Apply Now: Pitch, Please! 6th Edition

Until September 10, animation directors and producers in Romania and the Republic of Moldova may submit their as-yet-undeveloped-but-great-ideas for the Pitch, Please! training program, already celebrating its 6th edition. There’s no fee to apply – and, if you’re selected, you get free access to the many events and screenings in the 19th edition of Animest (October 4-13, 2024, Bucharest).

You may only apply online, by filling out a form including your:

• Contact information (name, email, phone number)
• CV (in PDF format)
• Showreel or portfolio (in PDF or mp4 format)
• General information on the project you’re pitching (title, length)
• Synopsis (300 characters maximum, including spaces)
• Information on co-authors (if applicable)

Optionally, you may also include artwork and character design proposals, a storyboard (in PDF format), animatic (in mp4 format), or any other relevant supplemental materials.

Access the application form in Romanian here.

What do you stand to win?

All finalist projects will get feedback and recommendations from the jury: three international screenwriters, directors, and/or producers well-versed in the world of animation.

The best projects will also score one or more of this edition’s prizes:

• Participation in the Black Sea Animation Workshop 2024 – a specialized training whose top resulting projects may be included in the Partner Pitches section of the most prestigious animation event in the world, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2025;
• Double accreditation (for a director and producer) for both modules of Rise & Shine Animation Pitching Lab 2025 – an international animation production workshop;
• Full audio post-production services offered by Raza Studio.

The previous five editions of the program attracted over 40 projects, 18 of which were selected for the Animest training program, led by Cristian Pascariu (co-director of the 2024 documentary Nasty) and Dan Panaitescu (lead animator on feature films including Crulic – drumul spre dincolo/Crulic – The Path to Beyond, 2011 and Călătoria fantastică a Maronei/Marona's Fantastic Tale, 2019), who offered the participants mentorship and advice as they finetuned their pitch for their project’s script as well as creative and technical development.

After taking part in Pitch, Please!, multiple animations were produced or attracted funding: Dirty Paradise/Paradis Murdar (directed by Alina Gheorghe), Balázs Orbán, the Collector of Legends (directed by Szabolcs Fazakas and Hunor Bálint), Happy New Year (directed by Radu Gaciu), and Mr. Ladybug (directed by Ioana Păsărin). Others, including A Horse in a SwanSea (directed by Maria Brudașcă) and The Shoebox (directed by Cristina Pîrvu), are currently in development, while Little Oak Tree/Stejărelul (directed by Nicoleta Miron and Liana Chiriță) is still benefiting from script mentorship from Dave King, who was part of the jury in 2023.

Eligibility and participation criteria, prize information, as well as the application process are detailed in Romanian on the competition’s official website:

https://www.animest.ro/pitch-please-project.

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The Animest Festival is a project of the Animest Association, co-financed by the MEDIA Program of the European Union and AFCN–the Administration of the National Cultural Fund.

Institutional Partners: the Romanian Cultural Institute, The French Institute and the Embassy of France in Romania, Instituto Cervantes, the Italian Cultural Institute,  The Austrian Cultural Forum, The “I.L. Caragiale” National University of Theater and Film, the Animation Festival Network (AFN)

Main Media Partner: Radio Guerrilla

Media Partners: Radio România Cultural, Adevărul de Weekend, Zile și Nopți, Observator Cultural, Revista BIZ, Haute Culture, IQAds, Scena9, AGERPRES, Ziarul Metropolis, Mindcraft Stories, LiterNet, Movie News, CineFAN, HAPP.ro, MunteanuRecomandă, AndreeaVerde

Monitoring Partner: mediaTRUST