PiaPressure offers funding for emerging filmmakers
PiaPressure is the new production and financing company set up by Pia Getty, with producer James Durrant and award winning director Johnny Kenton.
Last month, PiaPressure announced their new finance and support awards for emerging talent. The company are stumping up to £25,000, with a focus on supporting female and under-represented talent to develop original projects.
Moviescope spoke exclusively with Pia Getty to find out more about the awards….
What inspired you to create the fund?
Filmmaking and the visual arts have always been a passion of mine. Ours is an industry rich in talent and ideas, yet we all know just how hard it can be to secure both the funding and the trust needed for projects when you have yet to make your mark.
This is why we are announcing the PiaPressure awards, where Filmmakers can apply for and receive investment funding and support necessary to take the next step up towards full feature or series length productions.
When you say that you are looking for people with a proven track record, how do you define that?
‘Proven track record’ means filmmakers who have a showreel or filmography to prove they have the talent to deliver on their ambition. The PiaPressure award is not for first timers, it’s for experienced talent who think as we do, and who’s projects we can help with.
Do you have to be based in the UK to apply?
No, we are happy to consider applications from anywhere – it is the quality of the ideas and the people behind them that we are interested in most
What genres of production are you looking for?
We are very happy to consider applications for projects from all genres and in all forms. We are looking for projects that tick the right boxes for us, and these are not genre specific. If the project submitted for an award is original and daring, and if we feel it is something with great potential and a great team behind, it’s a contender…
Are you looking for any particular voices and stories to back?
As a female director and filmmaker, I know first-hand how tough it can be for women to break through, so I do have a personal interest in female voices. Strong female leads are missing from Hollywood, particularly female filmmakers (just look at recent Oscars – all white men!). In fact, our first Award winner is the very talented and wonderful female writer/director Debs Patterson. But we are currently looking at some really great filmmakers, men and women…
Will Pia Pressure awards support filmmakers through the production and distribution process?
Yes, though filmmaking teams are expected to deliver on the ideas independently. We will help, but we expect self-reliance in our filmmakers – we are investing in individuals who possess these skills as well as raw talent. We will help with festival distribution and provide a platform to help raise the profile of Award winners within the industry and will be first in line with further support should a project merit it. A win for PiaPressure is seeing everyone of the award winners go on to find mainstream success.
How will award winners be contracted to Pia Pressure? Will an SPV be created for each individual production selected, with Pia Pressure driving it?
Each project will be reviewed and contracted to PiaPressure according to its needs and qualities, on a case by case basis. Each will be an SPV, with PiaPressure offering business and creative mentorship to help at each step.
Pia Getty and Debs Paterson
Have any awards been made yet?
Yes! We held at launch party not he 21st March at the Hospital Club, at which we also announced the first award winner, writer/director Debs Patterson. Debs is great. She’s an immensely talented award winning filmmaker in her own right, driven, she believes as we do in building a community of filmmakers through the PiaPressure network… and she has some a killer idea for a feature we are helping her develop. We all love Debs.
What are the benefits for becoming part of the Pia Pressure network?
PiaPressure is not just about securing funding for your project. We are a community setup by filmmakers, for filmmakers. Award winners will have access to all the help and advice from the growing PiaPressure network. Advice and mentorship from us, from the other Award winners, and thanks to our partnership with the H.Club foundation, each winner will receive a bursary entitling each winner to a year’s membership to the Hospital club – a great place to meet other creatives and network in the nations capital.
What is the bigger picture aim for 5 or 10 years down the line?
Over time, PiaPressure aim to change the way visual arts projects and filmmakers themselves are developed in the UK. We see PiaPressure as a safe harbour for emerging talent, with our network growing year on year, and as such able to offer something vital for the next generation of filmmakers. And by growing partnerships and fostering cooperation within the industry, we hope to develop PiaPressure into a powerful enabling force. I’m really excited for the future.
Fore more information on the awards, visit www.PiaPressure.com
