By 
Four projects, five minutes each to wow a panel of experts. SXSW’s seventh annual Episodic Pitch-A-Thon presented by SeriesFest featured live disrobement, vertical microdrama reenactments, genre-spanning pitches, and absolutely no room for boredom.
The premise is simple: with only five minutes, filmmakers must pitch their TV series to a panel of experts, while on stage, in front of a live audience.
Typically, in a studio setting, filmmakers have 30 to 60 minutes to pitch their work. However, it’s important to be able to distill the pitch down to five minutes. According to Randi Kleiner, co-founder and CEO of SeriesFest and moderator of the panel, “You never know when you’re going to be in a networking event or somewhere where you just need to catch somebody’s attention really quickly.”
Before the event, the four teams worked with mentors and event partners from the Working Artist Group. This workshop helped the filmmakers cut their pitches to five minutes.
The panel of industry experts included Alex Schmider, Senior Director of Entertainment at GLAAD, Jason Hiro Kim, founder of Hiro’s Omakase, and Julie Ann Crommett, Founder and CEO of Collective Moxie. Alongside Kleiner, the panelists gave feedback to the filmmakers after hearing their pitches.
The first pitch began with a quiet narration by director Johnny Rey Diaz, joined on stage by showrunner and lead actor Ash T.
“A man disrobes in a quiet bedroom all alone,” Diaz said.
Behind him, Ash T — playing character Raag — dropped his robe, leaving him on stage in nothing but underwear and a poorly placed baldcap. He continued to perform the scene as Diaz narrated, dropping to his knees to perform a yoga pose and throwing his head back in ecstasy; right before he is interrupted by his mother walking in.
Son of a Bikram is a half-hour dark comedy series following Raag, a loner obsessed with yoga. Upon discovering he’s the illegitimate son of yoga guru Bikram Choudhury, he becomes desperate to connect with the father he never knew.
The series premiered at SXSW’s Independent TV Pilot Program and won the Independent TV Pilot Competition Special Jury Award at SXSW’s Film & TV Awards Ceremony.
“This unique spin on cultural identity crisis takes its viewer into a surreal and bizarre universe where you should never meet your heroes,” the jurors said. “For blending drama and comedy and infusing it with distinct and memorable characters Special Jury recognition goes to Son of a Bikram.”
The next project was presented by creative producer Becky Perryman and writer Miranda Latimer.
HAG, directed by Anna Ginsburg, is a six-part 2D-animated fantasy satire about modern adulthood. It follows 30-something, post-breakup Lilith through her journey of self-discovery and her battles against the patriarchy, societal pressures, and her own biological clock.
“Adult animation series are booming, but we don’t see many that explore the female and what we’re going through as females,” Perryman said. “HAG brings a new perspective to this genre, and we want to approach it with fantasy and body horror, to explore the anxieties of the modern life.”
Stylistically, the creators asked the audience to imagine “Lena Dunham getting her period on a broomstick at the Quidditch Cup.”
HAG premiered at SXSW’s Animated Short Program and won the Animated Shorts Competition Special Jury Award at SXSW’s Film & TV Awards Ceremony.
“The one word that all the jurors kept repeating for this short was VOICE,” the jurors said. “This story is both relatable and totally bonkers in the best way, thanks to the craftsmanship and auteurship of the filmmaker. Its zany, high-wire humor is matched by sharp deliberate creative choices that never lose sight of character. We would be excited to rewatch this film over and over again.”
The second half of the event featured two series currently in early stages of development.
Generational by Yuna, an Australian producer, is an eight episode half-hour family drama following three generations of a family negotiating their personal crises while dealing with their grandmother’s unconventional age gap relationship.
The show kicks off with Margaret, the family’s 65-year-old matriarch, leaving her husband of 50 years for a 30-year-old named Fabricio. After being a dutiful mother and grandmother for years, Margaret is “a good girl who’s broken bad.”
Set in Middle America suburbs, Generational is a relatable and authentic story of identity and taboos. It forces both characters and audience to ask one question: Are you following your own desires?
The final series was pitched by developers Leo Villares and Victor Nauwynck.
Feed is a narrative horror-comedy series featuring the odd and fascinating world of vertical microdramas.
Clara, an ambitious young actor, has been invited to Romania to star in what she thinks will be her big break. Upon arrival, she discovers that this is no Hollywood movie; instead she is going to be starring in a romantasy vertical microdrama called Second Chance with my Secret CEO Werewolf Husband, a.k.a. “Temu Twilight.” To make matters worse, the production seems cursed.
Acknowledging that the audience may not be aware of what a vertical microdrama entails, Villares and Nauwynck provided a live example.
Playing CEO Alpha Lupus and CEO Vladimir, they fight over the city, murders, and child support. Thirty seconds and a couple of bad American accents later, the audience was more than familiar with what the world of microdramas entails.
With actual experience directing vertical series (seven to be exact), Villares and Nauwynck want to shoot and release the entire series of Second Chance with my Secret CEO Werewolf Husband online alongside the horizontal TV show.
“That will allow us to have a really fun two pronged release strategy where we’ll be reaching both vertical audiences and horizontal ones, allowing for a bunch of cross pollination, Easter eggs and all that good stuff,” Villares said.
While Feed is meant to be a fun and bizarre journey, Villares and Nauwynck also hope to send a serious message to viewers.
“Feed is a warning cry about the rise of AI in human storytelling and a love letter to our craft, which is in great danger,” Villares said.
The event ended with an entertained audience, intrigued panel, and proud filmmakers.
SeriesFest will host its own festival in Denver, Colorado May 6-10. About 55 independently produced pilots will be shown in competition.
The post What Happens When Creators Have Five Minutes to Pitch a TV Series appeared first on Den of Geek.
