Pitch THIS!

Sponsored by:

Presented in partnership with Mercury Filmworks, the OIAF’s annual Pitch THIS! contest is an opportunity for Canadian creators to get noticed and kickstart their animated series concept!

This year TEN Pitch THIS! semi-finalists were selected and paired with established industry mentors! 

Over the summer, semifinalists met with mentors to refine their 10-minute pitches before presenting them live at TAC – The Animation Conference in Ottawa. 

The Pitch THIS! Semi-finals were held on September 25th, 2024, and the semi-finalist judges selected two projects. The finalists then competed against one another on the TAC mainstage the following day for the finale! The semi-finals and finale took place before a live audience of TAC attendees, studio executives, and potential project financiers.

The winner was awarded a grand prize including:

  • $5,000 cash prize from Mercury Filmworks
  • Toon Boom Harmony annual license and Harmony Fundamentals on-demand videos from The Animation Study valued at $400
  • $1,000 in legal services courtesy of Edwards Creative Law
  • Two TAC AnimaPasses to OIAF 2025

The Pitch This! Runner-up receives:

  • A free 1-hour legal consultation courtesy of Edwards Creative Law

Congratulations to the creators of The Hare of High Park, Tarun Padmakumar and Joanna Fishbein, who won the Grand Prize for Pitch THIS! 2024

And a special mention to Pitch This! Runner-up Nick MacDonald who pitched Phil Joins a Cult.

2024 Participants

Projects:

Agnes & Cookie, Helena Love
Duchess & Drooler, Robert Pincombe
Gubbles Save The Day, Jeffrey Stewart Timmins
Moon Saloon, Mike Gilbert and Klara Woldenga
Neighbourhood Watch, Matthew McPhee
Phil Joins a Cult, Nick MacDonald
Reunion, Harrison Seeley
Sully and Beet, Sima Naseem and Ridaa Khan
The Hare of High Park, Tarun Padmakumar and Joanna Fishbein
Vampire Melodies, Talia Chase and Nathan Slowly

Semi-Finals Jury:

Sierra Martin-Persi, Supervising Producer, A Studio Digital / Bento Box
Travis Williams, Development Executive / Production Manager, GAPC Entertainment Inc.

Semi-finals Host: 

Bradley Cayford, Storyboard Director, Mainframe Studios

Finale Jury:

Andrea Griffith, VP of Content and Development, Sphere Media
Cameron Tang, VP of Development, Adult Swim
Kirsten Hurd, Commissioning Editor, TVO Kids
Swin Chang, Development and Production Executive, CBC Kids
Tommy Gillespie, Senior Director, Content Production, PBS Kids

Finale Hosts:

Chantal Ling, VP Original Series and Co-Productions, Mercury Filmworks
Emmanuelle Gignac, Supervising Director, Mercury Filmworks

Meet the Mentors

Andy Coyle

Producer, Director – Mercury Filmworks

Award-winning Canadian Animator, Director, Writer, and Producer known for the TV series’ “Hilda”, “Atomic Puppet”, and the feature film “Hilda and the Mountain King”. In 2022 he released an independent animated horror anthology project titled “Don’t Walk Home Alone After Dark” which has garnered a notable following.

Dave Padbury

Development Executive – Guru Studios

Dave Padbury joined the Guru development team ten years ago to work on “True and The Rainbow Kingdom”. Since then, he has developed “Pikwik Pack” which premiered on Disney Junior, the hit CBC comedy “Big Blue”, and many other series. He is focused on supporting creators’ visions across all of Guru’s upcoming series and finding new creative voices. Born and raised in Ottawa, Dave discovered his passion for animation when he attended his first OIAF workshop during elementary school. He’s thrilled to be back at the festival that inspired his career.

Dianna Lau

Content Producer, Consultant

Dianna Lau is a content executive with 12 years of experience producing award-winning kids, family and YA content at Apple TV+, Amazon Studios and Nickelodeon. Having worked across various formats (series/specials) and mediums (animation/live action), she’s passionate about developing and producing innovative, meaningful, inclusive content with four quadrant, global appeal. Working at Apple TV+ and Amazon Studios, she’s had the pleasure of working with studios, production companies and producers all over the world to create such content.  A few of her credits include: The Velveteen Rabbit, Snoopy Presents: Franklin and Marcie, Shape Island, Best Foot Forward, Lovely Little Farm, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, An American Girl Story: Melody and Dino Dana.

