Silverdocs: The Good Pitch
Sitting in the Silver Theater’s cafe area, drinking tea and watching a hi-def TV screen showing the Good Pitch event, which is taking place next door at the Roundhouse Theater. This is kinda cool. Oh, the lovely Sky Sitney just walked by, looking surprisingly relaxed considering that she only took over as Silverdocs’ Artistic Director a few months ago.
The Good Pitch is part of the International Documentary Conference, which is the real heart of Silverdocs — like-minded documentary professionals meeting, greeting, and sharing war stories and tips. The Good Pitch is new at Silverdocs this year, a program from the Sundance Institute and the U.K.’s Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation that brings producers and directors together with the nonprofits and foundations who may fund their work. Today’s two-part event finds eight hopefuls facing a roundtable of potential funders, PBS, SnagFilms, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, etc., etc.
Do not confuse the Good Pitch with a Hollywood pitch meeting. Yes, there is bottled water and perhaps some flop sweat. But the tone is utterly high-minded. One hopeful describes her work as “all about the control people have at the grassroots level.” While there are some questions about target audiences, one exec states sincerely, “There are different ways we can be helpful.” There is also talk of “giving circles” and a question from the floor asks about “outreach plan[s] to the Ethiopian diaspora in this country.”
Moderator Jess Search, CEO of Channel 4 BRITDOC (why the all-caps?) ends one presentation with the remark, “The two of you are so grounded in the power and clarity of your vision for this project.” Applause.
