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MeetMarket

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MeetMarket* is the pitching initiative at Sheffield Doc/Fest, designed to match documentary makers’ most innovative project ideas with UK and international decision makers.

Decision makers view online one-minute pitch teasers of innovative documentary ideas, along with short synopses, biographical information and headline budget figures, in advance of Doc/Fest. From this, they select which projects they would like to discuss in one-to-one meetings at MeetMarket. Projects can be at any stage of development and cross-platform projects are also very welcome.

MeetMarket submissions are now CLOSED FOR 2010. An administration fee of £10 plus VAT will apply per project in 2010. You can see which buyers are confirmed for 2010 here - 140 and rising all the time. The 61 MeetMarket projects selected in 2009 are all listed here.

If you'd like to discuss a potential project application to MeetMarket at any stage, we'd be delighted to talk about it with you, so please feel welcome to email us

* MeetMarket is based on an original initiative of the Australian Film Commission (AFC) and the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC).

Welcome To The MeetMarket


Meet the Market
Uploaded by sheffielddocfest

Is my project eligible?

As you plan your project submission ready for your application here are some guidelines for you:

MeetMarket is open to all documentary makers, from any country. No prior credits are necessary.

Your project can be at any stage of development, production, or post-production. We're no longer accepting completed projects - you should submit these to the Videotheque.

Interactive factual/documentary; broadband, web-based, mobile phone/mobile device content, cross-platform and convergent media projects are also eligible and indeed highly encouraged, with specialised commissioners, funders and advisers present.

Your projects must have international appeal and take an innovative/fresh approach to either the content, the execution of the idea or both.

Your project may take any form or specialist focus, e.g. feature documentaries, television, series or specialised genres. Natural history, science and arts projects are very welcome.

Projects do not need to have financing already in place.

In 2010, submissions for MeetMarket are open until September 1st. An administration fee of £10 plus VAT per project will apply this year.

How do I apply?

MeetMarket Submissions are now CLOSED. You might find these tips useful in planning your submission:

- The information you submit on application is what buyers see when they choose if they want to meet you - This information is exactly what goes in the Project Guide distributed to participants, and accessed online in the assessment area by buyers. If you're selected, we give you a very small time to make any changes, but by-and-large, what you submit on application is what buyers see, so make it good.

- Project Information/Synopsis - We offer you the chance to submit short (100 word) and long (500 word) synopses - in both cases remember you don't have to go right up to the word limit. The quality of your description is what matters. Remember this description has to entice assessors to want to choose you and buyers to want to meet you, so get them interested and leave them wanting more. And whilst you should get them excited with the ideas, don't forget to give them story and character as well. You can also upload a longer pitch document, but this is an optional extra to supplement your synopsis, so don't rely on this. Your synopses are the real sales document.

- Details - Length, Intended slot, Format, Status, Date of Production/Release - you may not know for sure yet depending on what stage your project is at, but be as realistic as possible - research what slots exist in international TV, cinema and cross-platform, and tally your length and slot with that. Make sure your budget information is consistent with the length you specify. It's fine to keep your options open and specify, for example, a TV hour and a 90' version.

- Financing - State your total budget and total already obtained (plus who has already committed funds) in Euros and Pounds. Check your calculations are accurate before you submit the form. If you've had strong interest but not money commitment from somewhere, you can also put this here - but remember assessors and buyers you may put down here read this information so don't exaggerate any interest.

- Participants - Give us brief information on your production team (up to 100 words). Don't paste your CV here, these biographies are part of your project information and need to be as enticing as your synopses, so make them interesting. Remember that your biogs go here, they don't go in your synopsis - you're wasting your chance to write about your project if you put your biogs in there.

