Yes folks it's that time of the year again, plans are afoot for the next International Screenwriters' Festival and although the dates are not fixed yet, we are looking at one of the first two weeks of July 2009, we want to get the show on the road by starting to take entries for our very popular pitching competition. This year we've thrown our thinking caps in the cupboard, gone for a few good ales and come up with a spunky new name for this year's competition...
Deadline for entries: Friday 31st October 2008
The competition, which is in association with 4Talent, will run from 17.00pm (GMT) on Monday 8th September until 17.00pm (GMT) on Friday 31st October 2008.
After which ten lucky finalists will be chosen to come to the SWF'09, take part in a pitching masterclass before standing up in front of a live audience and pitch that idea to a panel of industry experts.
Last year we had over 1,600 entries that were finally whittled down to ten which were then, after going through the public humiliation of the live pitch, were whittled down further (there was a lot of whittling last year, more than in a ‘phones4u' advert) and three winners were chosen;
Martin Gunn's old age pensioner superhero movie ‘OAPower', Elena Fuller's true life account of the man who broke the bank at Monte carlo, twice ‘Little Wheel' and Simon Sayce's action comedy ‘Without President'.
The above writers have already had interviews with major players such as Film4 and are now well on the road to seeing their scripts taken into development.
This could be you..
No expertise of pitching is necessary as part of the prize will include an intense pitching masterclass during the festival with agent Julian Friedmann.
So, if you have a fantabulous idea for a Movie or TV drama in any genre, we wanna hear it. From all of the entries received, we will shortlist ten who will attend the festival (for free) and have a special coaching session before the live pitching.
Channel 4's 4Talent is always on the lookout for new and emerging talent, and this pitching competition is the perfect opportunity to get noticed
How to enter...
* Write down your pitch in 25 words or less, then on a separate page, expand the synopsis to 150 words and email it to us at:
pitch@screenwritersfestival.com
* We can open .doc, .pdf, .txt, .zip and .rar. If you are an Mac user, please make sure it is sent in a Microsoft compatible format, otherwise, we can't open it...
* You can send the pitch either in the body of the email or as an attachment, but PLEASE make sure you include your name and pitch title either in the subject line, in the body of the e-mail or as the title of the attached document. I can't stress how many people STILL send us entries with no names, no contact details and in a few cases no titles...
Also If you are sending multiple ideas, please attach the individual ideas and give a list of what is attached in the body of the e-mail.
Single entry example;
To: Pitch@screenwritersfestival.com
Subject: The Son of the Pitch - Shamus T. Black - Lethal Weapon X-Too Old for this Shit
Attachment: Shamus Black - Lethal Weapon X -Too Old for this Shit.pdf
Multiple entry example;
To: Pitch@screenwritersfestival.com
Subject: Shamus T. Black - 5 entries
Attachment: Lethal Weapon X-Too Old for this Shit.pdf; The First Boy Scout.pdf; Death Train III.pdf; Badge of Murderdeathkill.pdf; Shooterz.pdf
Dear Pitch Person,
Please find attached my five amazingly fantastic pitches;
- Lethal Weapon X-Too Old for this Shit
- The First Boy Scout
- Death Train III
- Badge of Murderdeathkill
- Shooterz
They are really good and my mates love ‘em.
Yours,
S.T.Black
* You should receive an automated response telling you that we have now got your entry. If you do not receive the response and are concerned with whether or not we have received it, please don't hesitate to contact us, but please put in your name and pitch title so that we can easily check on it. Now due to our e-mail being about as stable as this countries present economy, if you send us more than one e-mail and receive a response, it then will not send you any further responses after the first one. Feck knows why, ask Bill Gates the next time you see him down at Currys pouring water over all tthe iBooks. So we do advise you to send all your ideas in one e-mail, as if you do send further entries, you may not get the automated response.
What will happen next?
* Ten writers will be chosen to go forward to the live pitching event at the Festival where they will pitch their ideas to the panel of industry experts and the audience.
* The ten finalists will receive a free ticket to the whole festival next July, dates TBC (it will be one of the first two weeks of July 09 and this will be updated when the dates are fixed)
* Prior to the pitching session agent Julian Friedmann will hold an intense private pitching lesson for the ten finalists.
* After their pitch, the writers will get expert feedback from the panel.
* Out of the ten pitchers the panel will choose three winners, then the audience will choose a winner. in SWF'06 the audience and panel winner was the same, Martin Gunn.
* One small change to last year is that ALL finalists will then get the chance to talk directly to Film4 Executives about their ideas.
All shortlisted entrants will be interviewed and featured on the 4Talent website - www.channel4.com/4talent - within a special Festival editorial piece, giving exposure to their ideas and themselves to a global Internet audience of peers and industry professionals.
Closing Date for entries is 17.00pm (GMT) on Friday 31st October 2008 with the winners being informed week commencing Monday 10th November 2008 a day before the tickets are scheduled to go on sale, Tuesday 11th November 2008.
Terms and conditions:
1.'The Son of the Pitch' Competition (the "Competition") is open to everyone.
2.The Competition is not open to employees of the Screenwriters' Festival (the "Festival") or 4Talent.
3.Entry into the Competition is acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.
4.Entries by Email only and must be in English.
5.Entries on behalf of another person will not be accepted and joint submissions are not allowed.
6. You can send in multiple entries but only one entry per writer will be chosen.
7.By submitting your entry to the Competition you hereby warrant that all the information submitted by you is true, current and complete, and that the pitch idea and synopsis is original and your own work.
8.No responsibility is taken for entries that are lost, delayed, misdirected or incomplete or cannot be delivered or entered for any technical or other reason.
9.If you are chosen you must be available to attend the Screenwriters' Festival in early July 2009 (exact dates TBC).
10.If you are one of the ten finalists you will receive a free ticket to the entire four day festival.
11.If you are one of the three winners chosen on the night of the pitching competition, you will win additional prizes that are to be confirmed.
12.The tickets are non-exchangeable, non-transferable and will not be redeemable for cash or other prizes.
13.Closing date for the competition is 17.00pm (GMT) Friday 31st October 2008. Any entries after this date and time WILL NOT be entered into the competition.
14.The 10 winning pitches will be chosen by Monday 10th November 2008.
15.Winners will be informed a day later on Tuesday 11th November 2008.
16.As one of the ten finalists you may be asked to take part in publicity for the Festival and 4Talent.
17.Pitching the idea, and/or winning, does not mean that your idea will be optioned, commissioned or taken any further.
18.The panel's decisions are final and we will not enter into correspondence about their decisions.
19.The Winners meeting with the Film4 Executives also does not guarantee any contract or development deal.
20.Travel, Accommodation, Food and Drink at the Festival is your responsibility.
21.Details of the ten finalists will be made available on the SWF website as will the three winners after the festival.
22.The ten finalists may be asked to take part in promotional and media interviews for and on behalf of 4Talent and the Festival.
May the force be with you young Padawan!!
