AACTA Pitch: Elevate Finalists Announced

Congratulations to the five finalists for AACTA Pitch: Elevate, our national pitching competition aiming to discover Australia’s next world-class, high-concept scripted series.

THE AACTA PITCH: ELEVATE FINALISTS ARE:

ENDGAME | Gabriel Bergmoser, Bryony McLachlan

A young couple’s life is shattered when they discover they are non-player characters in a violent video game.

MY MOTHER, THE WITCH | Anya Beyersdorf

1693 -- A Lawman is called to God’s Country to hear the wildly divergent confessions of two accused witches due to hang - a young girl and her mother - each swearing black and blue the other is the witch and should be put to death.

THE EIGHT | Adam Kiers, Barbara Stephen, Hannah Carol Chapman, Amal Awad

Christo has been found dead in the carpark of his apartment block. The viewer may follow their own path to investigate the crime with the ability to watch each episode - from the perspective of The Girlfriend, The Brother, The Old Lady, The Young Mum, The Brazilians, The Bikie and The Real Estate Agent - in any order to unravel the mystery.

THE DEPARTMENT OF LAST REQUESTS | Angela McDonald

You’ve probably never heard of the Department of Last Requests. A run-down legal department that processes people’s wills – specifically, wills where the deceased had strange or complicated final wishes and where two drop-kick lawyers have been assigned to carry out their last requests.

THE REPLICAS | Adam Daniel

After passing through a strange electrical storm at sea, the passengers of a transit ferry arrive at their island home to discover that they are duplicated versions of passengers that arrived on the same ferry thirty minutes earlier. 

Each finalist will pitch their original and exciting series concepts at the live final, in front of a judging panel of esteemed industry figures, at AACTA Shorts + Web Fest presented by MINI on Saturday August 31 at 1.00pm from The Factory Theatre in Sydney.

From almost one hundred submissions, the five finalists have been selected for their unique interpretations of an elevated concept; each beginning with a simple premise and an unusual set of circumstances, while holding the potential for mass audience appeal and endless possibilities within the world for their series.

The winner of AACTA Pitch: Elevate will receive a $5,000 cash prize as well as invaluable feedback from the judging panel and guidance on the development of a pilot screenplay through script coverage from partnering production companies. The winner will also receive support from Spectrum Films to the value of $2,500, and tickets to the 2019 AACTA Awards presented by Foxtel.

The live AACTA Pitch: Elevate final will be hosted by comedian Gen Fricker (LEGALLY BROWN, HAVE YOU BEEN PAYING ATTENTION?), and the AACTA Pitch judging panel includes:

• Carly Heaton, Executive Producer at Foxtel;
• Stephen Corvini, Drama Development Executive and Producer at Matchbox Pictures and Producer of SBS series HUNGRY GHOSTS;
• Tracey Robertson, CEO of Emmy and BAFTA Award-winning company Hoodlum Entertainment; and
• Billy Bowring, Development Manager at FremantleMedia Australia.

The live final will begin with a Short & Sharp lesson in mastering The Perfect Pitch. The AACTA Pitch judges, will be joined by Nicole Coventry (Production Supervisor, Commissioned Content – Scripted, SBS) and Bobby Romia (Screen Investment Manager, Create NSW) who will share their expert advice for refining a concept into a professional media pitch.

After the live final and announcement of the winning pitch, AACTA Shorts + Web Fest host, Jan Fran will sit down with the winner of AACTA Pitch: Forever Unexpected Loani Arman (THE MOTHERLOAD, MY BODY SAYS) to share her experience bringing her short film concept OUR GREATEST ESCAPE to life after winning funding and production support from MINI in early June.

AACTA Shorts + Web Fest is a FREE event, though RSVP's are essential via www.aacta.org/whats-on/sydney