Toronto International Film Festival announces Canadian selections, Talent Lab, Pitch This!, Rising Stars

POLITICS AND BOLD STORYTELLING HEADLINE CANADIAN LINEUP AT THETORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

The Toronto International Film Festival® announced an exciting lineup of Canadian features, packed with World Premieres from acclaimed filmmakers Deepa Mehta, Alanis Obomsawin, Bruce McDonald, and Brigitte Berman to promising new work from Kevan Funk, Anne Émond, Chloé Robichaud, Jamie Kastner, and Vincent Biron. North American Premieres include the latest from Xavier Dolan, Nathan Morlando, Kim Nguyen, Ann Marie Fleming, and Johnny Ma.

“We are thrilled to present a robust selection of projects from some of Canada’s best filmmakers,” said Steve Gravestock, Senior Programmer, TIFF. “From thought provoking documentaries and affecting dramas, to unconventional biographies and thrillers, to animated features, this year’s selections highlight the diversity and high-calibre work produced in Canada.”

“We are proud to shine a spotlight on both veteran filmmakers and emerging talent in this year’s slate,” said Magali Simard, Film Programmes Manager, TIFF. “Canadians continue to forge their own path on a global scale with their own distinct perspectives and methods of storytelling.”

Call for submissions: Reel Asian's So You Think You Can Pitch?

The Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival has announced a call for submissions for its 2015 edition of So You Think You Can Pitch?, a pitch competition for filmmakers. Winners receive up to $18,000 in production services and cash towards making the project based on their winning pitch.

They accept pitches for any film idea, be it dramatic, documentary, musical or experimental, up to 24 minutes in length, as long as you feature an Asian member in a key creative role, either in front or behind the camera. Applications will be accepted until September 28 at 5pm.

Selected finalists teams will participate in an intensive boot camp at the Reel Asian Pitch Clinic, where finalists gain in-depth professional advice on pitching like a pro in front of a live audience. Finalists will compete at a live Pitch Competition Finale during the 2015 Reel Asian Festival this November 5-15th. Finalists will also be awarded with a 2015 Festival Pass, with access to festival screenings and Industry Series sessions, where you can gain insightful knowledge from industry professionals and access the many networking opportunities throughout the festival.

TIFF announces 200 Influential speakers over 7 days at 2015 TIFF Industry Conference

WENDY CALHOUN, NURI BILGE CEYLAN, YU DONG, STEPHEN FREARS AND NIIJA KUYKENDALL AMONG 200 INFLUENTIAL SPEAKERS OVER 7 DAYS AT TIFF INDUSTRY CONFERENCE

The TIFF Industry Conference offers delegates invaluable access to the wisdom and experience of creative and business leaders during the 40th Toronto International Film Festival.

“TIFF Industry is excited to present a lineup of cinematic masters, creative innovators and business visionaries to equip delegates with meaningful tools for success,” said Kathleen Drumm, Director, TIFF Industry Office. “With a diverse range of topics from story development to sales and distribution, we offer an incomparable professional development opportunity for industry members at all levels of experience.”

Toronto International Film Festival announces Talent Lab, Pitch This! and Rising Star participants

TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2015 TALENT LAB AND TELEFILM CANADA PITCH THIS! PARTICIPANTS
Wim Wenders and Jim Stark to act as Governors for 12th annual Talent Lab

The Toronto International Film Festival® today announced the participants for the 2015 editions of Talent Lab™ and Telefilm Canada PITCH THIS! Produced by TIFF’s Industry Office, these essential development programmes provide valuable opportunity and exposure for emerging filmmakers at a crucial point in their careers.

Now in its 12th year, the Talent Lab is a comprehensive five-day artistic development programme led by esteemed governors who will guide 20 emerging filmmakers in group discussions that focus on creativity, the artistic process and independent voices. The programme provides emerging talent with an unparalleled education experience and an introduction to the global community of filmmaking. This year’s governors include Wim Wenders (The Salt of the Earth, Pina) and Jim Stark (Coffee and Cigarettes).

Call for submissions: Doc Circuit Montreal One-on-One Pitches for Emerging Filmmakers

Doc Circuit Montreal is proud to announce the fifth edition of the One-on-One Pitches for Emerging Filmmakers on Wednesday, October 7, 2015. Ten up-and-coming filmmakers will have the opportunity to meet ten established producers during a full-day event dedicated to documentary pitches. Doc Circuit Montreal is committed to offering a new generation of directors the opportunity to enhance their pitching skills and directly present their projects to film and television producers.

A networking and proposal activity, One-on-One Pitches for Emerging Filmmakers is designed to encourage the formation of new business partnerships and spark intergenerational discussions about the challenges, issues and changes facing the documentary industry. Filmmakers interested in participating have until September 15, 2015 to submit a project.

Call for submissions: Innoversity Summit Pitch Competition

BELL MEDIA PRESENTS THE INNOVERSITY SUMMIT PITCH COMPETITION

Bell Media presents The Innoversity Summit Pitch Competition - a unique media competition with a staggering amount of prizes in TV Scripted, TV Unscripted, feature film, short film and digital media. Prizes valued at over a quarter of a million dollars.

