A leading role

The Forest City Film Festival offers the largest pitch prize in Canada to bring film production to London region

THE FOREST CITY Film Festival (FCFF) is partnering with the London Film Office to offer a prize of $35,000 cash to make a feature film in London and area. An additional $25,000 in industry cash and support will also be offered.

The FCFF is launching the Ontario Screen Creators Conference, scheduled for October 22 to 24 at RBC Place, and the 2021 Forest City Feature Film $60,000 Pitch will be one of 12 events at the conference. Filmmakers will pitch their idea to a panel of industry leaders, including CBC, Amazon Studios and Canada Media Fund.

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The winning pitch will take home the $60,000 prize and will shoot at least 50 per cent of the winning project in London.

“This is the largest narrative film pitch prize in Canada going to a single winning team and we are taking our support for regional filmmaking to the next level by helping filmmakers work here,” says Dorothy Downs, executive director of the Forest City Film Festival. “This is an opportunity for our region to join the Canadian cinematic conversation.”

Photo: Dorothy Downs, executive director of the Forest City Film Festival (file photo)

The pitch registration is open to all filmmakers across Canada. To qualify, project production budgets must be a minimum of $150,000, and the production must have a minimum of 20% of the budget in place.

The $35,000 cash is from the city-funded film office, part of the London Economic Development Corporation (LEDC). The industry support portion includes $10,000 in equipment rentals from Whites International, $5,000 in Downtown Dollars and a further $10,000 in audio post-production, tax consulting, and marketing and PR.

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“This prize incentive, along with our locations, workforce and business climate, provides compelling reasons for filmmakers to bring their productions and artistic talents to London,” notes Kapil Lakhotia, president & CEO, LEDC.

The Ontario Screen Creators Conference will also feature industry workshops and networking events for filmmakers. The full line-up will be announced in July.