Watch the WIFTI Worldwide Pitch

On December 12, 2022 we are hosting the WIFTI Worldwide Pitch event for the first time. Every member of any WIFT chapter is invited to join online and watch our sisters that will present their projects to the jury. Find the public registration for the Pitch below.

The WIFTI Worldwide Pitch is dedicated to the impact of our global community and is based on the belief of making us all love and live in a peaceful environment.

We are proud to feature projects from all six continents. The following chapters will present a project:

New Mexico Women in Film, USA

WIFT JAMAICA

WIFT ISRAEL

WIFT Germany

Women in Film Guild Botswana

WIFT Namibia

WIFT Finland

WIFT Georgia

WIFTGR /GREECE

WIFT Brasil

WIFT Italy

WIFT CYPRUS

WIF LA, USA

WIFT China

WIFT Austin Texas

WIFT Sweden

WIFTGCC – Abu Dhabi

WIFT Australia

WIFT Norway

Time: 10am Pacific Time / 1pm Easter Time / 7pm Central European Time / 8pm South African Time / 5am Australian Easter Time (Dec 13)

Please share in your networks. The participating projects will receive their own individual links.

Submissions open for March 8 Short Film Showcase    

To celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, 2023 we will host our annual, 48h-long March 8 Short Film Showcase!

Join us for the first webinar of our series “Art of Sustainability”

As part of WIFTI’s new series ‘Art of Sustainability – A Global Reflection’, WIFTI President Helene Granqvist will be in conversation with Prem Gill, CEO of Creative BC, Canada and independent producer and line producer Stephanie Dawson.

The conversation will be on Green Shooting, why the work for environmental sustainability and inclusion is so connected and why we need to be more conscious of the impact of our storytelling on the film & TV ecosystem.

Date: January 10th, 2023 at 12pm Pacific Time / 3pm Eastern Time / 9pm Central European Time / 7am Australian Eastern Time

Prem Gill is Chief Executive Officer of Creative BC, the organization designated by the Province of British Columbia to unite, sustain and grow British Columbia’s dynamic and diverse creative sector, including motion picture, music and sound recording, interactive and digital media, and magazine and book publishing.

Bringing more than 20 years of experience in the digital media and entertainment industries, Prem has been named one of Canada’s 100 most powerful women, Vancouver Magazine’s “Power 50” and received the Community Catalyst award from the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade.

For many years, Prem has championed Canadian creativity as a representative and spokesperson to media, industry and government at all levels. As CEO of Creative BC, Prem is responsible for delivering a wide range of programs and services that will expand B.C.’s creative economy to reach its economic, social and creative potential both at home and globally.

Stephanie Dawson is a producer, line producer, and production manager for narrative, unscripted, and branded content with over 15 years of experience. Her other recent credits include DOWN WITH THE KING (2021), MAYA & HER LOVER (2020), DEREK DELGAUDIO’S IN & OF ITSELF (HULU), GREAT PERFORMANCES (PBS) and HOUSE HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL (HGTV). She has also worked in live events such as Fashion Week and the Tom Joyner Family Reunion.

In 2009, she was introduced to sustainable production on a commercial for a major big box store. Shortly after that, a production with Glass Eye Pix also implemented sustainability measures on set. This sparked a synergy between her two professional loves: filmmaking and the environment. She has pushed for eco processes on set wherever possible since.

She is producing the forthcoming feature film THE RHODORA which she co-wrote with director Maria Matteoli (THE WINE OF SUMMER). She is producing alongside Trevite Willis (CARGO).

In March of 2022, Dawson was inducted to the Full Sail University Hall of Fame. Stephanie is a founding member of the non-profit Women Independent Producers, co-chair of the Producers Guild of America Green Committee and a Climate Reality Leader. She is currently a Producer for the PBS Series Great Performances with WNET Group/Thirteen.

Invitation to all member networks for WIFTI Worldwide Pitch

WIFTI WORLDWIDE PITCH
Dedicated to the impact of our global community
Based on the belief of making us all love & live
In a peaceful environment

WIFTI hereby invites every chapter worldwide to contribute with one project each to be pitched at a global WIFTI Worldwide Online Pitch Event on December 12, 2022.

