Want to follow in the footsteps of Martin Scorsese and Darren Aronofsky?
The Pitch is an adaptation challenge for emerging filmmakers, offering £30,000 to the top idea for a short film based on a Bible verse, theme or story.
From The Last Temptation of Christ to Noah, the Bible has been a source of indie and blockbuster inspiration. Since 2009, The Pitch Film Fund has offered training and production finance to a generation of filmmakers.
Pitch films have played in festivals worldwide and achieved huge online audiences. Previous winner Harry Lighton saw his film Leash – an urban drama with a supernatural twist (think Ken Loach does horror) – selected for at the BFI London Film Festival. Aurora Fearnley’s science fiction take on the story of Jonah, Pulsar, has been watched by more than half a million people on YouTube.
Entry is simple: record a two-minute video outlining your idea and upload it at enterthepitch.com. 10 finalists are invited to pitch in person at the National Film and Television School in January 2020, before a panel of experts including NFTS Director Jon Wardle.
Previous Pitch judges have included Rebecca Callard (Detectorists), Oscar-winning Aardman legend Nick Park and Selma star David Oyelowo – who went on to appear in Pitch-winning film Rahab.
Former Total Film editor Nev Pierce was a judge for nine years and was so inspired by finalist Hannah Lee’s idea, Promise, that he went on to raise additional finance and direct it even though it didn’t win. “You don’t need to have any faith – atheists have won The Pitch,” says Pierce. “The Bible is a great source of stories and The Pitch is looking to interpret these old stories in fresh, new ways. It’s very hard to raise finance for short films – this is a great opportunity and offers great support in addition to the cash.
You might want to watch previous pitches for inspiration, or the finished films made by the winning pitchers. Perhaps you can make the good book into a great movie.
How to enter The Pitch:
Your two-minute pitch can be a slick trailer or a simple chat to camera. Film it and then upload to enterthepitch.com.
- Early bird entry – Noon 23 September – FREE
- Standard entry – Noon 7 October – £20
- Late entry – Noon 21 October – £50
