Panelists (clockwise l to r): Kecia Élan Cole, Tony Gerber, Stacey Muhammad, Elaine Del Valle, and Michael A. Pinckney.
BRIC Community Media's TV & Film Pitch Series
Part II
You've got this really great idea for a show but just aren't sure if your pitch game is up to par. If you read that last sentence thinking "that totally describes me," you should be at this event. You will have three minutes to practice your pitch in front of a panel of industry experts, and then get immediate feedback on how you might improve.
Those who sign up to pitch will join our panelists on Zoom. Information on how to join will be sent upon registration.
Want to watch? The event will be broadcast live on our Brooklyn Free Speech HD Channel and streamed live on BRIC's Youtube channel.
Have a question? Please feel free to email us at bfreebk@BRICartsmedia.org.
Meet the Panelists
ELAINE DEL VALLE has a gift for combining humor and emotion. She has won numerous Best Director and Best Short Film awards. Elaine’s short, Me 3.769, has screened in competition at top tier festivals and premiered on HBO in 2019. As the owner and operator of Del Valle Casting, Elaine has become the go-to person for up-and-coming diverse talent and rising stars for many high profile brands, studios, and agencies. Elaine was featured in the PBS documentary Beating The Odds, alongside luminaries such as Michelle Obama. Ebby Magazine called her a "Tour De Force". In 2019 Miami News Times named her as 1 of 5 "Filmmakers to Watch”. Elaine is the recipient of the "Madrina" award (Prime Latino Media-2017) and the "Vanguard" award (Official Latino 2019). Both awards reflect her leadership in and support of the Latinx, independent filmmaking community. Elaine's latest film, Princess Cut premiered at the Miami Film Festival (2020) and was selected for the Latinx Director Showcase at the NALIP (National Association for Independent Producers) Media Summit (2020).
TONY GERBER is an Emmy award-winning writer, producer and filmmaker. He has written and directed over a dozen documentaries for National Geographic, shot in some of the most remote and dangerous regions of the world. Most recently he directed and executive produced Kingdom of the White Wolf, a 3-part natural history series for National Geographic, filmed on location in the Canadian High Arctic. He is a producer of the critically acclaimed, PGA award-winning film Jane about the life and work of Dr. Jane Goodall. His documentary Explorer: Battle for Virunga, about the fight to protect mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (National Geographic Channel), was a 2017 recipient of a Genesis Award, the Humane Society’s top honor for bringing critical animal protection issues to the public. In 2005, Gerber co-founded NY-based production company, Market Road Films, with two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. Nottage and Gerber are currently developing a feature film, Everlasting Yea! for Amazon Studios. Gerber is an adjunct professor at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema at Steiner Studios.
STACEY MUHAMMAD is a New Orleans native and one of thirteen directors chosen by the Directors Guild of America (DGA) for their inaugural Commercial Director’s Diversity Program. She’s a recent alumni of the prestigious Warner Brothers’ Directing Workshop. Her recent work includes directing episode 411 of Queen Sugar' for OWN as well as commercials for The AD Council / AARP. She’s currently working on her first feature film titled The Return and has been tapped to direct a reimagining of the 1932 film, WHITE ZOMBIE, currently in development.
MICHAEL PINCKNEY has written features, television pilots, and a variety of digital series. His feature film debut was distributed by Lionsgate and he has directed a variety of digital series from Sole Kings for BRIC TV and Black Actress for Issa Rae Productions. Pinckney Co-Produced BET’s Docu-Series From The Bottom Up and wrote and directed The Trade, an Award-Winning film about sex trafficking which is now on Amazon Prime. Recently, he directed the pilot for Blue Flame, a new series about an all-female undercover police unit and film God Bless You, which has gotten over 2 Million views on Youtube. Michael got his start as an assistant director on films such as Inside Man and Precious as well as TV shows like Broad City and Law & Order: Criminal Intent before transitioning to writing and directing.
Moderator
KECIA ÉLAN COLE is a 5 time NY Emmy-nominated executive producer, series producer, series creator, supervising producer, content creator, show runner, director, video editor, writer and development team member at BRIC TV where she executive produces several docu-series including: Neighborhood Beat, B-Side, Brooklyn Made, Touré Show, Brooklyn Is Masquerading As The World (Terence Nance), and Waxing Cinematic. She is an EP on several original scripted series/films that have premiered at noteworthy film festivals such as Tribeca and UrbanWorld including: They Charge for The Sun, Sole Kings, All Hail Beth, The Future Is Then, Sauce (on iOne Digital) and the forthcoming Inspector Ike, Eighty-Sixed, and United Space of America (animated). She curates and moderates numerous panels on topics ranging from pitching for TV to Afrofuturism. Kecia is pro-active, creative, and curious about the world.
PREPARING YOU FOR SUCCESS!
We're here to help you learn, create, and elevate your film and TV game. We want you to succeed and we know that you want to succeed but great success comes with great preparation. Here are some great resources to ensure that you walk into your next pitch prepared and ready for success.
PRACTICE WITH OUR STUDY GUIDE!
ABOUT THE BRIC COMMUNITY MEDIA TV & FILM PITCH SERIES
So you have an idea for a TV show or film— now what? The ability to express an idea is almost as important as the idea itself and we are eager to help you with that. The BRIC Community Media TV & Film Pitch Series gives you the opportunity to practice and perfect your pitch skills over the course of three months in front of industry heavy hitters, and a live audience.
The three part series will culminate in December with you having a shot to pitch your TV show or film to BRIC TV, an Emmy, Ippy, and Telly-award winning TV channel and digital network, whose work has been screened at prominent festivals such as the Tribeca Film Festival and Sundance.
Contact Information:
BFreeBK@BRICartsmedia.org / 718.683.9338
