Good Pitch New York 2011

Fri 20 May 2011

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On May 20, the Good Pitch touched down at the Ford Foundation in New York City with eight pitching projects and over 260 decision-making attendees. With projects focusing on issues of immigration, migrant labour and criminal justice; racism, domestic violence and hate crimes; human rights and global health; and stories from the Emirates, China, USA, South Asia, Haiti, and US/Mexico/Central American borders, there was much to interest, engage and ignite this dynamic 'flash community'. In an unprecedented wave of funding offers, over USD 500k was pledged on the day - more than at any other individual Good Pitch event - with three of the eight films walking away fully-funded. The offers of fiscal support at the Good Pitch NY 2011 bring the total funds leveraged by Good Pitch events to over USD 3m since 2009. But more than that, each of the 81 influential round-table participants offered something unique to the pitching projects aside from funding, a true potlatch of resources: access, meetings, outreach and networks that filmmakers alone struggle to arouse. Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program offered Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry a production grant with an anonymous donor giving completion funds. Sundance also gave a production grant to Who is Dayani Cristal? with Impact Partners putting forward finishing funds and PUMA.Creative adding an outreach and travel award. We the People piqued the interests of ITVS and Chicken & Egg Pictures and left the event fully-funded via a private donor. Untitled Global Health Documentary was offered a finishing grant from Ryan Harrington of the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund.

Films

  • 17 Not Required Indians 17 Not Required Indians

    April 2010 UAE - 17 Indians were sentenced to death for murdering one man. They would have ended up as statistics, but for few family members sought support of local media and Human Rights Lawyers, pressuring both governments into a fair trial. Sharing spaces with the families struggling to get justice reveals the tragic state of Indian Migrants overseas. Following two brothers of the accused in UAE, collecting proof for innocence leads us into an unseen world of migrant abuse starting from Punjab into Sharjah. Through the trial process, Embassy’s defense team and Human Right lawyers reveal how Indian politics and corruption can mire a fair trial, in a distant land, without concern Indian migrants workers overseas

  • Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

    Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry is an intimate portrait of an international art star during two tumultuous years of his life. A "dissident artist" in the headlines, an online god to liberal Chinese netizens, Ai Weiwei blurs the boundaries of art and politics. But can an artist change China?

  • Bend the Arc (formerly Untitled Partners In Health Documentary) Bend the Arc (formerly Untitled Partners In Health Documentary)

    Partners In Health is a remarkable global public health organization, insisting on quality health care as a basic right. This film delves deeply into their methods and beliefs, exploring the controversial characters that refuse to 'choose one life over another, when there is all this wealth in the world.'

  • Brooklyn Castle Brooklyn Castle

    Amidst financial crisis and unprecedented public school budget cuts Intermediate School 318 in Brooklyn, New York has assembled the best junior high chess team in the nation. Brooklyn Castle follows five young teens for one school year as they struggle, grow and challenge themselves both on and off the chessboard.

  • Crime After Crime Crime After Crime

    Crime After Crime is the exclusive documentary on the legal battle to free Debbie Peagler from prison two decades after her connection to the murder of the man who abused her. The film premiered at Sundance 2011 and has been acquired by OWN. Debbie’s Campaign is the accompanying campaign designed to spark public awareness and changes in domestic violence law.

  • Gideon's Army Gideon's Army

    Gideon’s Army is the story of new public defenders working in the South. With long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads, many will not last. But now they have an advocate. Super-lawyer Jonathan Rapping, founder of the Southern Public Defender Training Center, is revolutionizing criminal defense by mentoring and supporting those who represent the people society would rather forget.

  • Not In Our Town: Light In The Darkness Not In Our Town: Light In The Darkness

    "Not In Our Town III: Light in the Darkness" PBS documentary, produced by The Working Group, and the accompanying national Inclusive Communities Campaign will raise awareness about the rise of anti-immigrant violence and introduce models for positive, sustainable community actions that encourage diverse groups of people to jointly address hate and intolerance and explore methods for creating inclusive communities.

  • Who Is Dayani Cristal? Who Is Dayani Cristal?

    An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for identity leads us back across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo.

Location

The Ford Foundation

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