Pitch THIS! OIAF opens international call for TV series pitches
The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF), which this year celebrates its fortieth anniversary, has teamed up with longtime partners Corus Entertainment and Toon Boom to offer a development deal and animation software (licenses for Toon Boom Harmony and Storybook Pro, plus training) to the successful winner of Pitch THIS! – a new initiative open to anyone around the world with a strong idea for a new animated children’s TV series. The festival, the most significant animation-centric event in North America, will bring ten chosen entrants to present their pitches at OIAF’s industry stream The Animation Conference in September.
As a long-time supporter of independent production and animation, Corus and its animation division, Nelvana, are thrilled to be able to support a project from its infancy and offer guidance during the development process. Many great shows evolve from pitch sessions and we’re looking forward to a unique and dynamic project that our Corus Kids and Toon Boom teams can assist in nurturing from the get-go.
-Scott Dyer, President, Nelvana (a division of Corus)
As this is a landmark year for OIAF, the 2016 edition of Pitch THIS! will also incorporate the added incentive of mentorships for the initial ten successful applicants, who will be paired with a seasoned industry expert who will assist in their development of their idea and provide valuable feedback.
The ten selected pitches will be presented on Wednesday September 21st during TAC, during which each contestant will aim to win over a small committee of industry experts in ten minutes. From these ten, the two whose ideas are selected to go further will present their idea to a larger panel of broadcasters (as well as the entire TAC audience including over 300 potential industry buyers and financiers) at the official Pitch THIS! event the following day, Thursday September 22nd.
The OIAF and Corus Entertainment have had a longstanding relationship of working together to foster the animation industry. It’s very exciting to be able to work together again during this milestone year to present this amazing opportunity to the animation community.
– Azarin Sohrabkhani, Director of Industry Programming for OIAF
For proposals to be eligible content needs to be aimed at children aged 2-11. No more than two submissions per production company will be accepted and required materials for each proposal include:
- Project synopsis, including log line and character descriptions
- One episode synopsis
- Concept art
- Bios of key creators
For those who wish to submit, Pitch THIS! proposals can be sent to presentations@animationfestival.ca until August 15th, 2016.