Calendar – Past Event

Two exciting pitch sessions will take place during the 8th Annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, an International Call and "Documenting the Big Sky" a special session focusing on films to be produced in Montana. Confirmed panelists include NALIP mentor Yance Ford (Series Producer, POV/The American Documentary), James Ackerman (The Documentary Channel) William Marcus (General Manager of KUFM/Montana Public Television) Aaron Pruitt, Director of Programming (KUSM/Montana Public Television, and Kim Anderson (Humanities Montana). More participants will be added as they are confirmed. December 23 is the entry deadline for both sessions.

International Documentary Pitch Session
February 17, 2011 - University Theater/University of Montana campus
Entry Fee: $35
Submission Deadline: December 23, 2010

Pitch your documentary work-in-progress (WIP) to some of the top commissioning editors and funders for documentary film in North America. All documentary forms (eg. first person, direct cinema, observational, etc.) and all subjects are eligible to submit. The session will be held February 17, 2011 at the UC Theater on the University of Montana campus with a live audience of filmmakers, industry representatives, and students. Commissioning editors will have the opportunity to critique and comment on each pitch. A maximum of 15 projects will be accepted to pitch in this session. Submit a brief (250 words maximum) project summary and an additional one-paragraph project status report. The project summary should concisely describe the focus of the film as well as a brief treatment which should include intended length, shooting format and any other relevant technical details and production credits (if known). The project status should describe the current state of the production (eg. pre-production, production, post, etc.) in some detail. A short (5 minutes maximum) sample reel of the work-in-progress may be submitted in addition to the written application. Work-in-progress reels may be submitted on-line only via vimeo, youtube.com, blip.tv, etc. Do not send DVD screeners as part of your application. Selected projects will have 20 minutes to pitch their project and show a short sample (if available) for the panel. Selected projects will be required to pay an additional $250, which includes the opportunity to pitch and an All Access Pass to all events at the 2011 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival ($250 value). Selected projects will be notified of their acceptance by January 10, 2011.

Confirmed participants - Yance Ford (Series Producer, POV/The American Documentary), James Ackerman (President & CEO, The Documentary Channel).

Application materials must be submitted to pitch@bigskyfilmfest.org
Entry fee must be paid online. More info at www.bigskyfilmfest.org/pitch