it’s free to apply. Click through to find out how. (Photo courtesy of Sheffield Doc/Fest)

NYC Food Film Festival 2009

The NYC Food Film Festival – “a multi-sensory experience where film-goers are able to watch food films then sample the food portrayed in those films” – kicks off on 13th June with a screening of Ron Mann’s Know Your Mushrooms, accompanied by a wild mushroom tasting menu. Other films include: 24 Hours, 24 Million Meals: [...]

Realscreen Screening Room

Realscreen has come to the rescue if you couldn’t get to MIPTV  – you can see what you missed by watching highlights of some of the programmes and films showcased in Cannes in their Screening Room. Current clips include: Extinction Sucks – about two irreverent conservationists Kashmir: Journey to Freedom – the story of young [...]

Factual Entertainment Forum: The Real Deal

There’s a new factual conference on the block – Realscreen’s Factual Entertainment Forum: The Real Deal, which is focussing on reality programming. When: 20th May 09 (one day) Where: Santa Monica What: A day of discussion, inspiration, and networking with reality TV producers, cable channel execs and agents. Sessions include: Building a Blockbuster – how [...]

Festival Deadline: Good Pitch at Silver Docs, 16 March 09

SILVERDOCS is a film festival created by Discovery Channel and the American Film Institute. It’s held annually in Washington, D.C. (15-22 June in 2009). This year The Good Pitch is looking for documentary projects that tackle important US and global issues with a view to creating positive change. The submission deadline is 16 March 09. [...]

Pitch: See Festival

See Festival 2009 is offering emerging filmmakers a fabulous opportunity to bounce their ideas off an established sounding board of industry experts. This small scale, intimate session will be perfect for up-and-coming filmmakers who are looking to experience the world of pitching for the first time, or for those that would like the practice with the execs in a friendly environment, and for free!

Hosted by Hannah Patterson, winner of Britdoc 08 Short Pitch for Shelter in Place the panel will feature Jo Lapping from BBC Storyville, Aysha Rafaele from Channel 4′s First Cut, Lina Prestwood from Current TV and Rebecca Frankel from Fourdocs. Please send through a one page treatment to see@seefestival.org by Friday 6th February. [Find out How to Write a Proposal a Commissioner Will Read] (photo by fast eddie 42)

London Short Film Festival, 9-18th January 2009

London Short Film Festival, 9-18th January 2009 Short films of various stripes at venues around London. See the website for details.  TV Mole’s (blindfolded) picks: Darryl’s Hard Liquor and P0rn Film Festival at the Roxy Bar and Screen (10/1) Meet with Current TV at Curzon Soho (12/1) Night of the Living Docs at Roxy Bar and Screen. [...]