Pitch, Please! Time to submit your pre-production animated shorts

Get ready to reach into your magic ideas jar! Apply by September 12 and your animated short film could be selected for pre-production. If you’re a creator – an animated film director or producer – from Romania or Moldova, we’d love you to consider submitting your work to the 4th edition of Pitch, Please!. An Animest International Animation Film Festival tradition, this competition helps creators present their ideas to an expert jury, and guides them through all the important steps of delivering a pitch.

An animated short’s journey from idea to the silver screen is challenging, as all creators in the field can agree. In order to ensure the success of your project, partnering with the right people or organizations is one of the most important steps. During its 17th edition, Animest continues upholding its mission to support and encourage local animated productions by offering creators the instruments and context they need to develop their projects.

Until September 12, register for the pitching session by sending us an e-mail with the subject line “Pitch, Please!” at pitch@animest.ro. For your application to be eligible, you will also need to attach the following documents to your email, in English:

- project synopsis

- artwork and character design ideas; if available, add a storyboard too

- applicant’s or applicants’ CVs

- director’s showreel or portfolio 

Before pitching to the jury, selected project reps will participate in four days of prep. Dan Panaitescu and Cristian Pascariu, this edition’s trainers, will mentor and advise the participants so that they do the best job possible presenting their project’s script as well as creative and technical development.

Submission to Pitch, Please! is free of charge. All selected participants will enjoy free access to all of the events during Animest.17 (October 7-16, 2022). Directors and producers, please only participate in this competition if you are available to take part in the prep sessions and actual pitches, during October 11-15. 

All of the projects selected in the final phase of the contest will receive constructive feedback from the three members of the jury, whom the creators will also meet on pitch day, October 15. The winning project will receive a double accreditation, for director and producer, for the CEE Animation Forum 2023 – the international event where they will get to meet the most prominent creators in animation. 

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Pitch, Please! is a project organized by the Animest Association with support from CEE Animation. The contest takes place during the Animest Festival, which is co-financed through the Creative Europe MEDIA Programme and Romanian Film Centre, with support from Groupama Insurance.

Animest.17 is co-financed by the Municipality of Bucharest through ARCUB, as part of the ‘București afectiv’ 2022 program. For detailed information on the ARCUB funding programs, please access www.arcub.ro.