Selected Filmmakers will participate in the following events:
Instructor: Teri Loretto
PITCHING workshop
December 6, 2025 - Teri will work directly with 5 screenwriters to hone their story arc and perfect their verbal pitch in a peer environment, preparing them to pitch to a panel of producers on Sunday. Teri draws on her decades of experience as program coordinator and professional screenwriter, leading the Algonquin College Scriptwriting program. This included helping students prepare pitches for film, TV series and documentaries at local events like Pitch Perfect! and Digi60, and Scriptwriting’s annual Toronto Pitching Trip, with broadcasters and producers such as CTV, CBC, eOne and Boat Rocker. She will provide honest, constructive feedback to writers based on industry trends and outlooks, so pitchees can build their pitch effectively. Pitchees will also have the benefit of peer support and constructive peer feedback.
PITCHING & PRODUCER MENTORSHIP PANEL
December 7, 2025 - Pitchees will present their verbal pitch to a panel of producers who will provide feedback and constructive mentorship to round out their project. The Pitchees will also get an opportunity to ask the producers about their process for choosing projects, industry trends, and career advice.
Sandrine Pechels-De-Saint-Sardos
Ottawa Film Commissioner
Keren Jackman
Head of Production, Gusto
Christopher Giroux
Film Producer
Jason Brennan
President, Nish Media
SELECTED PROJECTS
This live pitch is open to the public so as to simulate a real-life live pitch scenario. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Red Roses
Dahlia Lesh
In a quiet psychiatric ward, Teddy's grasp on reality frays amid haunting dreams. His isolation shatters when he forms a powerful bond with Kyra. Their love consumes his despair, but as his reality blurs, every moment counts down to an inevitable, devastating truth.
STARBOY
Kenneth Joe-Ezigbo
Zim is determined to take his last shot at a film school scholarship, with a documentary on the rise of a soccer-star - Melu - his older brother and sole supporter. Disaster brings a twist of fate for both when Melu is hit with a career-ending injury at an unsanctioned game.
When the Moon Was Ours
Ruth Kabengele
When Amara and Kiano uncover their mother’s unfinished film, they begin completing her lost story. As memory and art intertwine, they rediscover their Congolese roots and find that in remembering her dream, they awaken their own.
Leave A Message
Samantha Muhlig
Seeking a life reset, Luana moves into an abandoned home in a rural town. One day, the dead landline phone rings. Luana befriends a woman over the phone, named Rose, who happens to be living 50 years in the past. In search of answers, their companionship blooms into something more.
The Inner Circle
Shayla Rowsell
In small town Ontario, 1976, a janitor at a maximum security prison lives with terminal cancer. He befriends a charismatic inmate who promises him a cure - but what if this cure is more horrific than death?