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Call for Entries: 19th Annual Regent Park Film Festival’s Emerging Directors’ Spotlight and Pitch Competition
The Regent Park Film Festival (RPFF) is inviting up-and-coming filmmakers to submit their short films (the “Spotlight”), along...

The Regent Park Film Festival (RPFF) is inviting up-and-coming filmmakers to submit their short films (the “Spotlight”), along with a proposal for a new project (the “Pitch”) for our Closing Night event, the Emerging Directors’ Spotlight and Pitch Competition!

Part showcase and pitch event, this exciting platform highlights the best of Canada’s emerging talent. Filmmakers will have a chance to showcase their previous work at the festival, then pitch a new  project to a jury of industry experts.

This year, there will be two categories for the pitch competition, SCRIPTED and UNSCRIPTED. One winner in each category will receive a development deal from CBC* and $1000 from RBC to be put towards their production.

If you wish to be considered in both the SCRIPTED and the UNSCRIPTED categories, you must complete a separate application form and pitch for each. You will be a finalist in only one category.

The Emerging Directors’ Spotlight and Pitch Competition is free to enter, open to all ages and 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, LGBTQSAA+, 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 licence 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 a pitch training session (date TBD) and a 3-minute live pitch that will take place virtually in late October (date TBD)
  • Permanent CBC employees are not eligible to apply

Pitch Project Eligibility: 

  • Cannot be the same project as film being submitted for “Spotlight” portion (Example: You cannot submit a Spotlight film that is a short and pitch a web series of the same concept)
  • Maximum length of 44 minutes for unscripted and 20 minutes for scripted (i.e. no feature films)
  • Fiction or nonfiction (i.e. short doc or scripted web series)
  • Must have a completed script or treatment
  • 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 include a PDF with the following:

1. Logline (1 or 2 sentences, 50 word max description)
2. Pitch (150 word max outline)
3. Script or Treatment (must demonstrate character development, story arc) 

Please visit these pages to see what kind of SCRIPTED and UNSCRIPTED projects CBC is currently looking for:

How to Apply:

DEADLINE EXTENSION: Please fill out this application form by Monday September 6th at 11:59 pm. Incomplete submissions will not be considered. For any questions, please contact aashna@regentparkfilmfestival.com and to learn more about RPFF, visit regentparkfilmfestival.com.

Don’t forget to check out our Info Session about our Emerging Directors’ Spotlight & Pitch Competition, for both scripted and unscripted categories. RPFF’s Manager of Programming, Aashna Thakkar is joined by CBC’s Michelle McCree (Executive in Charge of Production, CBC Docs) and Mélanie Lê Phan (Production Executive, Digital Originals) to discuss submission and pitch requirements, eligibility, and to answer any of the burning questions you may have as you put together your application.