Project Submissions Are Now Open For FEST Pitching Forum 2017

FEST Pitching Forum is a unique opportunity for upcoming filmmakers to pitch their projects to top industry producers, financiers, fund managers and investors. In past years we've had over 85 projects being pitched, from all over the world. We had participants from Spain, the UK, USA, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, among many other countries.

In a 5 minute pitch, each participant will have the chance to unravel their project, in whatever way seems more appropriate. Each pitch will be followed by a 10 minute feedback window. This will be constructive feedback that will help you to significantly improve your project, and will stay with you for the coming years. There will be 3 independent and thematic pitching sessions covering the following types of projects: - Feature Fiction Film; - Short Fiction Film; - Documentary (short or long film). A total of 28 projects will be selected and the selected scriptwriters, writer-directors and producers will also be able to participate in a 3-day training-program in preparation to the main event.

ABOUT THE EVENT FEST

Pitching Forum is really the chance of a lifetime and can open many doors. It will be held in Espinho, Portugal, at Biblioteca Municipal José Marmelo e Silva, on June 23rd and 24th 2017. The training will take place on the previous days: June 20th, 21st and 22nd. Each of the pitching sessions will have immediate awards. The most valued projects will have the opportunity to be mentored and helped develop by one of the experts, who will surely help the project get to a new level, otherwise hard to achieve.

Each of the 3 sessions will have immediate awards at Pitching Forum. The most valued projects will have the opportunity to be tutored and helped in their development by one of the experts, who will support the project to and help it get to a new level. The list of awards is the following:

Mentorship Award

3 months tutoring and project development with an expert.

FEST Film Lab Award

A weekend training at a FEST Film Lab Workshop of the winners' choosing.

Post Production Award

Voucher for Post-production services with one of our top rated partners. In 2016 these awards weere sponsored by Goldcrest Films, Halo Post Production and Envy Post Production.

Our experts panel, will feature a large number of internationally acclaimed producers, financers, agents and other gatekeepers that can really take a project to the next level. The list of experts will be announced soon.

These are some names that, among many others, have joined our expert panel in the past:

- Michael Katz - producer who works regularly with Michael Haneke, for whom he produced The White Ribbon and Amour;

- Tim Corrie - Founder of United Agents and former deputy chairman of BATFA;

- Gareth Wiley - producer of Woody Allen's "Matchpoint" and "Vicky Christina Barcelona";

- Cynthia Hargrave - producer of Bottle Rocket, Wes Anderson's first feature film;

- Angela Bosch - advisor in the fields of promotion, distribution and international co-production to the Spanish audiovisual industry;

- Rachel Robey - producer at Wellington Films:

- Nuno Beato - from the Portuguese Production Company Sardinha em Lata;

- Scandar Copti - director of Ajami.

- Paul Miller - producer and former Director of Film Financing at the the Doha Film Institute in Qatar.

HOW TO REGISTER

To apply for Pitching Forum you need to fill in the entry form here.

Regular Submissions will be open from January 11th 2017 until March 31st 2017. Submissions are subject to a fee of 60 Euros per project. However, if the project is submitted by a participant registered for FEST - Training Ground, the fee is only 25 Euros.

Until February 15th 2017 you may also enjoy the special Early Bird Fee of 50 Euros.

Out of all the submitted projects, 28 will be chosen to be part of FEST Pitching Forum, and will be featured in the event's Book of Projects.

TESTIMONIALS FROM FORMER PARTICIPANTS

Nikolai Galitzine - Winner of the 2014 session

"Tim (Corrie) is amazing! We are still meeting, and he has been a great support. The mentorship is still continuing, and I believe will continue for awhile. He is very supportive and is giving me great advice! I am beginning on a feature project at the moment and he is continuing to follow my progress. Many many thanks! I really needed this. To have such an important figure of the British Film industry taking an interest in my work has given me a huge amount of self confidence to push forward."

Marija Fridinovaitè - Winner of the 2015 session

"The number 1 thing that I learned in FEST Pitching Forum was confidence - trusting yourself and your project. There is no one in the world that can tell your story better than you can. Even though it always requires some preparation, that is all it is about. With preparation comes the respect for your audience and the success. In Espinho I learned that it is not so much about the performance, but about being honest and humble. As long as the heart is there, there is no need to dread really. "

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