Edward Barnieh

Creative Director – @edwardkb

A creative executive with wide-ranging experience in Kids and YA Television.

Pete Oswald

NYT Bestselling Illustrator/Production Designer – Sony

Pete Oswald is a #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator and production designer, best known for The Angry Birds Movie film series and ParaNorman. He is also known for his work as a children’s book author, illustrator, and painter. Pete’s work includes the #1 New York Times bestselling picture book, The Good Egg, and the #2 New York Times bestselling picture book, The Bad Seed, both part of the Food Group series written by Jory John. He also served as production designer on 2024’s The Garfield Movie. Oswald spent over four years on the project, taking inspiration from Jim Davis’ Garfield comic strips of the 1980s in creating new CG versions of Davis’ iconic characters.

Rikke Asbjoern

Head of Story – Locksmith Animation

She has worked in the animation industry for over twenty years in feature films, TV series, commercials, music videos, and short films, in various roles such as creating, show-running, executive producing, writing, directing, story artist, animation director, supervising animator, and animator. She has worked at Dreamworks, Sony, Paramount, Netflix, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, being involved with projects such as the Gorillaz music videos for Passion Pictures, Monkey Journey to the West with Jamie Hewlett, Trolls, Puss In Boots, SpongeBob, The Smurfs, Tony the Tiger, Coco Pops, 3 Mobile, MTV, Adidas: Impossible Is Nothing, The Tigger Movie, and Jungle Book 2.

Archita Ghosh​

President – Rezolution Pictures

Based in Montreal, Rezolution Pictures President Archita Ghosh has been working as an executive in media and entertainment for over a decade. In her previous role as Executive Producer and Co-founder of the animation studio E.D. FILMS, she directed the studio’s substantial growth and worked on its numerous award-winning animated projects.
At Indigenous documentary and television production studio Rezolution Pictures, Archita is now focused on supporting culturally-centred stories and launching its animation division. With Rezolution’s 20+ year history of telling important Indigenous stories including TV drama series “Little Bird” and “Mohawk Girls”, feature documentaries “Rumble” and “Red Fever” and TV documentary series “Indian and Aliens”, “Lands Enchanted”, and “The Last Lands”, she is guiding the company into its next phase as a market-driven, global, sustainable business to ensure its legacy for future generations of Indigenous creatives and professionals.
Archita has been on the board of the Canadian Media Producers Association since 2020 and contributes actively to creative industries internationally. She works in English, French, Spanish, and Bengali.

José Pou

Storyboard Artist

José has worked for over 20 years in the animation industry, during which he has contributed to various departments within the studio setup. While he finds gratification in directing and supervisory responsibilities, his preference lies in the dynamic and creative environment of board-driven shows.

2023 Pitch THIS! Participants & Jury

2023 PARTICIPANTS

Projects:

Beccs Champagne, Ghost Stories (2023 Winner)

Paula Peroff, The Breakfast Guild (2023 Runner Up)

Allison Lownie and Onyka Gairey, Best Witches

Daniela Smith-Fischer, Claudia Heights

Elton Su, Crimson Mandate

Emma Fiorante, Earth to Schneider

Hugo van Essen, Ferdinand The Self-Aware NPC

Justin Smith-Fischer, Marley and the Underdogs

Sadaf Amini, Maple Treehouse School

Shannon Fewster, Monster Problems

 

Mentors:

Casey Gonzalez, VP of Development, FredFilms

Emerald Wright-Collie, Director of Development, Sony Pictures Television Kids

Kris Pearn, Director, Sony Pictures Animation

Niki López, Creator/EP/Showrunner/Writer/Designer, Nickelodeon Animation Studios

Rikke Asbjoern, Writer/Director/Executive Producer

 

Semi-final Jury:

Grégory Magné-Grand, Original Content Director, Tonic DNA 

Hoda Elatewi, Executive Producer, President / CEO, GAPC Entertainment

Sam Chou, Director/Creative Director, Look Mom! Productions 

Semi-final Host:

Spencer Moreland, Animator/Filmmaker

 

Finale Jury:

Kirsten Hurd, Commissioning Editor, Kids TV, TVO Kids

Lauren Martinez, Vice President, Original Series and Movie Development, Cartoon Network

Lisa Cinelli, Executive in Charge of Production, CBC

Niki Williams, Sr Manager, Production and Development for Pre-K, Nickelodeon

Tommy Gillespie, Senior Director, Content Production, PBS Kids

Finale Host:

Heath Kenny, Chief Content Officer, Mercury Filmworks

 

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