One of the most exciting events last week at the festival was the One World Media Live Pitch. It was a great session where 5 young filmmakers had been whittled down from a group of 70 to battle it out for the One World Media Live Pitch final grand prize of £2,000!  In front of a prestigious panel of documentary film makers and producers each filmmaker had 5 minutes to pitch their idea and were then grilled by the panel and offered feedback on what they had delivered.

The documentary ideas put forward covered an eclectic range of topics ranging from moustaches in India to punks in Algeria. The panels advice was clear and concise with their main questions including 'how is this universal to all?' and 'what is the story?'. A couple of the pitches were in the early research stages and these were offered guidance on how to develop their ideas fully and told they need to be clear from the story what type of production company they want to take their idea forward when complete.

And the winner was.....With The Punk. They were my favourite and gave an excellent, very confident and energetic pitch.  They had a story mapped out and a taster film to show, which highlighted the feel, emotion and pace of the documentary and how the story would unfold.  The presenters were very engaging and the story had a real life journey to it, relevant storyline and was universally linked to all teenagers rebels.

Fellow Digital Reporter Monique Jarrett caught up with panelist Steve Boulton after the event and also got to grab winners Onyeka Igwe and Sofia Bouzidi to congratulate them on scooping the top prize...

And my favourite bit of advice from the event was from filmmaker Olly Lambert who made Tea Boy of Gaza.  He said that the best documentaries are those that do not hit the message home with a hammer but take the smallest story like the little tea boy from Gaza to show the bigger picture such as the political unrest and war happening around him. That bit of advice I will use well!

Sarah Miles - Words and photos
Digital Reporter

Monique Jarrett - Audio
Digital Reporter

 

So you've got a great idea for a documentary how do you go about pitching it? Cue the Pitching for Documentary workshop that took place earlier today.

We heard from experienced filmmakers Steve Boulton and Sophie Chalk who gave lots of great advice to those wanting to get their ideas commissioned and onto our TV screens.

Steve Boulton started working on documentaries in 1982 and was a researcher at Granada. He's worked with a whole host of companies including Channel 4, ITV, BBC and Channel 5. Steve started his own company in 2002 and went on to make the documentary Young Nazi and Proud, which won a BAFTA  - not bad hey.

So here's Steve’s advice on how to pitch for a commission -

- It matters that you learn how to sell - the power of persuasion is key.
- It helps to have a reputation, experience or awards within the business.
- If you don’t its important to encapsulate your idea in no more than 100 words to get it across clearly.
- Never give more than two pages for an idea.
- Always start with the nugget of the documentary.
- Know your character.
- Know exactly what you want the documentary to be about.
- Think about who would be involved on the talent side i.e. celebrities, experts.
- Research the people you're pitching to. Each broadcast channel has a genre and specific topics that they are looking for so watch out for those and taylor your pitch. 

Things NOT to do when pitching a documentary -

- Undermind the person/company you're pitching to.
- Do no research into the person/company you're pitching to.

More useful tips from Steve -

- Use a Narrative Ark that shows a clear beginning, middle and end of the documentary.
- Take a few mins sample footage of your documentary that covers the core of your work.
- If pitching about a character it should be about the character and nothing else.
- No graphics should be used unless its explaining something brief.
- Stay clear of music besides the intro and ending.
- Simple is best.
- No fancy editing.
- Communicate your passion for your documentary.
- It’s a hard business so you have to be tough skinned.

Up next was Sophie Chalk. Sophie started working in documentaries in 1989 and over the years has worked with companies including Sky News, TVAM and Yorkshire TV. Sophie set up her own company Rooftop production in 1998 and also works for the International Broadcasting Trust.

Here's Sophie’s advice on making and pitching documentaries:

- Documentaries that are about misery don’t work well.
- Pitch to a company that you like and who work with similar topics as your documentary.
- Being turned down becomes a way of life, dont take it personally, be thick skinned and passionate.
- If it's an international documentary make it more about the people than the topic.
- Find a human narrative and a familiarity in peoples lives that the viewer can relate to.
- Think about the sensitivity towards the viewer.
- Produce adocumentary that would inspire a viewer.
- Include a mixture of humour and sadness or seriousness

And more advice on commissions from Sophie -

- BBC3 have made a real skill of developing serious documentaries without them looking serious.
- All of these channels/progs are looking for new ideas NOW for documentaries: BBC1, 2,3,4, Dispatches, Panorama and Crew Cut.
- To find out who to speak to watch documentaries and keep an eye on the credits to catch contact names.
- Don’t be put off by the commissioners saying it will cost more to film abroad, in many cases this isn’t true. It costs a lot to film in Britain.
- Make sure your taster video has your name at the beginning, end and on the DVD.

Monique Jarrett
Digital Reporter
@roidmj