16 finalist teams are selected and coached to compete for a terrific array of prizes, including months of priceless private mentorships with media industry giants and face to face coaching by Canada’s top media professionals, who have won hundreds of international awards including the Emmy, Sundance, Berlin and the Peabody Award.

Call for submissions: Reel Asian film fest's 'So You Think You Can Pitch?' competition

Got a great idea for a dramatic, documentary, musical or experimental Short Film? We want to help you make it!

The 9th Annual Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival's pitch competition - So You Think You Can Pitch? awards two winning filmmaking teams (each from the Emerging Artist and Established Artist categories) with a production package & cash prize to kick-start and/or finish your short film.

Once again this year, two winning filmmaking teams will walk away with amazing prize packages that will help them kick-start and/or finish their short film. The two prize packages of cash for the Emerging Category and Established Category to cover High Definition or Standard Definition production and post services, artist’s fees and more. We are open to all your great films ideas, be it dramatic, documentary, musical or experimental, up to 30 minutes in length, as long as you feature an Asian member in a key creative role, either in front or behind the camera.

2014 TIFF announces selections for Talent Lab Toronto, Telefilm Canada’s PITCH THIS!, Rising Stars

TALENT LAB AND TELEFILM CANADA PITCH THIS! OPEN DOORS FOR BURGEONING CANADIAN TALENT AT THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
20 Canadian and international participants in 2014 Talent Lab Contenders unveiled for feature film pitch competition

The Toronto International Film Festival® continues to support the development of a vibrant and competitive Canadian film industry with its essential industry programming, revealing participants for the 2014 editions of Talent Lab and Telefilm Canada PITCH THIS!. Produced by TIFF’s Industry Office, these programmes provide a valuable springboard for emerging Canadian filmmakers to further develop their talent for Canadian and international audiences.

Now in its 11th year, the 2014 Talent Lab is a comprehensive four-day programme led by esteemed governors who will guide 20 emerging filmmakers in group discussions that focus on creativity, the artistic process and independent voices. This year's governors include Jim Stark (Coffee and Cigarettes), Claire Denis (Beau travail), Sandra Oh (Sideways) and Ramin Bahrani (99 Homes).

Call for submissions: 2014 Telefilm Canada PITCH THIS!

TIFF Industry presents Telefilm Canada PITCH THIS! for the 15th consecutive year at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival!

Six participant teams have six minutes to pitch their feature film idea to a live audience of over 250 industry professionals. The winners, selected by a jury of international industry experts, are awarded $15,000 from Telefilm Canada to develop the project further.

Eligibility

Toronto International Film Festival announces 2013 Rising Stars, Talent Lab, Producers Lab, Pitch This!

EVELYNE BROCHU, CARA GEE, MEGAN PARK AND JOHNATHAN SOUSA NAMED 2013 TIFF RISING STARS

TORONTO – The Toronto International Film Festival® today announced the four actors named the 2013 TIFF Rising Stars — Evelyne Brochu, Cara Gee, Megan Park and Johnathan Sousa. Now in its third year, the professional development programme immerses participants in a series of public events and industry meetings during the Festival. This year, the TIFF Rising Stars will be taken through an intensive professional “boot camp” with international casting directors, agents, managers, producers, filmmakers and development executives who will help them prepare for success in the film industry both on and off the screen.

“The Toronto International Film Festival draws industry, press and audiences from around the world and we feel privileged to be able to offer this global stage and these valuable connections to Evelyne, Cara, Megan and Johnathan — the 2013 TIFF Rising Stars,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of the Toronto International Film Festival. “We have no doubt that this year’s unstoppable quartet of emerging artists is on the rise to enjoy sizzling careers like the stellar Rising Stars alumni before them.”

Call for submissions: Telefilm Canada PITCH THIS!

Telefilm Canada PITCH THIS!

This September, Telefilm Canada PITCH THIS! returns to the Toronto International Film Festival® for its 14th consecutive year!

Six participant teams have six minutes to pitch their feature film idea to a live audience of over 200 industry professionals. The winner, selected by a jury of international industry experts, will be awarded $10,000 CAD from Telefilm Canada to develop the project further.

Congratulations to Ian Harnarine, winner of the 2012 Telefilm Canada PITCH THIS! competition for his project Doubles with Slight Pepper!

Call for submissions: Innoversity Pitch Competition

The Innoversity Creative Summit has announced their call for submissions for their 2013 Innoversity Pitch Competition.

The Innoversity Pitch Competition offers four talented teams a chance to make their production dream come true. Winners in each category will receive development funds, post-production services and professional mentorship - everything you need to launch your project. The deadline for entries is April 15, 2013 at 11:59pm EST.

The four possible categories are 1. TV: Scripted; 2. TV: Unscripted; 3. Digital Media Storytelling; and 4. Short Film.