The selected projects must meet the following –

Criteria:
• be female or non-binary character driven
• be in early script, treatment or long synopsis development stage with female or non-binary writer, director and preferably a producer attached

Format:
• only WIFTI member chapters can submit
• only one fiction feature project can be submitted per chapter
• WIFTI chapters make their own selection process to find their contributing project
• WIFTI chapters are responsible for uploading pitch video file and sending all non-video materials of their selected project (see Checklist) at the latest by deadline 
November 20th 2022

Checklist:
• 2-3 min. video pitch (all files must be named as follows: 
name of chapter_project title);
• short synopsis – half page A4/size 12 text;
• short story motivation – half page A4/size 12 text;
• moodboard – 1 page;
• short 100 word bio for each project team member (writer, director, producer);
• all these documents are to be collected in one file
• an ‘Acceptance & Contact Form’ must be signed by invited applicants giving WIFTI the rights to review their projects and share the materials.

How to submit:
If your chapter is interested in submitting a project, write to Regina at regina@wifti.net to request the submission form and link to uploading platform.

Each chapter is encouraged to promote diversity and fairness in their local selection processes.

For their pitch videos, projects are encouraged to identify and address possible aspects of inclusion, otherness, sustainability and equality in their stories.

The individual pitch video content must mainly focus on motivation (why you/why now), story core and the audience vision and context of the project.

It’s mandatory for every WIFTI chapter that presents a project to be pitched, to also present a high-profile person or a decision-maker (producer, financier, sales agent, distributor, studio rep, etc.) who commits to attend as an active pitch peer at the WIFTI Worldwide Pitch in mid December (date tba).

The aim of hosting this worldwide pitch event is to give global visibility and peer support to the participating projects.

For questions about The WIFTI Worldwide Pitch, please reach out to WIFTI Board Member & Co-Chair of WIFTI Industry Committee Tsiako Abezadze on tsiako@wiftcaucasus.org 

Kind regards,

Helene Granqvist
WIFTI President
On Behalf of WIFTI Industry Committee

WIFTI Worldwide Webinars in collaboration with We Are Warming Up

 We are stoked about this collaboration between our WIFTI Worldwide webinars and Warming Up Storylab to continue our focus on climate change and the film world.

“It’s an exciting opportunity for our members to learn more about sustainability and storytelling”, says WIFTI President Helene Granqvist.

The lab is part of We Are Warming Up, a movement inviting film & tv creatives to engage with climate change in profound, inspiring and actionable ways. Warming Up Storylab aims to provide creatives with the cools, network and community to do just that. 

As storytellers we hold a powerful key to engaging a wide audience with climate change in a meaningful, entertaining and actionable way. The urgency of which, after a bone dry and wildfire ridden summer, hardly needs stressing. Apart from sustainable production, our biggest impact comes through the stories we tell.



So let’s get to it! Join this year’s Warming Up Storylab, which will be a crash course on working with climate change in new, powerful and entertaining ways. This fantastic line up of speakers will leave you inspired by the opportunities this dire moment in time holds for us storytellers.

Autumn Programme of WIFTI Worldwide Webinars in collaboration with Netflix

We are excited about a new collaboration with Netflix’s Fund for Creative Equity which gives us the opportunity to run a series of industry workshops this autumn. The workshops will revolve around Netflix as a gate opener for storytelling and new voices.

This initiative is a space for our members to network and was created with the ambition to foster possibilities for entering the fast-paced, dynamic story market. Our goal is to help the unique voices of our members to reach the world.

“We are delighted that Netflix acknowledges the importance of a network like WIFTI and understands the need to support new voices entering the ecosystem“, says Helene Granqvist, President of WIFT International.

This work emanates from the work of the WIFTI Industry Committee led by board members Tsiako Abesadze (WIFT Caucasus) and Brigitte Monneau (FCTMN Montreal). Thanks to them for their hard work!

Chris will delve into what exactly makes a television pitch work at Netflix. In this tailor-made workshop, he’ll discuss the essentials you’ll need to catch Netflix’s eye and will zero in on how to write an effective pitch document. He’ll pose questions you’ll be able to answer and communicate for your series and give you ideas on how best to communicate your show’s overview, world, tone, and characters. Chris will then discuss how season summaries should be built and give you ideas on how to think about and present potential episodes. Finally, you will have the invaluable opportunity to ask Chris your own questions. 

You will leave this presentation with the understanding of how to structure and present your series, not in theory, but directly from the source.

To maximize impact, prior to attending the workshop, please watch the Spiderman Multiverse, Two Popes, and Gladiator.

In this interactive Q&A session, Teresa Moneo will share her own journey, answer questions and give advice touching on the Netflix ecosystem.

There will be a link to send questions in advance to Teresa in the September newsletter. The conversation will be moderated by WIFTI president Helene Granqvist.