DISCOP has announced a new pitching competition for established and aspiring producers as part of this year's Johannesburg DISCOP market.
In case you aren't familiar with it... DISCOP is an organisation that arranges annual TV and film marketplaces where content creators show and sell their content to buyers from developing countries at affordable prices for the countries.
The markets are held four times a year (in Dubai, Abidjan, Istanbul and Johannesburg) and the new pitching competition will be part of the Johannesburg market which will be held between 2 to 4 November.
Here's a description of the competition, how to enter and everything else you need to know from the call for entries put out by DISCOP:
The DISCOP Johannesburg Pitching Competition is a unique opportunity for aspiring and established producers alike who will have chance to pitch an original idea to a panel of industry players, distributors, potential investors active in Africa and abroad, other producers, programming and commissioning executives and advertisers.
On 3 November, at the Sandton Convention Centre, selected producers in the following four categories will go under the spotlight for their chance to shine.
· TV SERIES
· DOCUMENTARIES
· FORMATS
· ANIMATION
A winner and runner up in each of the four categories will be announced on the day and will receive various prizes ranging from cash for production, funding support, mentorship packages, marketing and distribution assistance, potential broadcasting and more.
All producers registered for DISCOP Johannesburg can enter in any or all of the four categories. The submission deadline is Friday 14 October 2016 and only 20 producers will be selected from the pool of registrants by a specially appointed committee of experts: five (5) nominees for each of the four (4) categories.
The 20 selected nominees will be notified by Wednesday 19 October and will automatically qualify for a host of benefits:
- A designated space on DISCOPAFRICA.com to promote the nominated projects.
- Promotion of the nominated projects on all social media platforms associated to DISCOP Johannesburg and to the DISCOP Johannesburg pitching competition.
- 10 X VIP invitations to the DISCOP Johannesburg pitching award ceremony to take place on Friday 4 November
- ‘How to Pitch’ coaching session to take place on Wednesday 2 November @ 3 PM, the day before the pitching competition.
- One-on-one 10-30 minute preparation session with a pitching professional during the course of the day on 2 November.
During the competition, a qualified jury of experts and key players driving television content production and distribution across Africa will select
one winner and
one runner-up per category based on the project’s creative vision, its originality, and the viability of the idea that could actually be produced.
Winning the DISCOP Johannesburg pitching competition can be a career-boosting opportunity, just ask Kaiser Mokgobu who won the 2015 Web Series / Comedy Category, as he explains, "Luckily for me, the SVP of Comedy Central Africa was on the judging panel. So after winning my pitch, he gave me an opportunity to create a web series based on my project for their website. I'm also currently writing a drama series inspired by the evolution of The South African Hiphop industry which I will most definitely be submitting to this year’s competition."
Judges will be looking not only for a strong idea that meets the criteria, but also for a clear, well-prepared and engaging pitch that will express the concept, the storyline and the characters that inhabit the story.
If you'd like to enter, you need to register for DISCOP (all details are on their website
here) and then fill out the entry form
here. You can send your completed form to
bettyyengo@basiclead.com
Deadlines for submission:
Friday 14 October 2016.