Good Pitch Europe: Storming the finish line!
The last Good Pitch event of this year has now concluded! Good Pitch Europe, which wraps up our third year of international events, took place on Tuesday September 25th at the Royal Institute, where it facilitated effective, world-changing partnerships between documentary film and the brand, NGO, philanthropy and media sectors.
Kicking off proceedings was former Minister for Work and Pensions, James Purnell. Since leaving office James has added documentary producer to his CV following an approach from award-winning director Penny Woolcock at this event last year. After some ‘persuasive’ conversation over lunch in 2010, he now finds himself producing Penny’s latest project, What’s Going On?, which follows the trials and tribulations of a gang-led truce between warring factions in Birmingham - but more of that project later. At the Royal Institution, in the very room where Faraday demonstrated his discoveries about electricity generation and transmission, Purnell tells us that Good Pitch is doing the same – “putting electricity into the wires of society”.
Eight documentary film projects, each with associated outreach and engagement goals, were pitched to tables of 10 hand-selected potential partners and a jam-packed room of almost 400 people from organisations across Europe. More than 20 countries were represented at Good Pitch Europe yesterday, including: Austria, Belgium, Cameroon, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. The audience was made up of NGOs (Greenpeace, Actionaid, Amnesty International, Avaaz, Friends of the Earth), foundations (Prince’s Trust, BIG Lottery Fund, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Bernard van Leer Foundation, Oak Foundation), broadcasters (BBC, Channel 4, DRTV, Canal+), social media platforms (Sponsume), brands (Divine Chocolate, PUMA) and branding & PR agencies (Fallon, Edelman).
The eight projects covered issues from food security in Africa to inner city gang violence, from the catastrophic depletion of the oceans to sex and disability, with the lineup featuring award-winning directors from the UK, the Netherlands, Cameroon, Italy, Denmark and USA: Ilse & Femke van Velzen (Justice For Sale), Alison Klayman (Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry), Carlo Zoratti (The Special Need), BAFTA-Winner Will Anderson (Fish Fight Europe), Osvalde Lewat & Hugo Berkeley (The Next Harvest), Camilla Nielsson (Democrats), David Bond & Ashley Jones (The Nature Project) and 2010 Grierson-Winner Penny Woolcock (What’s Going On).
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE DAY
- All 10 of the table participants raising their hands when moderator Jess Search asked who wanted to be part of a follow up conversation about David Bond & Ashley Jones’s film The Nature Project.
- Passionate comments from Avaaz (which has 10 million members) and European Commission for Maritime Affairs & Fisheries in response to Will Anderson’s Fish Fight Europe project. More unequivocal support from Ed GIllespie from Futerra Sustainable Communications who, relieved to have found a filmmaker who shares his beliefs about fish stocks, implored: “If you don’t stop catching all the fish, there won’t be any fucking fish.” Sounds like a no brainer, eh?
- PUMA.Creative offered a Mobility Award to Fish Fight Europe, which will help transport the filmmakers to wherever they need to shoot.
- Ringing endorsement from Index on Censorship who “would be proud to be the brand partner” of Alison Klayman’s Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
- The Congo Now! Coalition Organised an emergency roundtable discussion following Pitch Day involving the people from their table and others in the network to discuss Ilse & Femke van Velsen’s Justice For Sale - they are all keen to support it, but need to strategise how this might be possible.
- What’s Going On? was presented by director Penny Woolcock and gang member Dylan Duffus (“father of seven boys and man of my community”). In a feedback session that crackled with opportunity, Fairbridge West Midlands/Prince’s Trust offered their network of 2000 Birmingham-based NGOs, their access to local schools and Claire Rigby from that organisation “would like to personally mentor the What’s Going On? team” and “be on the end of the phone whenever you need me”. The BIG Lottery Fund agreed to form a working group to help take forward the project and John Mulligan at the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation said: “This smells authentic…Dylan is an archetypal changemaker…we would definitely be interested”.
- Mencap were happy to connect Director Carlo Zoratti’s film The Special Need to advocacy groups, blog and publications in their network. Home Farm Trust and the Luv2MeetU friendship and dating site they run, would be happy to support the filmmakers.