Live!Ammunition! Filmmakers Pitching Competition

This is your chance to pitch your movie idea directly to a panel of film industry executives and the toughest critics of all, a Live Audience.

The people on our Panel are the people who matter. They decide what gets made.

Pitching skills are the one skill often overlooked by writers, directors and producers. Learn how it’s done by watching the rest and hone your pitching skills by getting instant feedback. Who knows, your pitch could be taken up by one of our panel. Past Pitches that have gone into production include Meet The Parents (1994), 51st State (1995), Siamese Cop (1996) and White Bhaji (2001).

The panel can, and will, gong you off if they get bored. But they have to give two good reasons why.

All winners get a year’s complimentary and the overall winner will get a £100 Raindance Voucher to use on any Raindance course or event.

Registrations to pitch will be taken on a first come, first served basis in reply to an email which will be sent at a predetermined time on the day of the event. There are twenty places guaranteed to pitch. Once the first 20 places have been filled we will keep a waiting list.

Please note, the demand to pitch is high and admission does not guarantee you a slot to pitch. However, we will accommodate as many pitches as possible and if you’re on the waiting list this does not necessarily mean you won’t get the opportunity.

Not ready to pitch? Then just come, watch, learn and network.

*Verbal pitches only, no visuals

is a writer, teacher, and creativity consultant. In the United States, he wrote for sitcoms including Benson and Family Ties. He wrote the feature film, The Real Howard Spitz, starring Kelsey Grammer and directed by Vadim Jean. He was a script doctor on the hit film, Mannequin and others starring Michael Caine, Walter Matthau, and Eddie Murphy. For Germany, he co-created the comedy series, Lukas, which ran for 65 episodes, and an original comedy series called Krista. He also wrote nine episodes of the series, Relic Hunter. He wrote two TV movies for the Olsen Twins, and several the German TV movies including, On Top of the Volcano, starring Maria Schrader and Sebastian Koch (2007). His play, Killing Mother, was produced at the Gorky Theatre in Berlin, and he’s also had plays produced in New York, Los Angeles, and London.

As a writing and creativity teacher, his courses include Beyond Brainstorming, Create Your Future, The Creative Breakthrough Workshop and the ground-breaking Script Coach Series developed exclusively for Raindance. He has presented his courses at the University of Southern California, the University of Barcelona, the Skyros Institute, many films schools, and groups and organisations including The Academy for Chief Executives, Egmont, Grundy-UFA, and Columbia-Tri-Star. For eight years he was a visiting lecturer for the Pilots Program in Sitges.

His books include Your Writing Coach and Your Creative Writing Masterclass (Nicholas Brealey Publishing), Creativity Now (Pearson), Do Something Different (Virgin Business Books), Successful Scriptwriting (Writers Digest Press), Top Secrets: Screenwriting (Lone Eagle Press), and Successful Sitcom Writing (St. Martin’s Press).

He has written for many publications including the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Broadcast Magazine, and he is the editor of Brainstorm, the creativity ebulletin.

is a highly experienced senior film and distribution marketing executive, who started her career in advertising.

was set up in 2012, to consult on a bespoke basis for independent filmmakers and distributors in the UK and overseas advising on scripts, audiences, casting, distribution and marketing/awards campaigns. She has also been building a development arm, and has come on board as producer or EP for a number of varied projects, covering several genres, from period and contemporary adventure, animation and comedy, and thriller/dramas.

From 2007-2012, she was Marketing Director for the UK and Ireland for Paramount Pictures, and presided over a multitude of releases from festival films and local acquisitions, such as Babel, Into the Wild, Revolutionary Road, True Grit, Made In Dagenham, Killing Bono to animated favourites, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, Madagascar, Rango, and Tintin, to major franchise blockbusters, including Transformers, Star Trek, Mission Impossible among others.

Prior to that, she was Marketing Director for 10 years at United International Pictures (international distribution network set up by Universal, Paramount and MGM) which included such diverse films as Tomorrow Never Dies, The Thomas Crown Affair, Inside Man, Shrek, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Love Actually, The Ring, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-rabbit, Jarhead, United 93, The Bourne Identity, Nanny McPhee,The Rugrats Movie and many more.

She has worked extensively with many UK production companies, including Working Title, Number 9 Films, and Aardman Animation.

