It’s been referred to as such more than once, and at the M:brane financing forum for youth content in Malmö, the Noble Art of Pitching is, in fact, its own prize category. Out of this year’s batch of presented projects, several should receive resources for further development, but only one will walk away with the Pitch Award of €2,500, launched in collaboration with Creative Europe. Preliminary tutoring has been provided by director-producer Thomas Borch Nielsen, himself a three-time recipient and clearly worth listening to.

Twenty-six projects in search of funding and/or partnerships form the 2021 line-up. The media formats range widely between live action and animation, fiction and documentary, big screen, television and web series, plus a few interactive and VR works, all promising worthwhile content for the savvy young audience that is the M:brane target group. Equally extensive is the international spread, counting 20 different nationalities – a record for the forum, likely helped by the newfound democracy that is digital participation. Starting out as a mainly Nordic affair 15 years ago and gradually expanding, M:brane can this year boast about presenting projects from the Philippines, Jordan and Jamaica, as well as a good chunk of the European continent.

The M:brane Pitch Days take place from 17-18 March, after which a discerning jury will crown the noblest contender. All M:brane info can be found here.

Here is the full list of projects being pitched this year:

Fiction projects

Dad’s Red Dress – director tbc (Ireland) (series)
Producer: Niamh Fagan (Lunar Pictures)

Dr. Butterfly's Kids – director tbc (Poland)
Producer: Ewa Konopko (ARIA FILM)

Dustzone – Stepan Vodrazka Fok (Czech Republic)
Producer: Šlajer Vratislav (Bionaut)

HANSPERI the Hamster – Mariko Härkönen (Finland)
Producer: Outi Rousu (Pystymetsä Oy)

IBIS – Maria Burgués, Enric Sant (Spain) (short)
Producer: Maria Burgués (Dvein Films)

iNanny – Ernestas Jankauskas (Lithuania)
Producer: Greta Akcijonaite (Dansu Films)

Lala - A Fairy's Heart – Attila Gigor (Hungary)
Producer: Jozsef Berger (Mythberg Films)

Lyra's Wish – Juliane Block (UK)
Producer: Wolf-Peter Arand (J Blockbuster Ltd)

Mango Magic – Ina Sotirova (Jamaica)
Producer: Natalie Thompson (Cinecom Productions Limited)

Myshko and Dzvinka – Liza Astretsova (Ukraine) (series)
Producer: Michael Margulis (LLC Studio KAPI)

Nico Finds a Treasure – Vardis Marinakis (Greece)
Producer: Rea Apostolides (Anemon Productions)

Ninja from Manila – Miko Livelo (Philippines)
Producer: Alemberg Ang (vy/ac Productions)

Seraphine – Sarah Van Den Boom (France)
Producer: Valérie Montmartin (Little Big Story)

The Black Dragon Express – Mathias Rodrigues Bjerre (Denmark) (series)
Producer: tbc

Tree&Bee – Vjekoslav Zivkovic, Denis Alenti (Croatia) (series)
Producer: Denis Alenti (Recircle)

Vandring - Journey to the West – Jody Gannon (Ireland)
Producer: Jody Gannon (The Big B animation)

Between Sajvee and the Sky – Oskar Njajta Östergren (Sweden) (series)
Producer: Therese Högberg (Bautafilm AB)

The Bearville Buddies – director tbc (Denmark) (series)
Producer: Morten Kaufmann (Tiny Film ApS)

Documentary projects

Five Football Dreams – Bassel Ghandour, Luciano Pérez Fernández (Jordan)
Producer: Hashem Sabbagh (Bayt Al Shawareb)

Behind Lucy – Ruth Chao (Spain)
Producer: Alphonse De La Puente (Somadrome Films)

My Dream. My Story – Matthias Zirzow (Germany) (series)
Producer: Gunnar Dedio (LOOKS Film & TV Produktionen GmbH)

VERTICAL REPUBLIC (of skateboard) – Romain Mournier, Alex Peneau (France) (series)
Producer: Quentin Molina (FELIZ FILMS)

Game of Minds – Petri Luukkainen, Jesse Jokinen (Finland) (series)
Producer: Marianne Mäkelä (napafilms oy)

VR and interactive projects

The Garden – Karin Johansson-Mex, Nils Peder Holm (Sweden)
Producer: Karin Johansson-Mex (Skillinge Theatre)

Everything You Need to Know – Martin Edström (Sweden)
Producer: Fredrik Edström (Ivar Studio)

Kid's Earth – Lilia Schneider, Paul Kolvenbach (Germany)
Producer: Lilia Schneider (CINÉ-LITTÉ Productions)