After weeks of intensive preparations and pitches, the four finalists in the SPAA Holding Redlich pitching competition in association with AFTRS/AWG have been announced.
The four finalists are:
Angela Walsh with a TV Series called Trace
Sandra Pires with a Documentary called Roof Over Our Heads
Georgia Clark with a TV Series called Starts At Sunset
Andrew Hannan with an Animated Feature called Small Brown Dirty Hope
These talented writers/producers will attend the SPAA Conference on the Gold Coast, on November 13-16, to pitch their projects to an audience that includes international executives, broadcasters and key local industry.
‘It was always my goal to have reached the final pitch at SPAA as it is the highest concentration of ‘make it happen’ people in the one place at the one time.’ said finalist Andrew Hannan.
‘I look forward to the challenge and can say unequivocally that the value of pitching in each stage, whether it be to 5, 50, 100 or 700+ brings a rewarding experience each time, as you never know where, when or to whom you will need to step up and sell your idea.’
The four finalists took part in pitching workshops conducted by the Australian Film Television and Radio School, in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Perth and Melbourne throughout August and September.
Eight semi-finalists were chosen from over 200 participants, and they attended the Australian Writers’ Guild National Screenwriting Conference in VIC on October 19-21. It was at the conference that these semi-finalists pitched their projects, with the top 4 finalists chosen to move on to pitch at the SPAA Conference.
The winning pitch will be awarded the grand prize of:
• A return airfare to the Cannes Film Festival or a major television market in the UK/US
• $1000 spending money
• $2000 worth of legal advice from Holding Redlich
• Full registration to the 2007 SPAA Conference
• A publicity opportunity with Encore Magazine
[release from AFTRS]