- Teaser Clip - How to embed it on your application form - You must upload a one-minute teaser clip to accompany your submission and this is compulsory. The clip needs to be embedded directly onto the form via a video-sharing website, must be able to be viewed without requiring any external login to a video sharing site, and cannot be emailed or posted to us - we recommend Daily Motion, YouTube or Vimeo for embedding your clip. You can also embed the clip from your own website as a Quicktime, Flash or Windows Media file as long as you can produce an embed code for it to appear on our application form. Further technical help is available within the submissions form.

- Teaser Clip - How To be Creative With It - Your clip's purpose is to interest funders, and not to be a short film in itself. We specify a length of one-minute because we think it helps you to focus on clearly getting the key information in there - why buyers would want to invest in your project. There's infinite ways to do your clip but primarily use this one minute to get buyers interested and want to know more. Show them the quality of what you've shot and the strength of your characters and narrative, and give them a taste of your on-screen style. Be visually creative - remember this is your visual pitch, and documentary is a visual form - your synopsis is for all the words. Make your teaser stand out, so make it unusual...without getting too obscure unless of course it matches your subject.

- Cross-Platform and Interactive Projects - We recognise that these kinds of projects might need additional or different kinds of information. We advise that you use the teaser clip to showcase the general look of your project, and that it doesn't necessarily need to use moving image in the way a linear doc project would. Plus we especially advise you to use the facility to link to an external website to link your submission to another platform where assessors and buyers can play with and explore your project in detail.

Above all, remember that your submission is a whole package and is assessed as so. So think about how all these elements fit together, and good luck.

MeetMarket 2009

In 2009, there were 139 buyers, commissioners and decision-makers at Doc/Fest. Go here to see which projects were pitched.

- 61 projects from 16 countries
- 112 independent producers & freelance filmmakers
- 64 international commissioners, funders, distributors & sales agents
- 75 UK commissioners, funders, distributors & EP’s
- Funders and decision makers from 17 countries
- Over 1000 meetings
- 16 meetings per project (on average)

"I enjoyed the time in Sheffield and found some very promising projects. It was perfect and the new format of the pitchings is very effective and gives creativity more space."
- Hans Robert Eisenhauer – Head of Theme Nights – ZDF/ARTE - Germany

"The most effortless and efficient way to meet numerous key commissioners and decision-makers over two days. Thanks so much for selecting us, we had a very productive time"
MeetMarket Producer

"MeetMarket surprised me: I had an extraordinarily creative response from 23 intelligent men and women who care passionately about documentaries. They reflected my story back to me and I came out richer – not just financially but in terms of valuing my project."
Amy Hardie – director - Scotland

"The MeetMarket was absolutely amazing and productive and I had an absolutely fantastic festival"
Danielle DiGiacomo - Indiepix - USA

98% of participants were happy with the variety of commissioners, distributors and funders they could meet, 98% would recommend it to other producers and filmmakers, and 92% said that MeetMarket meetings met their expectations


96% of participants emerged from MeetMarket either with deals or with strong conversations over deals started


What are the MeetMarket initiative terms and conditions?

An administration fee of £10 plus VAT per project will apply in 2010. For selected MeetMarket projects only, this fee is redeemable against the cost of a delegate pass

The organisers accept no liability in the event that their publications reproduce inaccuracies that you provide in submitted materials.

Scheduling of meetings is at the discretion of the organisers.

If your application is successful, you agree to attend Sheffield Doc/Fest 2010 for the duration of the MeetMarket. Failure to do so may result in your project being withdrawn.

If your application is successful you must register for Doc/Fest and Early Bird Doc/Fest registration rates for one person per project even after the deadline of Early Bird registration. If you do not register for Doc/Fest, you will not be able to participate in the MeetMarket.

Your application and participation implies unconditional acceptance of these guidelines.

The selection committee decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding the outcome. Feedback is not guaranteed if your application is unsuccessful.

The organisers reserve the right to change the guidelines or processes at any time and without notification.

Recoupment: the organisers will not recoup costs associated with any component of this program nor take rights or liabilities in projects selected.