ESP 2020 call for Works In Progress
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH 2020 - 14th edition
Call for WORK-IN-PROGRESS
Deadline for applications - 16th of October 2020
About European Short Pitch
European Short Pitch is an initiative aimed at promoting the European coproduction of short films. It combines a scriptwriting workshop in residency and a Coproduction Forum bringing together scriptwriters, directors and industry professionals from all over Europe.
Selected on the basis of their short film projects, 12 European talents gather to discuss, rewrite, and learn to promote their stories on a European level with the support of 4 tutors. They eventually pitch their projects in front of a panel of professionals producers, financers, buyers, and distributors.
As European Short Pitch always aims to be at the forefront of the ever-changing needs of the short film industry, the Coproduction Forum also dedicates a space for projects in post-production to supply the selected filmmakers with a platform to find a co-producer, to complete the film and to promote it on a European level.
Selected on the basis of the quality and the potential of their short film projects, 2 European talents will pitch and showcase their works-in-progress in front of the panel of professionals invited for the Coproduction Forum.
European Short Pitch aims to bring young European talents into the spotlight, give them a high-end promotion opportunity, and develop short film coproduction in Europe. 287 projects were presented in the previous editions (2007 – 2019), so far resulting in the making of 135 short films – many with a very successful international career.
Coproduction Forum and Works-in-Progress Pitches
The Coproduction Forum will take place from the 11th till the 14th of November 2020 and as a part of the Brest European Short Film Festival. Participants will benefit from training sessions to prepare and rehearse their pitching. The pitching, in the presence of the invited professionals, will take place on the 12th of November where each project will have a chance to screen extracts of their rough cut and to present the film and its specific needs.
Three sessions of meetings will take place:
- consulting with an editor;
- consulting with a distributor;
- one-to-one meetings with professionals.
Who can apply?
European Short Pitch is open to creative teams developing international short film projects. It is therefore open to directors and producers.
Directors developing a project on their own are very welcome to participate in the programme. Yet it is strongly advised to already have nationally a production company interested or attached to the project.
His/her nationality or country of residence should be one of the member countries of the Creative Europe Programme (European Union + Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Iceland, Georgia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia and Ukraine). European Short Pitch will also select up to 3 projects from non-member countries of the Creative Europe Programme where NISI MASA has a member organisation: Kosovo and Russia.
Applicants must confirm their availability for the different sessions. The working language of European Short Pitch is English; thus, a good knowledge of English is essential in order to participate.
Participation fees
The participation fee for each project is 250 Euros. The fee covers the tuition costs.
Many countries support such training costs. We advise participants to apply for scholarships through their national film funds.
How to apply?
The deadline for applications is the 16th of October 2020, midnight C.E.T. Until then applicants have to send a zip file (named after the title of the project) to europeanshortpitch@nisimasa.com, containing:
The completed application form;
The Work-in-Progress (live action, animation or documentary are accepted) inferior to 20 minutes with English subtitles delivered as an .mpeg4 or .H264 via WeTransfer. It's important to note that the shooting needs to be finished in order to qualify and the film cannot be finalized by the time the Coproduction Forum takes place.
CVs of the people involved creatively in the project (director & producer);
A presentation of the production company attached (if applicable).
The invited professionals
The film professionals invited to the coproduction forum will be chosen for their experience in European short film coproduction and according to the profiles of the selected projects. They will be mostly film producers, the remaining professionals being either distributors/sales agents, financers (representatives of film funds), or buyers (TV commissioning editors).
The organizing team
European Short Pitch is a project initiated by NISI MASA – European Network of Young Cinema.
Head of Programme - Julie Marnay
Head of Coproduction Forum - Olga Lamontanara
Project Coordinator - Lauma Kaudzīte