Who, what, when, where?
It’s best to begin with the basics:
• Who are your characters?
• What happens to them?
• Where and when do the events take place?

Tell your story but remember to keep it brief. You don’t need to provide a scene by scene breakdown of your film but you will need establish the genre of the film, the core concept of your screenplay, and the journey of the central character. In the case of AACTA Pitch: Regional Landscapes, the pitching judges want to know the role your chosen landscape plays in the story overall. Whether you communicate the ending of your film or not, offer the person you’re pitching to enough information to leave them wanting more.

Get clear on the WHY.
Why does this story need to be told? Why does this film need to be made now? Why are you the best person to make this film? By understanding why you are the perfect fit to write this specific film, not only are you demonstrating to whoever you’re pitching to that you are the right person to be trusted with their resources, but you are identifying the ways that your idea is unique, timely and will resonate with your target audience and the broader film industry.

Pitch practice makes pitch perfect.
Practice, practice, practice!
Stories develop and get better the more they’re told. The more you describe your idea to others, the clearer it will become to you. By pitching your idea multiple times to friends, family or strangers beforehand, you are spending time developing and fully realising your idea and are making sure it makes sense to someone hearing it for the first time. This is your opportunity to see if the tone of your pitch is resonating with your audience – if you’ve written a comedy your pitch needs to make your idea sound funny!

With practice, you’ll be better prepared to answer questions about your film and you’ll gain a better understanding of the resources you’ll need during production.

Get excited!
You’re going to write and potentially make a feature film! That’s pretty exciting stuff!
The purpose of a pitch is to get others excited about your idea – hopefully excited enough to provide support, develop your screenplay, and perhaps even get the film made! Remember what makes you excited about your idea and communicate that to the person you’re pitching to.

Entries are open for AACTA Pitch: Regional Landscapes in partnership with Screenworks which will see finalists pitch their ideas at the Screenworks 2020 Business of Producing seminar in Ballina on 20 March, 2020.

Get your entries in by Monday 9 March 2020 at 5pm AEDT and use the tips above to perfect your pitch.

To enter, please submit: Your production’s title, logline (one to two sentence description of the film), half page description of the regional area in which the film is set, one page treatment, the first five pages of the screenplay, and the résumé of the writer/s here.

If you have any questions about entering or the AACTA Pitch: Regional Landscapes competition, please contact the AACTA Awards Department at awards@afi.org.au.