Regent Park Film Festival (RPFF) is inviting up-and-coming filmmakers to submit a proposal for a new project for our Emerging Directors’ Pitch Competition! This exciting platform highlights the best of Canada’s emerging talent and filmmakers, and gives them a chance to pitch a new project to a jury of industry experts.
This year we’re accepting Short Documentary pitches (4-10 min) that deal with the intersection of artists and social change. The CBC Unscripted Video Team, alongside CBC Arts, is looking for new unscripted storytellers who want to tell real stories of artistic heroes in their community who are leading radical, inspiring and ambitious projects to help change some of the most pressing issues of our generation. Gentrification, policing, food sovereignty, and sustainability are just a few themes that impact artists where they live and shape the stories they tell in their art.
The winner will receive a development deal from CBC* and a $1,000 cash prize to be put towards their production.
The Emerging Directors’ Pitch Competition is free to enter, open to all ages, and to directors, producers and creators of all genres and styles.
We highly encourage submissions by filmmakers from marginalized communities (Black, Indigenous, Person of Colour, Person with Disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+, Women) and films that feature these communities.
*Development at CBC
Entering into a development agreement with CBC means that you are granting CBC the first and exclusive option to pick up your project. This means that you will have to withdraw your project from consideration for development with other commissioners (unless agreed by CBC). During development, CBC and you will agree upon creative deliverables which could be a script, a demo, a research report etc. Once a creative deliverable is completed and sent to CBC, the 12 month option period begins. At any time during the 12 months, CBC may exercise its option to do some further development or to green light your project for production, where you and CBC will enter into negotiations for the license of your program.
Filmmaker Eligibility:
- Applicants must be a Canadian citizen or have permanent resident status
- Emerging is defined as directed or produced no more than 2 films for festival and/or broadcast
- Selected finalists must commit to pitch training sessions (dates TBD) and a 3-minute live pitch that will take place in-person during this year’s annual festival (November 23-26, 2023)
- Permanent CBC employees are not eligible to apply
Pitch Project Eligibility:
- Must be an unscripted short film
- Maximum length of 10 minutes (i.e. no feature films)
- Projects with existing equity investment and/or distribution commitments are ineligible
- Selected finalists cannot pitch the same project at another Festival program, which means you will have to withdraw your project from other festivals or competitions.
- For your application to be considered you must submit a single PDF with the following:
How to Apply:
Please fill out this application form by Sunday August 20th, 2023 at 11:59pm. Incomplete submissions will not be considered.
For any questions, please contact alice@rpff.ca and to learn more about RPFF, visit rpff.ca.