open channel opens the door to great ideas

open channel's short and sharp pitching competition

Open Channel's Short & Sharp Pitching Competition

The stakes are high for eight emerging filmmakers in Open Channel's annual pitching competition.

ACMI will be a hub of ideas on Wednesday 1 July when the cream of Victoria's emerging and early-career filmmakers pit themselves against each other in this thrilling and gruelling live competition.

The business of filmmaking is highly competitive and in order to compete you have to have great ideas and be good at articulating them. You also need to show you believe in the execution and potential of your ideas so that others will too. That's where the 'pitch' comes in. Pitching is a craft and it needs to be perfected by any successful filmmaker.

The aim of the Open Channel competition is to teach emerging filmmakers how to craft their ideas into a great pitch, along the way offering mentoring and advice from film industry professionals.

Open Channel have chosen eight filmmakers to compete at Short and Sharp 2009 and the stakes are high, with a chance to compete at the SPAA Fringe's national pitching competition up for grabs.

Getting the chance to pitch your idea is hard enough, so you don't want to stuff it up when you get the opportunity! Contestants will have to get it right in front of a judging panel which includes representatives from Film Victoria and Screen Australia, producer Sue Maslin (Japanese Story), director Alkinos Tsilimidos (Em 4 Jay), Development Manager Mike Cowap (Screen Australia) and producer Kate Whitbread (The Caterpillar Wish).

Short and Sharp is sure to be an entertaining live experience with writer/performer Tim Ferguson at the helm. Ferguson knows a little something about the pitch - he has produced and written TV series' such as Shock Jock (ABC TV) and has more projects in production. He is also an accomplished live performer and an in-demand corporate speaker, so he knows a little something about presenting too.

Come along and support this fresh crop of filmmakers and get some tips from the judges' feedback. Your ticket also gets you entry into the after-party where you can enjoy a drink with the judges and filmmakers, and perhaps an opportunity to pitch some ideas of your own!