In total, she has released more than 420 titles, achieving a box office of over $4bn. She presents Film Sales and Marketing at Raindance.

Few creatives have more credits than .

He is a #1 New York Times Bestseller and Eagle Award winning graphic novelist and screenwriter. He has licenses under his belt for a vast array of iconic properties. These include Doctor Who, Star Trek, Superboy, 2000AD, Spider-Man, X-Men, Battlestar Galactica, Shrek, Wallace and Gromit, Megadeth, Robin of Sherwood, Joe Satriani and Ozzy Osbourne.

Tony also works in television, film and audio. He has written for BBC One, ITV Studios and Amazon UK / Audible among others. As script consultant he works with both US and UK producers and studios as a go-to ’script doctor’.

With thirty-five plus years experience as a professional writer, and with two decades in comics, Tony has created stories in pretty much every medium to date.

In 2010 Tony Lee became a #1 New York Times Bestseller for his graphic novel adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. In 2014 his Doctor Who / Star Trek Graphic Novel ‘Assimilation Squared’ reached #2, and in 2019 his full cast audio drama of Dodge & Twist was #4 in the New York Times Audiobooks Bestselling List.

He also writes prose novels under the pen name “Jack Gatland” and since November 2020 has racked up several Amazon #1 Bestsellers, almost half a million book sales, a hundred and twenty million page reads on Kindle Unlimited, and over thirty-thousand five star ratings.

With over 25 years experience in independent film marketing and distribution, gained at Universal Pictures, Momentum Pictures, Revolver Entertainment and Arrow Films, Jon Sadler is now developing feature films and factual programming for his own company, .

Jon is also working on a new book about film marketing and distribution for filmmakers which is due out next year.

*Panelists subject to change

Few people have done more deals than Toronto based film producer, Ali Mashayekhi

Ali is the president of , a Canadian based film production company. Ali has produced over 90 films around the world since 2003 including; Japan, Indonesia, USA, Netherlands and France.

He is also the Executive Director of the , a non-profit and charitable organization founded by Mena Massoud (Aladdin), which aims to inspire inclusivity and diversity in the arts. Ali is also an ambassador for , a non-profit charity that helps war wounded children around the world, created by former CNN’s Senior International correspondent Arwa Damon.

Ali just finished a Stephen King short story adaptation based on Sherlock Holmes, The Last King, entirely in the Farsi language. This Farsi adaptation stars Maz Jobrani (A Simple Wedding), Navid Negahban (Homeland) and Shiva Negar (American Assassin). Most recently, Ali is the Executive Producer on a Crave TV travel food series (Evolving Vegan) and produced a horror feature film starring Raindance alumni, Cristo Fernandez (Ted Lasso).

is a multi-award winning producer, grant writer and screenwriter at Landed Entertainments Inc. She has been producing for over 5 years and has collaborated on over 15 projects across North America including the first ever Iranian adaptation of a Stephen King screenplay in Los Angeles called The Last King.

Most recently, Gillian has just finished production on her first feature film as an associate producer which was shot in November of 2022 by director Joanna Tsanis (Mourn) and starring Adam Tsekhman (DC Legends of Tomorrow) and Cristo Fernandez (Ted Lasso).

Currently, Gillian is developing a crime-drama feature entitled Snow by writer/director Peter Sreckovic (Hot Local Singles Are In Your Area), that will be filmed in Northern Ontario in the last quarter of 2023 and starring Ramona Milano (Degrassi the Next Generation) and Matt Murray (Snow Piercer). Gillian is also a writer with her first screenplay The Overkill (2022), which was filmed in the fall of 2021.

Since then, Gillian has gone on to write stories that challenge the status quo with a critical lens around women-specific issues. Her latest screenplay called Fathers Paradox is a feminist sci-fi that explores the world of women and AI relationships.

This is scheduled to go to camera at the beginning of 2024 using the 2D Unreal studio. Gillian also wrote, produced and starred in her directorial debut film Portrait of Consumption which is a societal critique on the effects of social media expressed in the style of a silent film.

