Our full field was relatively small to start (as expected in the first year) but we managed to have six amazing finalists.  Over the course of a long weekend (our residential), we worked with the group and worked individually.

Their three-minute pitches vastly improved from their original submissions. After questions and critiques, their five-minute pitches made a further leap forward. Additional feedback took their following twelve-minute pitches to a solidly professional level.

Quite honestly, each pitch would have been a deserving winner.  In the final analysis, and in an astonishing precedent-breaking development we named two winners. The judging panel was enthusiastically unanimous that both pitches MUST win.  It’s never happened in a decade of competition in the UK, and we certainly never expected it would happen here in SA

It was quite literally a magic moment both for the winners and for the competition.  One winning story (The Second) is set in rural Kwazulu Natal in the dying years of apartheid. It is a profound story of hope in the midst of chaos and violence.  It was pitched by our youngest ever winner, Mpumelelo Kheswa (22) and will be our first ever film in a foreign language (Zulu). The other, pitched by Howard James Fyvie, ( Ramsey) is our first animation and comedy. It retells the story of Abraham and Isaac from the perspective of the ram. “Ramsey” believes he is destined for greatness and that this will be as a stand-up comic. (It is a hilarious dark comedy!)

I am so proud to be working on the development of both short films.

Here are our finalists–

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I’m in South Africa for a few weeks, and am involved with The Pitch South Africa, an expansion of the “Enter The Pitch” competition that I’ve been involved in for many years now.

I’ve been working with some incredible South African filmmakers, and I’m so inspired by the talent of the finalists both here in South Africa, and back in the UK where this year is going to be the 15th anniversary of Enter The Pitch!

I wanted to share with you our 6 brilliant finalists, pitching their short films based on, or inspired by, The Bible. See what you can take from their pitches for any pitches you might have to make going forward.

We’ll be announcing the winner soon, and I’ll make sure to announce it in an upcoming post.

Relevé

Language of Love

No Where To Run

Black Jackets

The Second

Today

The short film adaptation can be a science fiction, gangster, horror, mystery, romance, or any other type of film genre set in any time period, real or imaginary.  But the adaptation must remain true to the emotional core of the original story or character.

When I advise anyone about making an adaptation I stress that an artist doesn’t need to be overly concerned about the literal truth but always must stay absolutely true to the emotional truth.  That means staying true to the deeper essence of what the story is about.  In other words, how does what happens in the story speak to a larger truth about who we are as human beings, what we are in danger of becoming, what we can and should aspire to,  how we fail ourselves or others, or how we recover from tragedy, set-backs, or horrible mistakes.

Adapting a novel, a Bible story, or any other text requires the cutting away of everything extraneous. The story must be paired down to its most essential elements. In an “epic story” like that of King David, you will have to choose a single incident in the main narrative. If a  scene or a theme moves the story you’ve chosen off track, eliminate it. Keep asking— What is this film about? What does it have to say about today?

A film works best if it is set in the present (whenever that “present” might be in history or your imagination). It must be active and immediate and drive inexorably toward the future. Avoid adaptations that rely heavily on narration or flashbacks that interrupt forward momentum or  pull the audience out of the “now” of the story.

Film audiences want to know what happens next. There is only time to experience and very little time to muse or reflect, especially in a short film. Keep asking— How can the audience experience this story more immediately and more emotionally? How can action evoke the feelings in the original material? What external objects and action make internal thoughts and feelings observable.

A number of critics thought that the main story of the film based on the Toni Morrison novel, BELOVED, was confusing and too often derailed by beautiful images that slowed the story movement. Keep asking—How does this image or action move the story forward? If the image isn’t key to character development or plot then let it go.

Cut anything that sidetracks the main story. Choose your main character carefully. If the narrative’s main character is too reflective and is not active enough, is it possible to elevate a more active character or sub-plot to center stage as in THE ENGLISH PATIENT?  How does this change of point of view support or enhance the emotional core of the story? If it doesn’t then it’s not the right choice.

Choose a single point of view and stay with that main character. If the main character is not in a scene eliminate it (unless it is absolutely vitally important and we would lose an important story thread without it).

Just because a particular life in the Bible is fascinating doesn’t mean it lends itself to film. Life can be random, messy and rather chaotic— All of which is death to film. Beware of lives lived with too much luck or co-incidence. Film is about action and consequence. If success is the result of happenstance it isn’t dramatic.

Keep asking—Can you distill this life story into a just few essential elements and strong conflicts? Is it possible to choose just one critical incident that reveals who this person is? Does that incident have rising action that drives toward a dramatic and powerful climax? Can you condense and re-order actual events to make them more cinematic?

Does this particular life say something important about our own lives? Does the person struggle against a powerful antagonist? Lives that require a lot of back-story to be understood tend to be difficult to adapt. Material that is too internal or psychological poses the same problem.

Sticking too closely to the original material may work against the spirit of the story. Can you find a way to evoke what was powerful about the material in a fresh new way? Keep asking yourself—How does this old material speak to our time? Can you distill the story into its essential elements and find new ways to interpret those elements? What is at the heart of this story? How can a new look at the character and situations expose the beating heart of the story in a way that shows us why it is timeless?

Check out Enter the Pitch here.