Proudly presented by VicScreen, The FACTory is AIDC’s international pitching showcase for new documentary and factual projects.
Do you have a unique documentary or series project in development that has global appeal and is market ready? Would you like the opportunity to pitch your project to a world-class line-up of Australian and international commissioners, sales agents, funders, and distributors at AIDC 2024?
Applications for the 2024 edition of AIDC’s international pitching showcase for new documentary and factual projects – The FACTory – are open from Wednesday 20 September 2023.
Projects with strong market potential will be selected to pitch to international and local decision makers across three strands: Central Showcase, New Talent Showcase and Rough Cut Showcase. Decision makers come from a range of backgrounds and include commissioning editors, broadcasters, streamers, sales agents, distributors, funders, and festivals.
In 2024, AIDC welcomes all producers and decision makers to attend the FACTory in-person while still providing the opportunity to participate online if needed.
In 2024, The FACTory will feature:
- an enhanced line-up of international decision makers assessing and providing feedback on projects;
- access to more extensive online mentoring conducted by experienced screen practitioners, in addition to group and individual pitch training;
- greater opportunity for one-on-one meetings with key decision makers by having high visibility and priority in the marketplace.
In the last eight years, AIDC has supported more than 100 project teams to participate in The FACTory. Don’t miss your chance to pitch to the people who can help realise your vision!
For details and deadlines, see below.
AIDC’s Industry Team works closely with an international assessment committee to shortlist projects for the prestigious FACTory program.
The program will offer tailored feedback and training from industry experts in the lead-up, and increased opportunities for business outcomes by hosting both a live pitch and a tailored one-to-one meeting program with decision makers during AIDC.
Selected projects will pitch and present their trailers over 7 minutes (or 15 minutes for Rough Cuts), and will also be required to submit a pre-recorded pitch ahead of AIDC (with trailer or footage included in this edit), to be made available to decision makers who cannot physically attend. Select decision makers will then:
- Request meetings with projects to occur during AIDC
- Provide feedback on the projects
Entry to the FACTory is competitive, so please ensure your projects are original ideas that will appeal to buyers across Australian and international markets.
The FACTory’s Central Showcase is designed to present experienced project teams to international decision makers, including commissioners, funders, streamers, distributors, sales agents, and festivals. Projects in development and production demonstrating strong international potential will be automatically considered for this showcase.
Click ‘Read More’ below for information about Applicant Eligibility and Project Eligibility.
Applicant eligibility
- Australian and international filmmakers are eligible to apply.
- Individuals, teams or companies may apply.
- Applicants must be the rights holder in the work.
- Applicants must be 18 years of age or over.
- There is a fee to cover handling and administration of your application.
- Entry for each project must be submitted via the FACTory portal (see below).
Project eligibility
- Entry is open to feature films, singles, and series.
- Projects should be at development or production stage (projects in post-production may be eligible for the FACTory’s Rough Cut Showcase – refer to the submission guidelines below for this strand).
- Projects need to be recognised factual or documentary formats intended for broadcast and distribution. The Australian Content Standard defines documentary as ‘a program that is a creative treatment of actuality other than a news, current affairs, sports coverage, magazine, infotainment or light entertainment program’. For more info, visit the ACMA website.
If successful, applicants will be required to purchase an All Access Pass at a discounted FACTory participant rate in order to pitch. Refer to relevant Submission Guidelines for further details.
FACTory 2024 Submission Guidelines available 20 September 2023
The FACTory’s New Talent Showcase is designed to present the brightest new screen talents to decision makers and production companies around the world. Projects in development and production featuring a director or producer presenting their first major work will be automatically considered for this showcase.
Click ‘Read More’ below for information about Applicant Eligibility and Project Eligibility.
Applicant eligibility
- Australian and international filmmakers are eligible to apply.
- Individuals, teams or companies may apply.
- Applicants must be the rights holder in the work.
- Applicants must be 18 years of age or over.
