LEARN TO PITCH - Film Columbus Workshop 09

*** If you or someone you know is interested in attending the workshop but is currently facing challenges due to financial constraints, please email us. We have limited scholarships available. ***

Brought to you by Film Columbus, Greater Columbus Arts Council, Stage 32, and CenCam.

All attendees will receive a 50% discount for a .

Pitching your vision to funders and collaborators requires having an array of elements at the ready. In this hands-on weekend workshop, Sam Sokolow, two time Emmy-nominated television and film producerproducer will show you what you need in your toolkit and how to craft a powerful and professional pitch that gets results.

Learn the latest ideas helping writers, directors, and producers advance their projects, and get your pitch off to a great start this fall. The workshop is made up of two sessions, giving attendees a chance to work on their pitch between sessions. Each day will include a Q&A plus feedback or small group work. All levels are welcome. It is limited to 20 participants.

Session 1 – Saturday, September 21, 10 am-1 pm

Session 2 – Sunday, September 22, 1-4 pm

Whether you're competing in the upcoming Pitch Cbus 24 or talking to someone at a party, there is an art to speaking about your project. This workshop will demystify how to communicate clearly and authentically and hopefully alleviate the jitters some of us get when presenting our projects.

Short filmmaker? Episodic writer? Documentarian? Animator? Podcaster? This workshop is for you!

The Film Columbus Pitch Contest will be taking place in October. This workshop is the PERFECT primer to get your pitch in shape for this year's contest. More information coming on the Pitch Contest soon.

Cost: $35 for both sessions, $20 for students. This workshop will not be recorded.

Brought to you by Film Columbus, Greater Columbus Arts Council, Stage 32, and CenCam.

All attendees will receive a 50% discount for a Stage 32 Certification Online Program.

Sam Sokolow – Television Executive/ Executive Producer/Educator

Sam Sokolow is a two time Emmy-nominated television and film producer.

Sam is an Executive Producer of GENIUS, a scripted series for National Geographic Network and Disney+. Sam developed GENIUS from book to series. The first season of GENIUS depicted the life of Albert Einstein with Geoffrey Rush starring as Einstein and Ron Howard directing the pilot. GENIUS: EINSTEIN garnered ten 2017 Emmy nominations including a Best Limited Series nomination for Sam. The second season of GENIUS - GENIUS: PICASSO - depicted the life of Pablo Picasso with Antonio Banderas starring as Picasso and garnered seven 2018 Emmy nominations including a Best Limited Series nomination for Sam. The third season of GENIUS – GENIUS: ARETHA - depicted the life of “The Queen Of Soul” Aretha Franklin, with Cynthia Erivo portraying Aretha and Suzan-Lori Parks showrunning and garnered three 2021 Emmy nominations. Season 4 of GENIUS – GENIUS MLK/X - depicts the lives of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X and premiered on Nat Geo and ABC on February 1st, 2024, airing on Disney+ and Hulu the following night.

Sam currently leads Sokolow & Co., a Los Angeles-New York based independent television and film studio. At Sokolow & Co., Sam oversees all aspects of television & film development and physical production, including the acquisition and packaging of intellectual properties, script & format development, financing, sales and full- service third-party production services in both the US and abroad.

Sam is also currently a Certification Producer at Stage 32. Stage 32 is the largest online platform educating and connecting film, TV and digital creatives boasting over one million members worldwide. Stage 32’s education partners include some of the most prestigious brands in the entertainment business including Netflix, the Cannes Film Festival, The American Film Market, Variety, dozens of film festivals, commissions, markets, and many more industry leading entities. Sam recently designed and oversees S t a g e 3 2 ' s global below-the-line certification program to train people on a localized level for numerous crew jobs asinternational physical production continues to expand.

Prior, Sam served as a founder of Nice Media Studios, an independent studio based in Los Angeles and Toronto and the President of EUE/Sokolow, an independent television studio based in Los Angeles and New York and before that Sam was a founding partner of SokoLobl Entertainment, an independent television production company based in Los Angeles. While leading these companies, Sam executive produced 18 original TV series, set up dozens of television and film projects at every major studio and distributor in Hollywood and developed over 200 original television and film properties.

Sam is a teacher and a mentor. Sam is currently a Professor of Practice of film and television production at Clemson University. Previously, Sam taught college and graduate level classes at the Boston University Los Angeles Program for 7 years. His classes at Clemson and BULA, “Filmmaking for Mobile Media”, “Careers in Hollywood” and “A Creative Life In Television”, give students real world tools that they can use when seeking their first jobs in the entertainment industry and when rising through the industry. Sam has also guest lectured at UCLA, USC, and The New School. He has mentored students from colleges and programs all over the world.

In 2000, Sam served as Co-President of Homemade Entertainment, a venture capital backed television and media content website. In 1997, Sam co-wrote, produced and directed the award-winning independent feature film THE DEFINITE MAYBE, starring Josh Lucas, Roy Scheider and Bob Balaban. In 1999, Sam became the first filmmaker to self-distribute his own feature film via the Internet, a groundbreaking digital distribution initiative that landed him on Good Morning America and in Time Magazine.

Previously, Sam created and produced world-class advertising and marketing campaigns for agencies such as Wells Rich Green, Moss/Dragoti and Partners & Shevack. Sam also spent a year as a Metro & Crime reporter for the New York Daily News where he covered breaking news in all 5 boroughs of New York City.

Host or Publisher Film Columbus and the Greater Columbus Arts Council