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The program director for the Points North Institute explains how fledgling documentary filmmakers can effectively use pitching forums. INTERVIEW BY HOLLY STUART HUGHES
For documentary filmmakers, pitching forums provide one way to present their film projects to a group of distributors and film festival programmers. The format is pressured: Filmmakers have just seven minutes to pitch their projects, and then several minutes to receive feedback from the panel of potential funders. Each year, Points North Institute, which runs the Camden Film Festival in Camden, Maine, selects six fellows to receive $2,000 grants and an all-expenses-paid invitation to the Points North workshops. The fellows' workshops, which take place every September, include intensive training in how to pitch projects. We asked Sean Flynn, program director at Points North, what their fellows learn about pitching.
PDN: What is the mission of the Points North artist programs and its pitching forum?
SEAN FLYNN: Our current mission statement emphasizes supporting the next generation of nonfiction storytellers. We are supporting people who are still early in their careers, and stretching the form of what documentary can be. We've tried to highlight documentarians who are doing interesting things with creative nonfiction. This year, we expanded to include a program on interactive and immersive media, which includes VR and interactive installations. In the past, we've had people coming [to speak] from the photo world, like [photographer] Susan Meiselas, and people from public radio. It's exciting to think about building a platform that will be interdisciplinary, while always keeping documentary film at its core.
PDN: What's the advantage of attending the pitch forum?
SF: The Points North Pitch is now part of a larger program called the Points North Fellowship. We select six filmmakers and bring them in two days before the festival starts for an intensive pitch training workshop. It's usually led by colleagues who come from Hot Docs or Sundance-people we believe are some of the most stellar mentors in the business. They understand the funding landscape, but they're also incredibly supportive and generous. They can help filmmakers get at the essence of their projects and articulate what they're trying to do....