Gillian is currently working on a sci-fi feature screenplay that explores what it means to be human and DNA manipulation. She will be taking a leading role as a producer on this project which is expected to begin pre-production in early 2024.

is a producer and writer with more than a decade of experience in the film industry. He’s worked at Cinetic Media on the Banksy documentary “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” and continued his career under veteran Hollywood and Broadway producer Scott Rudin, working on films including “The Social Network,” “True Grit,” “The Dictator,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” and the original theatre production of “Book of Mormon.” He has also worked on projects produced by Terry Leonard, Mynette Louie, Peter Berg, and Academy Award Winning director Ross Kauffman.

Kira-Anne Pelican is a script consultant, a researcher and a lecturer in screenwriting. She has with 25 years of experience working in the British, American and Chinese film and TV industries.She has written .

began her career assisting director Stanley Kubrick in the production of Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Next followed a stint working within the BBC’s ground-breaking Virtual Studios department. After which she took posts as a Visual Effects Technical Director and then VFX Producer for ESC Entertainment, a Warner Bros company. After assisting in the production of The Matrix Revolutions (2003), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), Catwoman (2004) and The Ladykillers (2004), Kira-Anne retrained in screenwriting at UCLA. She wrote two original TV series which were optioned and developed by the BBC and ITV. In 2006 she founded her screenplay consultancy. Since then she has worked with hundreds of writers and producers across the world.

In 2017, Kira-Anne was awarded a PhD for her research into forecasting a film’s box office from its narrative. Don’t miss this chance to learn from a master.

Few have worked on more movies than veteran Storyboard, Illustrator and Concept Artist, Brian McGee.

From the age of 2, Brian expressed an unusual passion and talent for drawing, probably due to the exposure to his father’s raw talent having spent hours watching him draw portraits and doodles. Quite clearly, Brian’s propensity for all things artistic and creative was intrinsic to his overall future development.

Although in his youth, Brian participated in many extra curricular art programs, his formal training did not begin until he was accepted into New York’s High School of Art & Design. It was there that he was focused into the path of Illustration. Brian continued his education with a 2 year stint at the School of Visual Arts in New York. During this time he acquired his love for Baroque art and photography.

In 1996, Brian was hired as a character artist by the Walt Disney Company and relocated to Burbank California thus further refining his skills. To Brian this was his second college. After spending 5 years with Disney, Brian decided to delve into a new more independent career.

A self proclaimed cinephile, Brian busied himself with the idea of becoming a storyboard artist, thus marrying his 2 passions. Brian has a stellar 25 year plus resume working within the film, television and entertainment industry

Charles Dean is a Development Executive for Raindance.

Charlie has a deep-rooted love for the world of film and has experience working both on set and in the office having worked closely with filmmakers, production teams, and industry professionals. In his free time Charlie enjoys watching new and creative films from up and coming filmmakers.

Sonita Gale is a British Asian writer, producer and director. Elevating the stories of migrants and marginalised communities is at the forefront of her work.

Sonita’s debut feature documentary as director, HOSTILE, is an award-winning and BAFTA and BIFA-longlisted film exposing the ‘hostile environment’ for migrants in the UK. Hostile has screened across the country at Picturehouse and independent cinemas, and has been selected for a number of international film festivals. In 2021, the film debuted at Raindance Film Festival.

Since then, Hostile was a finalist in the 2022 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival (in the ‘Supreme Award’ and ‘Best Director – International’ categories) and was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 2022 British Urban Film Festival, and. The film won Best Documentary Feature at the 2021 South London Film Festival, at Filmocracy Fest 2022 and the Roxbury International Film Festival 2022.

For Social media/where to see film:

Instagram and Twitter: @hostiledoc

Tickets available for upcoming screenings and Q&As at

An NFTS graduate, Eleonora Pesci is a film distribution executive currently working as Acquisitions Manager at Curzon Film (Triangle of Sadness, The Quiet Girl, Flee, Parasite).

Dean Cross is the Film Content Manager for Vue entertainment with 20 years experience in the business. Dean has an appreciation for films across the whole spectrum, from the smallest art house and independent films to the biggest of Hollywood’s blockbusters, he can usually spot a hit.

The legendary Dov S-S Simens is America’s leading independent filmmaking instructor. With 15 years experience as production manager, line producer and producer-director, Dov has developed a unique approach to the production process. An award-winning filmmaker in his own right, Dov teaches regularly at colleges and universities across North America, as well as visiting Japan, China, South America, South Africa and Europe. He lives in California, and Warner Publishing published his book From Reel to Deal .

