The submission window for this year’s Edinburgh Pitch opens on Monday (20 February). We thought it would be helpful for any prospective applicants, with exciting pitch ready projects, for us to explore what makes a successful pitch.
To help us grapple with that elusive question we enlisted the help of industry expert John Van Wyck, Creative Executive at Cinereach. John’s job is to identify projects and filmmakers for support, and a film that he recently discovered in this way is Last Men in Aleppo, which just won the Grand Jury Prize: World Cinema Documentary at Sundance. The film was directed by Feras Fayyad, co-directed by Steen Johannessen and produced by Søren Steen Jespersen and Kareem Abeed.
We are pleased to be able to say that Scottish Documentary Institute had a small part to play in their relationship, as Last Men in Aleppo was pitched at The Edinburgh Pitch in 2016 and thankfully John Van Wyck was in the room for that.
It might seem obvious that a film about Syria’s ongoing civil war and the lives of Aleppo’s deservedly famous “White Helmets” would stand out to a big player like Cinereach. After all the film foundation and production company who pride themselves on championing vital stories, have supported over 200 films since they were founded in 2006. But amid an influx of documentary films about Syria, we are keen to know what made Last Men in Aleppo stand out at that stage.
How did you feel about the ‘Last Men in Aleppo’ pitch? Can you describe that for us?
– The video sample that Steen and Søren showed us was powerful and wrenching and largely spoke for itself. The filmmakers’ intention was to give an unfiltered experience of the Syrian war as it was being experienced by citizens on the ground, specifically the volunteer rescuers of The White Helmets. What stood out was the immediacy of the footage. Their film was offering an experiential approach to the war in Syria that other films hadn’t yet conveyed. They were prioritizing experiential qualities (like the frenetic energy of being under bombardment) over contextual ones (like who was doing the bombing), which would help the project stand out for more traditionally journalistic accounts of the conflict. By the end of the pitch, Steen and Søren showed that they had exceptionally powerful footage, a deeply humane and moral purpose behind the project, and a creative approach to telling their story that would uniquely satisfy that purpose.
As a funder how do you feel about the public pitching process? What are the pros and cons in your opinion?
– Ideally, pitch forums give filmmakers insight into how funders think, since the funders are being asked to respond in real time. For that same reason, however, I think funders are likely to be more reserved in what they say. From the funder’s perspective, it’s helpful that the filmmakers have learned to speak about their projects clearly and concisely in preparing for the pitch. However, I worry about undue pressure that filmmakers may feel in that setting. The ability to describe your project effectively is a tremendous asset, but ultimately my focus is on the work itself, the intentions behind it, and the team’s ability to realize those intentions. It’s therefore crucial to have the personal meetings following the pitch, as they usually offer a more candid and informative exchange.
What was special for you, if anything, about The Edinburgh Pitch?
– The Edinburgh Pitch offered a terrific environment to meet and connect with filmmakers. The projects were very well curated – diverse and consistently strong. The staff was exceptionally friendly, organized, and accommodating. I can’t overstate how beneficial it is to have a warm and welcoming atmosphere at industry events like these. It makes the meetings so much more open and productive, and I think that was borne out by the success of the Pitch.
The Edinburgh Pitch is an opportunity aimed at independent filmmakers and companies developing and raising finance for creative feature documentaries. The international panel consists of commissioning editors, funding bodies, sales agents, distributors, festival programmers, producers, all curious to see how you are going to surprise and inspire them. The call will open on Monday 20 February 2017 and will close on Monday 10 April. The Pitch will take place on Tuesday 20 June 2017. For more information on how to apply, visit the opportunities page.
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