The Big Pitch 2021 goes LIVE from September 13-28th on CaribbeanTales-TV and Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) websites where TIFF industry passholders and the public can vote for the best presentation along with the industry judges.

The Big Pitch is the culmination of the month-long Creators of Colour Incubator (CCI), that this year features 5 amazing projects from creators of colour from Canada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the UK. This year, CCI2021 focused on mid-career and established filmmakers who have UK/Canada co-productions in development.

In its 12th year, CCI’s stellar line-up of participants and projects is: Moya’s Love, a feature romance drama/thriller by writer, producer and director Mary Wells; Kabul Kitchen a half-hour dramedy series from writer, director, and producer Tarique Qayumi; East is West, a comedy/drama series by writer and producer Frida Banks;  Traytown, a drama/political thriller from director and producer Nadean Rawlins, and writer Letay Williams; 1990 a four-part documentary series from director and producer Mariel Brown, producer Lesley-Anne Macfarlane, and writer and producer Tracy Farrag.

A key component of the incubator is that it is led by leading BIPOC producers from across the screen-based industry. This year’s CCI mentors are: Frances-Anne Solomon, (Founder and CEO of the CaribbeanTales Media Group), CBC’s Director of Engagement and Inclusion Nick Davis, British Producer Barbara Emile (East Enders), Actor and Showrunner Anthony Farrell (The Office), Canadian/Ethiopian producer Tamara Dawit (Finding Sally), and Producer Moe Rai (Funny Boy).

The Core team were joined over the course of the program by 36 leading industry “Producer and Funder mentors” where participants were able to pitch their projects in 10-minute speed meeting sessions. Funding Mentors included representatives from the Black Screen Office, Bell Media, The Canada Media Fund, Rogers Group of Funds, CBC, HotDocs, The National Film Board of Canada, The Canadian Film Centre, Entertainment One, Game Theory Films, Corus Entertainment. Capital Motion Pictures and Trinity Square Video.

The Audience and Jury Awards will be announced on Thursday September 30th at 7:00pm when the pitches will be showcased one final time as a Live Event on CaribbeanTales-TV.

This year’s jurors are Usman Mullan (Development Producer at BBC Writersroom), Lea Marin (Director of Development, Drama, for the CBC), Renee Robinson (Film Commissioner of Jamaica), Carlene Marshall-King ( UK-based Producer) and Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe (founder and Chairman of the British Urban Film Festival).