- There is a fee to cover handling and administration of your application.
- Entry for each project must be submitted via the FACTory portal (see below).
PLUS
- The director or producer must be presenting their first major documentary or factual work (excluding shorts).
- The director or producer may have experience working in XR, online, commercials, fiction or theatre, and previous credits in these fields will not disqualify them.
- The director or producer may have experience working in documentary, factual or unscripted production, in roles other than their Central credit on the submitted project (e.g. cinematographer, editor, assistant director, etc).
Project eligibility
- Entry is open to feature films, singles, and series.
- Projects should be at development or production stage (projects in post-production may be eligible for the FACTory’s Rough Cut Showcase – refer to the submission guidelines below for this strand).
- Projects need to be recognised factual or documentary formats intended for broadcast and distribution. The Australian Content Standard defines documentary as ‘a program that is a creative treatment of actuality other than a news, current affairs, sports coverage, magazine, infotainment or light entertainment program’. For more info, visit the ACMA website.
If successful, applicants will be required to purchase an All Access Pass at a discounted FACTory participant rate in order to pitch. Refer to relevant Submission Guidelines for further details.
FACTory 2024 Submission Guidelines available 20 September 2023
The FACTory’s Rough Cut Showcase is designed to present projects in late stages and post-production that need to close financing gaps, and secure sales, distribution and festival opportunities.
Click ‘Read More’ below for information about Applicant Eligibility and Project Eligibility
Applicant eligibility
- Australian and international filmmakers are eligible to apply.
- Individuals, teams or companies may apply.
- Applicants must be the rights holder in the work.
- Applicants must be 18 years of age or over.
- There is a fee to cover handling and administration of your application.
- Entry for each project must be submitted via the FACTory portal (see below).
Project eligibility
- Entry is open to feature films and singles at post-production stage that will not be completed before AIDC in March 2023.
- Applicants must submit up to 20 minutes of footage (max), which can comprise of either a length of consecutive film or an assembly of sequences, provided in a single streamable link. Please do not submit an entire film.
- In addition to the Rough Cut footage submission, you may supply a trailer or teaser of up to three minutes.
- If selected, the team will have 15 minutes to pitch (approximately 5 minutes for a verbal pitch and 10 minutes of footage).
- Projects need to be recognised documentary formats intended for broadcast and distribution. The Australian Content Standard defines documentary as ‘a program that is a creative treatment of actuality other than a news, current affairs, sports coverage, magazine, infotainment or light entertainment program’. For more info, visit the ACMA website.
If successful, applicants will be required to purchase an All Access Pass at a discounted FACTory participant rate in order to pitch. Refer to relevant Submission Guidelines for further details.
FACTory 2024 Submission Guidelines available 20 September 2023
“I COULDN’T RECOMMEND THE FACTORY HIGHLY ENOUGH. IT’S SUCH A VALUABLE PLATFORM FOR BOTH A PROJECT AND TEAM BEHIND IT, ALLOWING FOR A RARE CHANCE TO CONNECT WITH A WIDE RANGE OF SOME OF THE TOP DECISION MAKERS IN THE INDUSTRY. THE MENTORSHIP PROVIDED BY THE TEAM AND ADVISORS IS INVALUABLE, IT’S SUCH AN INCREDIBLY SUPPORTIVE PROCESS THAT SETS EACH PROJECT UP FOR SUCCESS.”
– MOLLY O’CONNOR
FILM CAMP
All 2024 submissions for the FACTory will be independently assessed by a panel of highly experienced screen professionals hand-picked by AIDC.
Projects are assessed and shortlisted based on the following criteria:
- Strength and originality of the project;
- The commercial viability of the project in the marketplace;
- The project’s international appeal;
- The track record of the creative team and any finance already in place.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to provide visual materials (trailer, teaser, or footage from the project) as part of their submission.