Call for submissions: Thought for Food pitch competition

Your WorldView has teamed up with the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, the largest documentary festival, market and conference in North America, to launch an exclusive online pitching opportunity to be awarded a £1,000 grant to fund a short film, as part of the Your WorldView Thought for Food season.

Filmmakers will have only 3 weeks to tweet their pitch for a short film on ‘food’. The 140-character pitches will then be judged by both organisations and a shortlist of 6 will be asked to film their pitches and submit them to Your WorldView. The winner will be announced at the ‘I’ve pitched. Now what?’ session on Friday 3 May and via Twitter at the 20th Hot Docs, running from 25 April to 5 May 2013. The winner will receive a grant of £1,000 to turn their idea into a reality.

Call for submissions: Theatre Passe Muraille emerging artist programs

The Theatre Passe Muraille has put out a call for submissions for two programs it has for emerging artists. They are Pitch Andy (formerly known as TPM Pitch Blitz) and the first-ever Elephants in the Room Creation Group.

Elephants in the Room Creation Group

Call for submissions: CineCoup Film Accelerator

Calling all filmmakers:

Do you have a bold idea for the big screen? Do you have the chops to make it for $1 million?

The CineCoup Film Accelerator is a disruptive new model for filmmakers to develop, market and finance their feature films. Filmmaking teams apply to CineCoup with a two-minute trailer. They advance through a gamified selection funnel that’s designed to package their projects and build audience support on the CineCoup social web platform. The Top 10 projects will be optioned for development and one will be selected for up to $1 million (CDN) in production financing and guaranteed release in Cineplex theatres in Fall 2013.

Call for submissions: Cuban Hat Pitch Competition at Doc Circuit

THE CUBAN HAT PITCH COMPETITION RETURNS TO DOC CIRCUIT MONTREAL

Montreal, September 11, 2012 — As a proud supporter of documentary production, Doc Circuit Montreal is working with the Cuban Hat Project for a second year. The Cuban Hat Pitch will be part of Doc Circuit’s activities from November 12 to 14, 2012.

Call for candidates
This pitch competition is open to all Canadian citizens. It gives creative the opportunity to win prizes in the form of services and participatory funding for producing their documentary project. The initiative will also allow them to build an interest-based community around their project. We are seeking bold treatments with singular visions that question our perceptions of reality and reach new audiences. Documentaries of every length (short, medium, feature) are eligible, as are experimental films, series, and interactive and transmedia projects. Linear films should still have a transmedia strategy in place including at least a secondary distribution platform in mind. The initiative’s objective is to provide collective support to promising documentary projects while bringing creative closer to the documentary industry and their potential audiences.

Call for submissions: imagineNATIVE’s Documentary, Drama TV Pitch

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:
2012 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival
DOCUMENTARY & DRAMA TV PITCH:
Exclusive Professional Training & Pitch Sessions

This is your chance to be part of an intensive pitch training opportunity at this year's imagineNATIVE!

Do you have a great idea for a pilot episode of a series drama (30 or 60 min), OR a feature, short or series documentary?  Enter our competitions to pitch your idea to a panel of commissioning editors and acquisitions executives from the major Canadian broadcasters – who will provide valuable feedback and development advice.  You will also have a chance to win imagineNATIVE’s Documentary Pitch or Drama TV Pitch prizes to help your idea become a reality.

Call for submissions: Toronto Super Pitch Bowl

Paramax Films & Monde Ouest Production in partnership with Screen International is holding the first ever Toronto Super Pitch Bowl. Participants compete for a chance to win an opportunity to pitch their film idea to international/Hollywood producers at the upcoming 37th Toronto International Film Festival.

Those who wish to participate should go to The €co Series Facebook page and click on the "like" button. After that, you can post your movie logline (story idea expressed as a sentence) on the page. Then you need to try to get as many "likes" as possible. The three candidates with the most likes will be asked to send more information on their film. A panel of judges will choose the winner who then will be able to pitch it to a roundtable of producers

Call for submissions: Reel Asian's So You Think You Can Pitch? competition

The call for submissions has been announced for the 7th Annual Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival's pitch competition, So You Think You Can Pitch?

Selected pitch contestants will be given an opportunity to sell their short film idea to a panel of judges from the film industry during the Reel Asian Festival. They will also be awarded with a Festival Pass, with access to festival screenings and Industry Series sessions. There are categories for Emerging and Established filmmakers. One winner in each category will receive a prize package worth thousands to help make their short film.

They will accept submissions for films up to 30 minutes in length, in any form, whether dramatic, documentary, musical or experimental. An Asian must, however, play a key creative role, either in front or behind the camera.

Call for submissions: The Green Pitch

The call for submissions has opened for the Green Pitch competition at the 13th annual Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival. The winning pitch for an environmentally-themed film will receive a grand prize over $10,000 in cash & services.

This year, the Green Pitch competition will take place at the historic Distillery District, 15 Case Goods Lane, Suite 402, Toronto.