Young people with an idea for a film and a flair for creativity, are being asked to submit a pitch for the Story Pitching Competition at this year’s Junior Film Fleadh.
The competition, run in association with the Galway Film Centre and SpunOut.ie, is open to those aged between 8 and 16. Entrants are invited to come up with an idea for an original feature film (or short film, TV series, documentary, web series, video game, animation, or combined media project) and pitch it to us.
So what is a pitch? Very simply, in the film industry, pitching is the way in which you as a writer, director or producer, give others a sense of your passion for the story you want to tell. When someone asks you what your story is about, and you tell them, you are verbally pitching your story to them. If they ask you for a written version, you are submitting a written pitch.
We want entrants to submit a written pitch (no more than 500 words), and should they be one of three chosen finalists, they will be invited to present a verbal pitch before an audience and jury of industry professionals on Thursday November 9th, in the Town Hall Theatre Galway.
This year’s prize will be a drama or animation summer camp sponsored by Galway Film Centre, which will include one year’s membership to the Centre (allowing entry to the RTE short script award.) Last year’s winner 12-year-old Ely Solan from St Cuana’s NS Headford Co. Galway had this to say about his experience, “Winning the pitching competition meant the world to me because I have always wanted to be a director. I really enjoyed it as I got to make my very own stop motion animation short film. I did voices for Characters. I also got to edit it. Everyone there was extremely nice and helpful and though we were making short films and working hard, We had lots of fun. This was the best camp I have ever been to.”
Offering some advice to this year’s competition entrants, Junior Film Fleadh programmer Gar O’Brien said: “With its spiralling budgets, massive CGI landscapes, digitally realised superheroes and multimedia tie-ins it’s easy to forget that cinema, above all else, still relies on a good story to be successful. The art of good storytelling is a powerful skill and one that needs to be cherished, developed, and shared.”
The Junior Film Fleadh runs from 8-11th November in venues across Galway. Closing date is Friday 20th October and online entry is via www.galwayfilmfleadh.com/index.php/home/juniorfilmfleadh/script-pitching/