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Members Only
Workshop

Pitching to Develop Your Film

-
PT

Los Angeles CA 90010
  • Maria Santos, Speaker
Pitching to develop your film logo

Documentarians will always be pitching. Be it on a formal stage at a film festival or informally in the waiting room of your doctor’s office filmmakers are always garnering support for their films and developing their audiences. Though it’s not always everyone’s favorite part of the filmmaking process, pitching can offer a valuable opportunity to reflect on your narrative, production decisions, and progress on your film. It can also be a way to fundraise and grow your audience even before your film is released.

Join us for a pitching workshop with the IDA Artist Services Manager, Maria Santos. For the first 40 minutes, she will share some tips for preparing a pitch and using that process to keep developing your project. Then, you’ll have 20 minutes to work on your pitches and take in the recommendations of the presentation. In the last hour, we will have three IDA members pitch to the room. The audience will be able to ask questions and give constructive feedback. We will also invite a few industry professionals to be in the room to give feedback.

Capacity
Up to 50 people in person / no virtual component available.

Event Time
Arrival at 6:00 PM; Event will run from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM PT

Eligibility
Pitching participation is open to IDA members at the Doc Maker level or above. To be considered, please complete our Interest Form on your IDA member portal to share more about your project and if you’re preparing for a future pitch. Selected pitch presenters will be notified one week prior to the event. We recommend that you have a pitch written and prepared before the workshop. If you are pitching, you must be comfortable receiving feedback from a public audience, IDA members, and other industry professionals.

Access
The IDA Offices are wheelchair accessible with an elevator, but you must enter the Wilshire side of the building. If you have any other access needs for this event, please email access@documentary.org

Code of Conduct
All participants agree to read and approve the IDA Events Code of Conduct here.
 

Event Participants

    A woman with long, shiny black hair smiles at the camera, her arms crossed. The image is black and white and she wears a patterned cardigan.

    Maria Santos

    Maria Santos joined the International Documentary Association as the Funds Program Officer in September 2022. She oversees all of the funding grants and provides year-round creative and strategic support to all IDA grantees. Previously, she was the Manager of Labs and Artist Support at the Sundance Documentary Film Program, since September 2020. During her time there, she was the lead on working with International Artists, primarily in Central and South America. Originally from Peru, Maria is an independent film producer who has worked in distribution as well as artist development at organizations including ARRAY and Cinereach.  In 2018, she was selected as a Film Society Industry Academy member and became a Third World Newsreel Production fellow.