The Documart Experience

One of the hihglights of the Australian International Documentary Conference is the Docu-mart.   Held on the second day this is a massive high stakes pitching event,

Picture a United Nations style set up, a big square of tables lined on three sides by Commissioning Editors from around the globe.   ABC is there, SBS, National Geographic, Discovery, Channel 4, Foxtel, Adeliade Film Festival, boradcasters from Candada, Bangladesh, Denmark, Germany.   Aljazeera English, BBC Scotland, ITVS from the USA, and many more, Officially there are 55 people who may be able to help your project but there are many more about.

One the other side of the table sits a fimmaker, sometimes a Producer and Director, sometime the team extends to three people.   Behind them are two massive screens, and they are on camera, and the crowd watching on is in the hundreds.

The filmmaker get a few minutes to pitch their idea, show a short visual clip and give an overview of what they're after to drive their project forward.   When they have a minute of time left a bell rings.   When it's their time is out the moderators politely ask them to stop talking.  

The moderator then asks various people for their feedback.    It's an awesome experience, the feedback alone is probably worth a million bucks.   But these Producers are hoping that one of the people looking on will be able to give them the money they need to make their film, these producers are looking for millions.    And Commisioning Editors have to say 'No' a lot more than they ever get to say 'Yes'.

The stakes are high, the feedback can be enlightening, and it can also be brutal.