MEET THE ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE
- Theresa Navarro, Co-Director & COO, Catapult Film Fund (USA)
- Alexandre Marionneau, Commissioning Editor & Head of International Co-Productions, ARTE France (France)
- Lindsay Monture, Festival Director, imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival (Canada)
- Patrick Hurley, Head of Distribution & Business Affairs, Sandbox Films, (USA)
- Jia Zhao, Director Co-production & Sales (Asia), Off the Fence (Netherlands/China)
CLICK HERE to learn more about the Assessment Committee members.
Building on previous offerings of support to FACTory pitching teams, AIDC is increasing the opportunities available to selected projects. Teams will be paired with a mentor/tutor in the lead-up to AIDC, and sessions will focus on:
- Story interrogation
- Budget and finance interrogation (if needed)
- Pitch training
- Trailer consultations
MEET THE 2024 MENTORS
- Jane Mote, Editorial Consultant, The Whickers (UK)
- Zeynep Güzel, Filmmaker, Consultant and Head of Doc Station at Berlinale Talents (Germany)
- Gary Byungseok Kam, Founder, Producer & Director, Mirror & Story (Korea)
Learn more about the 2024 Mentors HERE.
Each year, AIDC partners with international documentary industry events to provide FACTory pitch prizes, allowing successful projects to attend and / or participate in other forums and marketplaces.
2024 PITCH PRIZES
- Two complimentary passes to participate in DOK Leipzig 2024 (Leipzig, Germany)
- Two complimentary passes to participate in Doc Edge 2024 (Auckland, New Zealand)
- Two complimentary festival passes to participate in Sheffield DocFest 2024 (Sheffield, UK)
- Two complimentary passes to participate in Hot Docs Industry 2024 (Toronto, Canada)
- Two complimentary passes to participate in Sunny Side of the Doc 2024 (La Rochelle, France)
- Two complimentary passes to participate in Docs by the Sea 2024 (Bali, Indonesia)
Plus more to be announced!
“AIDC IS A FANTASTIC GATHERING OF PEOPLE PASSIONATE ABOUT TELLING TRUE STORIES, IN A WAY THAT HELPS US MAKE SENSE OF THE WORLD. IT IS LOCKED IN THE DIARY EVERY YEAR, AND EVERY TIME I COME AWAY INSPIRED AND EVEN MORE COMMITTED TO THIS GREAT COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE.”
– STEPHEN OLIVER
COMMISSIONING EDITOR, FACTUAL, ABC
UPDATE: APPLICATIONS FOR THE FACTORY 2024 ARE NOW CLOSED
Applications open: Wednesday 20 September 2023 at 11:00 AEST
Regular Deadline: Wednesday, 15 November 2023 at 23:59 AEDT
Submission cost AUD $55.00 (inc GST) per project*
Late Deadline: Sunday, 19 November 2023 at 23:59 AEDT
Submissions cost AUD $65.00 (inc GST) per project*
FORM CLOSED
Note: To complete your application you will first need to register for a free MY AIDC account (or login to your existing account). The application form link above will prompt you to register (or login) to your MY AIDC account before you are able to access and complete your form. Please contact info@aidc.com.au if you encounter any issues.
Submissions received after 19 November 2023 at 23:59 AEDT will not be accepted. Once the submission process is complete, submissions can no longer be amended.
Questions? pitch@aidc.com.au
*a 2.5% credit card is added to all purchases at checkout.
Submitting to The FACTory?
To help you prepare your best possible pitch, Getty Images have partnered with AIDC to provide you – absolutely free – access to their extensive library of stills and video you can use for your application.
The Getty Images online library has over 25 million clips, including content from leading editorial video producers such as TVNZ, NBC News Archives, BBC Motion Gallery, ITN and Bloomberg.
Content is available for every subject imaginable – from the moments that define humanity, to wildlife, climate change and sustainability, modern and historical change-makers and much, much more.
For more information or to request archive stills or footage, click the link below.
