News

Rollingball pitch to Eat Fresh Drink Local [01.06.2011]

Congratulations to the team at one of Renew’s newest projects Rollingball Creative Productions, who were named finalists in the Dungog Film Festival pitch contest, a part of the Screen Producers Association of Australia’s (SPAA) Fringe National Pitch Competition.

L-R: Competition Judges David Williamson, Des Monaghan & Sigrid Thornton. April Howard & the other two finalists. Outside James Theatre in Dungog.

As part of a nation wide search for the country’s best film and tv projects, Rollingball’s entry was narrowed from 80 to three, and producer April Howard took part in a live workshop where the audience dissected and provided feedback on the concept. Followed by a nerve-wracking pitch to an audience of 400 and a judging panel comprising Sigrid Thornton, David Williamson and Des Monaghan.

We asked April to tell us a bit about the competition:

To gain entry into the competition we had write an 80 word summary which described our concept. This in itself proved challenging as we needed to capture the essence of what we’re doing in a few short paragraphs.

How were you feeling on the day?

To take part in the live workshop and then pitch was a huge step for me personally and our company. Suffice to say that it was one of the most nerve-wracking and rewarding experiences I have had to face in one day. What I found most significant about the event and the festival in general, was the encouragement and support we received from industry professionals and the general public. It is clear that although it is a competitive industry, the people working within it want to see each other succeed and are willing to support one another and collaborate to ensure creative projects progress in this country.

Reaching top 3 is an excellent result – what did you get out of the experience?

Although we didn’t make it into the next round of the pitching competition, we were told by SPAA that our concept was the most likely to make it into production as a television series. The encouraging and constructive feedback we received from the event is helping to shape the next phase of Eat Fresh Drink Local, and the industry contacts which we have established have already proven invaluable.

So the judges loved your idea and thought it was the most commercially viable. Tell us more…

The whole essence of Eat Fresh Drink Local is discovering your own backyard, sourcing local and seasonal products and experiencing the grassroots level of food and wine production. The judges said that Eat Fresh Drink Local was a fantastic platform to discover the regional diversity of people, places and products within this great country of ours.

So where will Rollingball take this opportunity?

The first four webisodes for Eat Fresh Drink Local in the Hunter will be launched online in conjunction with Bacchus Restaurant on 20 June 2011. Tourism Hunter is supporting the initiative and Rollingball will be working to produce another four episodes over the coming months to further showcase the food and wine delights in the region. As a national concept, Rollingball will be working with the government and private sector to secure funding to produce a tv and web series, website and mobile app in the future.

You can follow the Eat Fresh Drink Local journey on Rollingball’s blog.