Get ready to pitch

SPAA Fringe, Australia's event for aspiring filmmakers, will catapult six of the best, new screen projects into the limelight through its pitching initiative, the SDA Pitching Competition.

Screen Development Australia (SDA), the national network of screen resource organisations and SPAA Fringe have launched a nationwide search to uncover the best projects in the country, from a series of state-based pitching workshops and competitions.

The pitching workshops and competitions, which are being held in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Hobart, Adelaide, Brisbane and the Northern Rivers from May to October, will act as a 'heat' and offer a fast exchange of ideas and feedback.

The semi-finalists from the pitching workshops will then be flown to Sydney in October to pitch their projects to a panel of film and television executives at SPAA Fringe.

Up for grabs is a total prize pool of $10,000. Two finalists will be selected and will win $1,500 each. They will then be flown back to Sydney in November, to pitch their projects head-to-head in the Holding Redlich Pitching Competition at the SPAA Conference.

The winner of the Holding Redlich Pitching Competition will go on to receive a return airfare for one to the Cannes Film Festival or a TV Market in 2010/11 and a $1,500 cash prize plus free registration to SPAA 2011.

Entrants may pitch any genre, form and duration from TV series to features, animation and multi-platform content and are encouraged to present projects which have strong commercial viability.

www.screenworks.com.au