The DFG Pitch - Winner Announced

• Home
• News
• The DFG Pitch - Winner Announced

At this year’s DFG Day at Sheffield Doc/Fest, six filmmakers pitched for the chance to win a £10k development package from DFG, with support from the Grierson Trust.

The single story documentaries aimed at UK television ranged from an observational documentary following the British synchronised swimming team, to the story of a group of young refugees returning to Somalia for the first time since they were forced to flee.

DFG is delighted to announce that the winning pitch was by William Jessop for Blue Apple's Hamlet, a film about a group of actors with learning disabilities touring a re-imagined production of Hamlet, with special mention given to David Cairns for Somalis Go Home.

Mandy Chang, Grierson Trustee, said: "The Grierson Trust is delighted to congratulate William Jessop on winning the development package for his proposal - Blue Apple's Hamlet. William did a great pitch and convinced the panel that he has all the ingredients to make a moving and powerful film - and one that has the potential to win a future broadcast commission. We're very pleased to be behind this excellent DFG initiative and look forward to hearing of William's progress in the coming months".

DFG Chief Executive Andy Glynne added: "We had a very difficult decision to make. In the end, the decision was unanimous and we are awarding the development package to a project which we would hope illuminates a very important issue and hopefully has a high chance of being commissioned by UK television. We're very excited to have launched the DFG Development Fund, filling a very important gap, and helping filmmakers have a comprehensive development toolkit that they can take to broadcasters. William Jessop's project is one of those ones that might have been ignored by broadcasters, and our hope is that we can guide William to have a develop the concept so that it stands a strong chance of being commissioned".

The DFG Pitch took place on Thursday 9th June as part of the 2011 Sheffield Doc/Fest. The panel consisted of Lina Prestwood, Director of Content for Current TV; Greg Sanderson, Executive Producer, BBC Arts; Mandy Chang, Producer and Grierson Trustee; and Andy Glynne, Chief Executive of DFG. The panel was moderated by Krishan Arora, Network Supply Executive for the BBC.

The six shortlisted filmmakers were:

• Charlotte Fisher, Swimsuits at Dawn
• Chris Bates, Airborn
• David Cairns, Somalis Go Home
• Michael Story, Dollars From Heaven
• Ruth Carslaw, The Cornershop Evangelist and Other Stories
• William Jessop, Blue Apple's Hamlet