The Pitch Competition for 2018/19 opens for submissions on 1st June 2018!

This competition is a unique opportunity for one winner to make a short film with professional production support worth in excess of £30,000. We offer a host of other reasons to enter too, masterclasses, residential courses and runners up prizes.

Finalists will pitch live to top industry professionals. Once you’ve made your winning film, you will fly to Hollywood to meet top professionals such as Tim Williams (film score composer of The Book Thief and Guardians of the Galaxy) and Ralph Winter (producer of X-Men, Fantastic Four and Wolverine) who'll watch your film and give hints and tips on taking your skills to the next level.

What are we looking for?
Each year The Pitch invites elevator-pitch style submissions for a short film concept. DON'T submit your completed film here, instead enter your idea to our competition to find FUNDING to make that film to The Pitch website (www.enterthepitch.com). Your pitch should be submitted as a short video, no more than 2 minutes long. The challenge is to adapt any story, character or theme from the Bible for a 21st Century audience.

This year we have Regular and late submission deadlines - with the final deadline being 12noon GMT on 22nd October 2018.

FULL COMPETITION:
We invite Short Film concept pitches of NO LONGER THAN 2 MINUTES and offer production budget for the best idea submitted each year. We currently operate out of the UK offering £30,000 production budget to the winning pitch and a variety of prizes for our 10 finalists. We are also launching and developing other international centres. Please check the website for full details on eligibility - www.enterthepitch.com.

In the UK finals are held at Pinewood studios and judges amongst others, have included David Oyelowo (Actor), Nick Park (Oscar winning Animator/director) , Stuart Hazeldine (Scriptwriter), Debs Paterson (Director) and Nev Pierce (Editor at Large for Empire Magazine). We also have expert support from film guru Laurie Hutzler and producers Jackie Sheppard and Mark Blaney.

To find out more about the competition, or to submit an entry, register now on our website and Pitch online a stunning short film concept in just two minutes. Submissions MUST be made via the application process on our website - www.enterthepitch.com.

Awards & Prizes

We offer a number of prizes, including residential master classes for the 10 finalists and a cash budget for the best pitch. The top prize may vary depending on the region you are in. The top prize for the 2018/19 competition in the UK is the opportunity to make a short film based on your original pitch. To achieve this, you will receive a cash prize of £30,000 (GBP) with producing costs and a trip to LA on top of this, giving a total estimated prize value in excess of £40,000. Two runners up also receive support and help and we have additional masterclass and residential course prizes.

The Residential Course:
As a top 10 finalist, you will attend a residential course led by an industry professional. The course will take place between Sunday 9 December 2018 and Tuesday 11 December 2018.

The Live Pitch Finals Weekend at Pinewood Studios:
As a top 10 finalist, you will spend the day (Saturday) at Pinewood Studios, pitch your film to the panel in the Boardroom of Pinewood Studios and meet and have lunch with the judges. After a presentation to all finalists, you will discover if you have been selected as one of this year's Top 3 Pitchers. If you are, you’ll get the chance to go away and hone your pitch, based on feedback from the panel, before coming back to do a final pitch the next day. All Pitchers are invited to network and meet the judges at a reception in the evening.

The Top Three:
The top three Pitchers will be invited to stay overnight on the Saturday and will have the chance to talk to the panel again on the Sunday, looking in more depth at the strengths and weaknesses of their ideas.

The Runners Up Fund:
Subject to sponsorship, we will continue to offer additional support to the runners up. The panel will look at the best next step for our runners up. They will recommend the allocation of available funds to best support them move forward. This could be funds to create a smart and sharp version of the Pitch idea for a designated short film festival, it could be to pump prime the full short film or some other deliverable. Alternatively it may be allocated to further training or personal development. All of this will include further help and support from The Pitch team and is certainly a prize worth pitching for!

The Winner:
Your apprenticeship will be with industry professionals, including script writers, producers, directors, actors, camera operators or directors of photography and post-production experts. During this time, you will be mentored and given advice on how best to turn your pitch into a short film.

The Film:
The winner will get to make a short film based on your pitch. The production and technical support you will receive has an estimated value in excess of £40,000 and at its heart lies a £30,000 cash fund. We believe in investing in people. We want you to have the best possible career boost from this opportunity and we want your film to showcase our competition to the world (we have an important and growing international presence). Our process begins by focusing on the story and characters to develop the strongest script possible. Working alongside leading industry professionals you will have a unique opportunity to experience top level development input.

Although the exact production schedule will be built around your particular project and circumstances we aim to move into production and shoot by early – mid summer. We hope to have a film to take to LA in time for early November and certainly to premiere at the finals of the next Pitch competition (2019/20) – in January 2020.

The Hollywood Experience:
The winner will also be flown to Hollywood in Autumn 2019 for a week. During this trip you will have a private meeting with Producer Ralph Winter (X-Men, Fantastic Four) who will watch and give feedback on your short film. You will also get to meet other industry professionals. During your stay there will be free time to see the sights and sounds of Hollywood.

The Future:
The winning film film will be entered into at least one film festival to be decided by The Pitch team. This will give additional exposure to your film and provide you with the opportunity to network with other film makers. Past winners have had invitations to accompany experienced directors on set, gained managers or agents, and even seen their ideas move into development as feature film ideas.

Rules & Terms

The Pitch invites original pitches of up to two (2) minutes in length, showcasing the potential of the entrant to make a film. The entrant will demonstrate this with a pitch for an original contemporary short film (running length 15 minutes max) that takes inspiration from a biblical story, parable, character or book. Any genre is acceptable, and the pitch may be a simple piece to camera telling the story, or it may be a storyboard, pilot piece, etc. but it MUST be submitted as a VIDEO and be NO LONGER THAN 2 MINUTES.

Each pitch must be accompanied by the official entry form, which will outline the case for supporting the film maker, cite the biblical source material for the pitch, and include a rationale for the choice of material.

The competition takes place over a number of rounds concluding with experience at a live pitching event to an industry panel.

The competition is open to everyone aged 18 years or over as of 11 January 2019 and operates in several territories. (see website for more details).

Entry is conditional upon full agreement to The Rules and The Small Print (https://www.enterthepitch.com/the-pitch/the-rules/).

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