Pitching is an essential element of the film industry. It is a business tool to help producers create an interesting alliance with promising creative units, and help young directors and screenwriters to find a source of funding. Pitching has recently appeared in Russia.
Pitching (from English to pitch - to promote, advertise) is a small presentation of a film project created to attract producers and investors. To put it bluntly, if you have nothing to make a film with and need funding, pitching is what you need. The presentation should last from one to five minutes, no more. Two out of ten young directors participating in the pitching succeed in successfully implementing the conceived project.
There are two types of pitching:
• Screenwriting, • Producer.
Screenwriting, as the name implies, implies the presentation by a screenwriter of his script. Abroad, it is extremely widespread: screenwriters line up with producers, trying to sell their work.
Producer pitching is much more complex. It is a search for funds or advertising support for the implementation of a film project. It should be noted that this is not an abstract idea, but a finished project.
In the West, pitching is carried out within the framework of major film festivals: Cannes, Berlin, Rotterdam, etc. Almost not one solid festival is complete without it. In Russia, producer pitching took place for the first time at Kinotavr in 2007, so this phenomenon is relatively new for the domestic film industry. The start was successful: the winning films were presented at the next Kinotavr. It should be emphasized that in Russian cinema the institute of production is extremely poorly developed. Therefore, such a phenomenon as pitching is extremely useful, because it is an integral part of the film business all over the world.
One of the biggest problems with pitching in Russia is that it attracts mostly non-professionals. This in itself is not bad, but it is regrettable that it is ignored by film students, aspiring directors and screenwriters.
Other shortcomings are vague film legislation and an extremely aggressive environment. Pitching involves an open space and an objective assessment of the project from the outside.