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)

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)

How to Work the Room During Your TV Pitch and Secure a Commission

Everyone has their own pitching style and every commissioning editor will prefer a certain kind of pitch – which is why it helps to know your enemy.

In the UK, commissioners at all levels tend to prefer an informal ‘creative conversation’ in which you both collaborate.

In the US, you might have a one-to-one pitch with a development executive, or you could face a room full of senior executives who sit back and listen to your pitch. If it’s the former, you’re likely to be grilled about the details of your proposal, as they have sell it up the chain of command when you’ve gone. If you manage to secure a meeting with senior executives, you”ll need to make a more formal presentation, before moving on to deal manage a discussion and field questions.

Whichever kind of pitch you face, there are a number of principles you can apply to make things run smoothly and move you closer to a commission.

Six Ways to Allay Your Commissioning Editor’s Fears and Sell your TV Programme

You might think that all you need to get your TV programme commissioned is a good idea. Not so.

Assuming you have a really good idea, and have sprinkled it with fairy dust for luck, it is still unlikely that you will get your idea commissioned. Why? Because your commissioner is scared. They’re scared of commissioning a programme that might fail. And failing programmes put their jobs on the line. Which makes it your job to allay those fears and make it easy for them to say yes.

Here are six fears you need to address in your proposal and pitch. (Photo by Kables)

Where to Pitch Your Idea (and Avoid the Commissioners)

Pitching is a bitch. Especially when you are just starting out. There seem to be so many different channels, all of them with closed doors.

But do you actually need to pitch your idea to a TV channel? No. It depends on your motives for pitching. You might think that the only reason to pitch your ideas is to sell them, but depending where you are in your career, there may be different reasons for pitching, and cleverer ways of pitching. (Photo by heiwa4126)

Seven Lessons from a Life in Development

When TLC rebranded in 2005, they introduced the notion of ‘life lessons’, along with collectable ornaments and a section on their website for ‘grown-up fun”. In the same spirit I’d thought I’d share some ‘development lessons’. Unfortunately, I don’t have matching knick-knacks, and you’ll have to provide your own grown-up fun. (Photo by pimpexposure)

Pitching a Home Run – Part II

NYC-based Fernanda Rossi is an internationally renowned author and story consultant. She has doctored over 200 documentaries, scripts, and fundraising trailers – including the Academy Award® nominated The Garden by Scott Hamilton Kennedy – and she has served as festival juror and grant panelist. In this two-part article Fernanda explains how to pitch your documentary film. This week she looks at how to end your pitch positively. (Photo by Tania Retchisky)

Pitching a Home Run – Part I

NYC-based Fernanda Rossi is an internationally renowned author and story consultant. She has doctored over 200 documentaries, scripts, and fundraising trailers – including the Academy Award® nominated The Garden by Scott Hamilton Kennedy – and she has served as festival juror and grant panelist. In this two-part article Fernanda explains how to pitch your documentary film. This week she concentrates on the opening statement. (Photo by Tania Retchisky)

RTS How to Pitch Video

Check out this RTS Futures video for pitching tips from the people you might need to pitch to: Camilla Lewis, Head of Factual Features, TalkbackThames; Walter Iuzzolino, Deputy Head, Features, Ch4; Tim Hincks, CEO, Endemol UK and Peter Finchcam, Director of Television, ITV. Watch here. It’s all good stuff – the main points are: Be [...]

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)