The Five Finalists for AACTA Pitch: Focus in Partnership with Sony revealed

The Australian Academy of Cinema Television Arts (AACTA) today announced the finalists for AACTA Pitch: Focus in Partnership with Sony, a recent development initiative aiming to link industry to emerging creatives and fast track the development of new productions and screen careers through mentorship, investment, production and promotion.

AACTA Pitch: Focus, developed with Sony gives film making students nationwide an opportunity to pitch, develop, shoot a proof of concept and produce a short film, with guidance from an experienced panel of award winning short filmmakers, and $15,000 in production funds along with an extensive suite of complimentary film equipment from Sony. The five finalists will all screen their proof of concepts and deliver their final pitch to our judging panel - Charles Williams (AACTA and Cannes winning All These Creatures), Tanith Glynn Maloney (AACTA winning Nulla Nulla and webseries Robbie Hood), and Leanne Tonkes (This is Desmondo Ray) at the 2021 AACTA Screenfest. The AACTA Pitch: Focus Final will screen at 9am AEDT Wednesday December 8.

“We are thrilled with the talent which has been selected as finalists for the AACTA Pitch: Focus. Each of the finalists have developed truly unique and impactful short film concepts, and we can’t wait to see the winner’s vision realised,” says Jun Yoon, Head of Digital Imaging Sony Australia & New Zealand.

The five AACTA Pitch: Focus in Partnership with Sony finalist teams and their loglines are as follows:

I Can’t Get Next To You – Mollie McGregor, Jenna Woodhouse, London Hartard, Chloe Bobbin (AFTRS)

Trapped within her father's grief and desperate to connect with her late mother, Glen accidentally travels back in time, from 1988 to 1969. Where she must contest with her teen father for her young mum's attention and find the key to becoming a family once again.

Rearranged – Hebah Ali, Mohammad Awad, Kerim Col (UTS)

Two chronically single Muslim’s get set up for an arranged marriage. It would never work between them – but a little rearranging goes a long way. 

Jia (aka 475 Miles) – Vee Shi (RMIT)

Ming, a grieving Chinese mother, arrives in Australia to mourn her son Yao who was recently killed in a road accident. She sets off to embark on a road trip with Eric, only to realise that Eric was in a romantic relationship with Yao which clashes with her conservative values.

Artefacts – Matt Bostock, Holly Franich (NIDA)

A young couple fall rapidly out of love with each other at a social obligation. The truth about what happened will be found in the gaps between their stories.

The Adventures of Nevi-Drew – Madeleine Jurd, Laura Rose, Kyneisha Murray, Skye Leong (AFTRS)

The wild and imaginative Nevi-Drew stumbles across a neglected true crime after playing a game of ‘detective’. She then attempts to solve her first real case with the help of her cousins Indiana, Jez and Courtese.

“We’re proud to be working with both Monster Pictures and Sony on these very targeted development initiatives. Last year’s Isolation endeavour with Monster was incredibly successful, with multiple projects moving into development and pre-production, including the dark BURNING, and the completely unique and buzzworthy JONESY. This year looks equally exciting” says Ivan Vukusic, Awards and Industry Development Manager. “And with education and young creatives an increasing focus for AACTA, we look forward to working with Sony on giving talented young film makers a much needed head start in their careers. The finalists of our inaugural collaboration with Sony represent the richness and diversity of stories and storytellers to come from our filmmaking schools and we look forward to bringing one of these great short films to life”.

Today, AACTA also revealed the top eight finalists for AACTA Pitch: Bite, Australia’s ultimate horror and genre film development initiative focusing on original horror or elevated genre feature film concepts. View the eight finalists and their loglines here. 

Alongside these initiatives, AACTA has also announced the top five finalists for the 2021 Reg Grundy Award. Open to any Australian with a new idea for a television competition program, Reg Grundy is the largest prize of its kind in the world. View the winning five finalists’ pitches here.

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AACTA | Michelle Small | P: 0415 461 534 | E: msmall@afi.org.au