You don’t need the heat of Dragons’ Den to break a sweat sharing your artistic vision. Similar to the TV show, select Ottawa-area filmmakers fired their best pitch under the bright stage lights at the Arts Court Theatre on Sunday. A public panel of film industry experts gave feedback on five production ideas to prepare the creators for real-time pitches during the Digi60 Filmmakers’ Festival.
“The live pitch event mimics a real filmmakers pitch,” Maissa Houri, Director of Equity Initiatives of Digi60, said in an email to Apt613. “The pitchees spend Saturday working with Teri Loretto, the Scriptwriting teacher from Algonquin, on refining their pitch. At the live pitch, each filmmaker has five minutes to present their pitch to a panel of producers, like they are trying to sell their projects.”
Panellists Shane Boucher, Luc Thériault, Christopher Giroux, and Caitlin Delaney. Photo by Sarah Crookall.
Each project lead sold their story to the panel and a live audience. First, Ledane Ali, Weris Dualeh, and Deena Alsaweer pitched their TV series, The Table. “That name comes from the lunch table where a handful of raggedy misfit immigrants eat lunch at every single day at this preppy little suburban high school,” said Alsaweer about the project.
Weris Dualeh, Deena Alsaweer, and Ledane Ali. Photo by Sarah Crookall.
To the delight of panellists, 17-year-old Tatum Thompson presented their story Punctuation within the Trees. A group of teenagers plan to die by suicide in a forest, but instead, gain valuable life lessons and blossoming friendships. Punctuation is titled after the semicolon, a famous mental health symbol representing the continuation of a person’s life story.
Tatum Thompson pitches their movie Punctuation to the judges. Photo by Sarah Crookall.
Lindsay Gerro told the tale of two brothers who are failing entertainers in the pitch Boomerang. In the wake of their failed callings, the siblings become bounty hunters after watching one too many episodes of Dog the Bounty Hunter. Gerro said the story is loosely based on their experience of moving to a big city to pursue a dream, but then needing to return to regular life when expectations settle.
With Exit 96, Mark Templin pitched the idea of his characters travelling to a Steve Earl concert in San Antonio. However, a disgruntled ex-musician is setting off bombs at music stores and record companies along the same path. What unfolds is a comedic whirlwind of an adventure.
Mark Templin pitches his movie Exit 96. Photo by Sarah Crookall.
Finally, Derek Dubé shared his TV series concept, Pumped, with the panel. Pumped is a comedy about a trans gym owner and personal trainer who must learn how to work with his ex-partner. The story is based on events in Dubé’s life and develops a plot based on self-transformation.
Digi60 Filmmakers’ Festival is a yearly film festival in Ottawa. More information can be found on the Digi60 website. Follow the festival on Instagram and Twitter.