The first Raindance event was his in 1992. He returned to London with the 2-Day Film School on Saturday/Sunday 16/17 July 2022.

Tom Keenan is a freelance scriptwriter, editor, playwright and producer, with multiple projects at different stages of development. He is the co-creator of The Rosy Cross, an epic TV series based on the life of Shakespeare with A-List attachments and significant interest from Amazon Prime, Sky Showtime and Lionsgate, amongst others. He is the writer of Infinite Riches, a feature film in development with London Film Café Co-Op about the gay Tudor poet/spy Christopher Marlowe. Tom is currently adapting a bold version of the classic text Antigone for the stage and his short dystopian film Midnight Travels, produced by 289 Productions in New York, was released at the end of November 2022. Tom has films in development in Colombia and New York. Tom also teaches screenwriting to emerging BFI writers.

Robyn Larkin has worked in the creative design side of the film industry for over 25 years in both London and LA. He is Co-founder and Creative Director of design agency Bobo, who specialise in creating theatrical campaigns, poster artwork, and marketing for film and television.

He has worked on a host of independent and studio films with clients including Netflix, 20th Century Fox, MGM, Curzon Artificial Eye, Lionsgate, Protagonist Pictures, Dogwoof, Britbox, Modern Films, and the BBC as well as his work with Raindance.

Through Bobo, Robyn has worked on several film festivals including The London Indian Film Festival, UK Jewish Film Festival, and the Terracotta Far East Film Festival. Robyn has been the brand custodian and Head of Design for the Raindance Film Festival since 2016.

He is a sought after speaker on industry panels, events, and film school courses including Raindance, Met Film School, London Screenwriters Festival, and the NFTS.

Andy Caley is the Head of Acquisitions at Bohemia Media, a distribution and production company that champions diversity and supports individual voices. He acquires and manages films and TV series from script stage to completion that are about and/or by communities that have been underserved by mainstream media, including but not limited to those who identify as LGBTQ+, disabled people, from ethnically diverse backgrounds, female-led groups etc.

For over four years, he worked at Head Gear Films, a film production and finance company. He liaised with producers on new projects in need of packaging and funding services, working across film, TV, theatre, games and other mediums.

In 2018, he founded Curiouser and Curiouser Pictures, a film and television production company that sources, develops and produces mainstream narrative stories with a focus on creating opportunities for disabled people. His current project, a short film called Luna’s Ghosts, is told entirely through British Sign Language with queer and disabled characters and is Executive Produced by Stephen Fry.

James Clarke has a background in writing and producing short film projects, across drama and documentary. He has been a BAFTA longlisted producer (a while ago now) and has seen his work screened at various film festivals. James has worked as a Script Reader for the BFI and he currently supervises long-form screenplay projects for the University of Gloucestershire’s online MA in Screenwriting. James is currently developing a feature film screenplay. James has written for Little White Lies online and 3D World and Imagine FX magazines. His books about movies include The Virgin Film Guide: Animated Films and Bodies in Heroic Motion: The Cinema of James Cameron. Follow James twitter here: @jasclarkewriter

Greta Kania is an extensively networked CEO @ ThinkIP operating in the entertainment industry. Whilst encouraging creativity her main duties include developing, implementing and maintaining international sales contracts initiating opportunities within IP management and the Web3 space.

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Since 1993 Raindance makes filmmakers

The first Live!Ammunition! was held in Leicester Square in what is now the VUE West End Cinema in Leicester Square in October 1994 at the 2nd Raindance Film Festival. I invited the comic Emo Phillips to pitch his new film screening two days later during the festival. it was my attempt to rustle up interest in his quirky and amusing low budget comedy. I didn’t realise an acquisitions executive from Universal Studios was in the room who saw and bought world rights for the movie two days later. The film languished in the vaults for five long years when it was remade:

The original Meet The Parents has .

There’s been dozens of fascinating stories over the years. Many films have started their route to completion at this event including Stel Pavlov’s .

The Live!Ammunition! pitching competition has been staged over 150 times in New York, Toronto, Berlin and at the Cannes Film Festival and of course in London.

Hope to see you there!

Host or Publisher Raindance