Two University of Alabama students were invited to compete in the Perfect Pitch Competition at the New Orleans Film Festival in October and tested their skills pitching film ideas to a panel.
John Avent, a senior majoring in media production, competed in the festival after he pitched his idea to his TV Production class, and Jazzmine Franklin, a senior majoring in telecommunication and film, won an honorable mention for her documentary idea, which included a $250 cash prize.
Both contestants were required to submit a one-page proposal to the telecommunication and film faculty members, who then approved each proposal and selected the students to move forward with the competition. While in New Orleans, La., both Avent and Franklin were required to pitch their proposal verbally to judges.
“We only had five minutes to talk about our idea, and that’s not very long when you’re trying to give someone the full picture-setting, characters, plot, theme,” Avent said. “Simple and effective is what you’re going for when pitching. To say the least, it was a much more tedious undertaking than I had imagined when I submitted the treatment.”
Each contestant enlisted the help of Nick Carrao, a professor in the Department of Telecommunication and Film who had a short film screening at the festival. Avent said Carrao helped coach him through the process.
“I had never been to a film festival before, and I was nervous about pitching my idea in front of a bunch of industry people, but, thankfully, Prof. Carrao coached me through the whole thing, which helped me out tremendously,” Avent said. “We met several times leading up to the festival and went over the pitch again and again until I had it down.”
Normally, the judges select only one winner in each category, but this year, they decided last minute to give out honorable mention awards. Franklin received an honorable mention for her idea about Jesse Maple, the first African American filmmaker who has been excluded from multiple history books and does not have an IMDB page. Along with her two friends who are also African American women film producers, Franklin will film her search to find out who Maple was.
“We’re going to document our experience of finding out who she is and how that makes us feel,” Franklin said. “We’re learning about this woman who paved the way for us.”
Franklin said she was excited when she won the honorable mention because she felt she was spreading knowledge and passion.
“It was decided at the last minute that they would give honorable mentions,” she said. “I was so excited. I was happy that the judges felt the same passion that I felt about my idea, so it was a good feeling.”
She hopes the festival will open opportunities for her in the future because she wants to continue to make documentaries throughout her career. If anything, though, she says the festival was a great networking experience.
“Overall, it was a great experience. I met a lot of folks, and hopefully, I will see them again,” Franklin said. “I hope it opened up opportunities for me in the future.”
Although Avent did not win anything at the festival, his TV Production class voted his pilot television proposal for a series “Backlash” to premiere at the Bama Theatre in January 2013.
The pilot includes a character named Norman who lives an unhappy life as an “old-fashioned journalist” while trying to civilize his students.
“My idea was to display the ironic contrast between how media is produced and how we interpret it,” Avent said. “I think my idea was, for the most part, a result of my frustration with the dominance of lewd reality TV and programming that you can’t seem to get away from these days.”
Although Avent’s pitch did not win an award at the New Orleans Film Festival, he hopes to send his pitch for a series to other festivals after it premieres.
“We’ll be submitting to several film festivals across the country,” Avent said. “Past pilots have been screened at New York Television Festival and The International Television Festival in Los Angeles. This year, we’re aiming to exceed that success.”
