Event Preview: The Good Pitch UK

September 7 & 8

Billed as a ‘Dragon’s Den‘ pitching event, The Good Pitch seeks to pair up social-justice film projects with the people and organizations who can work with them to make change happen. The event  is a partnership between the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, and this year marks its inaugural outing in London with The Good Pitch UK.

The original Good Pitch was launched at the BRITDOC Festival in Oxford in 2008, and its success brought the event across the pond to North America, where it became a part of three different film festivals. Katie Bradford, the director of the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation, says that North America was a great setting for the event because "there is a much longer-standing tradition of filmmakers working with nonprofit funders and NGOs."

With momentum behind the event, it was "clearly imperative" to also run a U.K. version this year, Bradford says "This is a growing area for documentary filmmakers in the U.K. As the TV landscape changes even more rapidly than anyone had anticipated, it is crucial that we find new partners to become involved both in funding documentary films with social change at their heart, but also in working out new outlets for getting the films out and in front of the right people. The live setting of The Good Pitch is a powerful and immediate way to do this."

When Working Films UK offered to support the event and Amnesty International said it would host it, The Good Pitch UK came to fruition. From more than 100 applications, eight filmmaking teams were selected to pitch their projects to an invited audience. This year’s lineup includes Antony Butts with After the Apocalypse, exposing the legacy of the largest, most secretive and most sustained nuclear experiment in history; Rosa Rogers for Casablanca Calling, about female Muslim leaders who are empowering women through the teachings of Islam; Hannan Majid and Richard York for Mass e Bhat, a portrait of Bangladesh through the eyes of its working children; and Mat Whitecross with Moving to Mars, the story of two families—exiles from Burma—who are headed for a new life in the U.K. Other filmmakers selected to pitch are Lesley Katon for A Very Dangerous Man, Dan Edelstyn for How to Re-Establish a Vodka Empire, Morgan Matthews for Seventeen and Jerry Rothwell for Town of Runners.

"We’re really delighted with the lineup of projects, which combine U.K. and international stories and directors with a range of expertise, from award-winning to first-timers," Bradford says.

Equally noteworthy are the range of organizations already confirmed to take part in the event. These include UNICEF, Google, Babelgum, YouGov, Greenpeace, War on Want, the Fairtrade Foundation and Guardian Films, among many others.

The goals of the London Good Pitch are two-fold, Bradford explains: "First is to amplify each of the eight film projects being pitched on the day, by bringing together a roundtable of participants—NGOs, broadcasters, foundations, government, brands and media—who can form a coalition around the film and its goals and brainstorm new and innovative ways of using the film to further their own work too. Second is to share knowledge and best practices with the different sectors taking part on the day. As I said before, this is a new area and not without its challenges, and we all need to work together to share what works and what doesn’t."

Bradford says that at the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation, the belief is that films, especially documentary films, are the best medium for inspiring change because they bring stories and issues to such a wide audience and allow people to engage with them. "Our core remit has always been to work with and enable creative individuals with something to say about the world, nurturing independent voices. But it’s a fact that funding films like these from traditional sources is becoming increasingly difficult and so we are constantly looking for ways to engage new groups in the creation of ambitious, world-changing films. The Good Pitch is just one way."