Want to pitch at this year’s event? Click here to check out this year’s event page!
Sunday, July 23rd | 12:00pm – 4:30pm
Join AFF for a day of pitching fun! Fine tune your pitch before you take on the big leagues at AFF 2017 with AFF’s Pitch day on Sunday, July 23rd. This workshop is great to practice an elevator-style pitch and can help writers to conquer their fears of public speaking and selling themselves.
Start your day off with an intimate Pitch Workshop with Jill Chamberlain who knows her way around a pitch or two. She’ll give feedback and workshop a few pitches to make sure they’re ready to go!
Next, enjoy a generous break – plenty of time to practice your pitch with other workshop attendees and grab a drink or two before… The Pitch Party! Be sure to invite your friends because there is also going to be an audience award-winner! Guests can arrive at 2:30pm, bar provided by O’dell Brewing Company and samples of Ben Milam Whiskey. The New Movement is also BYOB!
In our final event of the day, you’ll have 90 seconds to pitch to a live audience and a panel of judges. One winner will be crowned Pitcher Extraordinaire and win a Lone Star Badge and Pitch Ticket for the 2017 Austin Film Festival for a chance to do it all again!
What's the schedule?
12:00pm – 12:30pm Check In/Networking
12:30pm – 2:00pm Seminar/Pitch Workshop
2:00pm – 3:00pm Break/Practice – Guests can arrive at 2:30pm
3:00pm – 4:30pm Pitch Party with invited guests
RSVP for The Pitch Party
Meet Jill Chamberlain
Jill Chamberlain is the founder of The Screenplay Workshop (www.thescreenplayworkshop.org) where she has helped over a thousand writers with their screenplays. Her book, The Nutshell Technique: Crack the Secret of Successful Screenwriting (University of Texas Press) is the go-to manual many professionals swear by and is on the syllabus for screenwriting programs across the country including at Columbia University.
Producer Callum Greene (Star Wars Episode 9, Crimson Peak, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) said “The Nutshell Technique cracks the code behind why we love the movies that we love. It guides you to organically write the story you want to tell.”
Chamberlain is on the adjunct faculty at University of Houston and Maryland Institute College of Art and has lectured at numerous institutions including ScriptFest/the Great American Pitch Fest and the Writers Store.
Meet your judges
Ya’Ke Smith
His films have received world-wide acclaim, screening and winning awards at over 80 film festivals. The Director’s Guild of America, the Student Academy Awards, HBO, Showtime, and the City of Buffalo, NY, which proclaimed February 23, 2013 as Ya’Ke Smith Day, have honored him. His short, Katrina’s Son, screened at over 40-film festivals and won 14 awards. The film was also eligible for the 2012 Academy Award in short filmmaking. His debut feature, WOLF, which NPR called “an impressive piece by a young director,” premiered at the SXSW Film Festival and has gone on to screen and win awards at festivals across North America. The film is now available for download via several Video-on-Demand outlets. His short film, dawn., made its television premiere on HBO in February of 2015, and will screen throughout the year on the network.
Ya’Ke has been featured on NPR, CNN, HLN, Ebony Online, Indiewire, Filmmaker Magazine and Shadow & Act.
Ya’Ke graduated with his B.A. from the Communication Arts Department at the University of The Incarnate Word, where he later became the youngest recipient of the Alumni of Distinction for Professional Achievement award. He received his M.F.A. from the University of Texas at Austin’s film program. He is currently an Associate Professor of film in the RTF Department at The University of Texas at Austin. He was previously the Morgan Woodward Distinguished Professor of Film at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Rosie Lourde
Rosie Lourde is an award winning multi-hyphenate cross-platform screen content creator. Rosie is an actor/producer on series STARTING FROM NOW (SFN), which has amassed over 33 million views across more than 230 countries with Seasons 4 and 5 being acquired for broadcast in Australia. Rosie recently won Best Actress in a Webseries at the Vancouver Webfest 2017 for her work on season 5. SFN has won numerous awards around the world including the IAWTV Diversity Award at HollyWeb 2017, Best Narrative Feature at the Mardi Gras Film Festival 2016 and Most Outstanding Ensemble Cast at the LA Webfest 2016. Rosie has received grants through Screen Australia and Screen NSW to develop projects including her virtual reality series BREACH on which she is writer/director. Rosie’s first project as a producer, feature film SKIN DEEP won the AfterEllen Best Indie Film of 2015 as well as a Honourable Mention for Best Narrative Feature at the Austin Film Festival 2014 and has been nominated for both Australian Writers and Directors Guild awards. As an actor, Rosie can also be seen in VR series REMEMBER, online series RESTORATION, Joel Edgerton and Matt Saville’s feature films FELONY, sci-fi TV series CLEVERMAN and upcoming indie feature CHOCOLATE OYSTER. In 2015, Rosie was selected as one of Screen NSW Emerging Producers as well as a Screen Producers Association Australia (SPAA) Ones to Watch. Rosie currently sits on the SPAA Advisory Board and is a Vice President of Women in Film and TV Australia.
In Partnership With
With a special performance from:
A few words about Hot Pot Comedy from Hot Pot Comedy:
“Hot Pot Comedy is an Austin based group that creates comedy based on our experiences as Asian-Americans. The group is comprised of comics from multiple Austin theaters as well as many different Asian ethnicities. We are diverse af, y’all. Come to our show, watch our videos, and our love will last you long time!”