News / Events

New SPADA member and filmmaker Annie Goldson won the SPADA Pitching Competition at the annual SPADA conference, held in Auckland earlier this month. 

SPADA conference delegates were entertained with seven pitches, selected from a range of entries by former SPADA President Dave Gibson to participate in the competition. The resurrected competition ran during the Great Screenrights Brunch on Saturday 20th November. 

Annie pitched her documentary feature Elgar’s Enigma: the Story of the Cello Concerto, which follows the idea that the famous anti-war anthem was in fact composed after the death of a young New Zealand soldier at the Somme . Her pitch included footage of US cellist Lynn Harrell performing with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

International guest speaker and judges’ spokesperson, Norm Bolen (Alliance Atlantis, Canada) ,  said that the quality of the music “made the hair stand up on the back of [his] neck…and that the pitch was highly professional, matching a standard [he] had witnessed at international forums such as Amsterdam and Hotdocs in Toronto”. Other judges on the panel chaired by SPADA President Vincent Burke (Top Shelf Productions) included Ashley Luke (Fortissmo Films) and Victoria Treole (Miramax) from Australia , Jane Wilson (TVNZ) and Beverly McGarvey (TV3).

Elgar’s Enigma has been offered a commission from TVNZ as an arts documentary and although Annie knows she could deliver on this budget, she is looking for further funding to realize the documentary’s full potential. She believes it has an international film festival, broadcast and the possibility of theatrical life, for a number of reasons:  “It is both a war documentary and a music documentary which have dedicated audiences. And given the recent response here to the unknown soldier; the beauty of the music; the calibre of the performance; the romance of the story; and the many countries involved, I do believe it is a film that will find a wide audience” said Annie. Peter Walls, head of the NZSO, is co-producing the film with Annie.

For winning, Annie received a one week trip for two to Queensland , Australia , and entry to the SPADA conference next year. Two further projects were given special commendation. Sue Wolfenden's  (Pagageno Productions) children’s series, Jack in a Box, was praised as having considerable commercial potential, while Jitendra Pal's (Orthovision Films), Kiwi Bollywood film The Cheeky Darkie, judges thought given no material has yet been shot, the producers were able to present a highly amusing and intelligent pitch.