Winning Filmmakers, Pitches, and Films!
Scroll through to see previous winners' completed films, entries, and testimonials.
Sunday Dinner
Filmmaker: Don Fanelli
Prize: $6,000
Pitch sentence: An Italian-American man confesses to his passionate siblings that he is now vegan and refuses to eat their traditional Sunday meatballs and I need $ for a DP & prod design.
Freelance
Filmmaker: Mike Gerbino
Prize: $5,000
Pitch sentence: When a down-on-her-luck editor takes a job cutting snuff films, she is haunted by visions of the people in her videos; funds would go toward our 3-day principal photography, which begins in the fall.
Americano
Filmmaker: Tim Viola (the OG first winner!)
Prize: $2,000
Pitch sentence: When an undocumented refugee hacker discovers evidence linking a politician to a tragedy on social media, he teams up with a PR director to expose the story; film is shot–need funds for audio post.
I Love Jazz
Filmmaker: David Oster
Prize: $6,000
Pitch sentence: When a man’s own voice warns him of his impending murder via a jazz record, the next few moments are filled with suspense, color, and jazz, and I need funding to shoot all in one choreographed shot.
Treehouse
Filmmaker: Matthew Greenberg
Prize: $5,000
Pitch sentence: A man struggles to understand why each attempt to build the perfect treehouse leaves him staring at an empty tree with no evidence of previous work; the funding will go to creating multiple treehouses
Night Work
Filmmaker: Savanna Hunter-Reeves
Prize: $5,000
Pitch sentence: During another late night at the office, a workaholic new mother finds herself trapped in the building with something inhuman; a portion of the funds will pay a contortionist.
Bamboo
Filmmaker: Harrison Kwong
Prize: $400 KitSplit Gift Card
Pitch sentence: When a shy, Asian man encounters his charismatic, white-washed doppelgänger, the two struggle with each other's claim of dominance over their identity; funding is used for camera/lighting equipment.
Me + Lee
Filmmaker: Giorigio Miraflor
Prize: $400 KitSplit Gift Card
Pitch sentence: Amid grieving, Theo strikes up a unique and possibly toxic friendship with his pizza delivery guy who has the same name as his deceased brother; we need the funding for location and lens rentals.
The Roommate
Filmmaker: Fabio Anffe
Prize: $400 KitSplit Gift Card
Pitch sentence: After hearing noises in his kitchen at night, an old man finds a stranger living in his basement, and their encounter reveals a scary truth about them; funds go to DP, lighting and lens rentals.
The Bridge
Filmmaker: Izabella Amar
Prize: 3-Month Adobe Creative Cloud Subscription
Pitch sentence: A recently unemployed transgender woman forms a deep connection after a chance encounter in an unlikely place; the funds will be used to complete post-production.
More in Production...
We have many more winners who are working on completing their films. See them below.
All Winners to Date
Swipe through to see all of our winning filmmakers. Many are still working on their projects, or they are on the festival circuit with their films!
Tim Viola
Elia Urquiza
Matthew Greenberg
Katie Sadler
David Oster
Robert Murray Dunacn
Don Fanelli
Savanna Hunter-Reeves
Harley Foos
Travis Beard
Bridget Barbara
Jonathan Chen
Lynne Ferguson
Tommy Garcia
Sophie Schrago
Colleen Brady
Christopher Guerrero
Daryl Paris Bright
Malcolm Johnson
Sarah Young
Rachel Lindsay / "Sink"
Giorgio Miraflor
Jeff Bergh
Alexander Russell
Claire Downs
Miles Pasholk
Da'Mon Nero
Lemia Bodden
Erin Lee Deacon
Rebecca Luck
Sarah Kamaras
Swati Tiwari
Vinny Anand
Lindy Stokes
Jenna Kelly
Carya Maharja
Izabella Amar
Max Retik
Alexander Lockett
Christopher Rodriguez
Harrison Kwong
Arielle Friedman
Mike Gerbino
Jo Gennett
Mimi Wilcox
Samantha Severin
Stephanie Ramones
David Linthicum
Marissa Slaven
Micheál Fleming
Sindbad Rumney
Suzanna Klaucke
Emily Erhart
Scott and Emily Naar
Omar Abreu
Pierce Ryan
Lane Stanley
Nader Yousef
Carlos Novoa
Jackson Dorfman
Salem Daniel
Hunter Livingston
Corina Mazzi
Alfred Thomas Catalfo
Andrew Jonathan Smith
Steve Haisman
Adam Zax
Gaoyang Ganjin
Connor Ryan
Eli Newman
Katelyn McCulloch
Miles Gunter
What should my one-sentence pitch look like if I want to get film funding?
Submit it here for a chance to fund your narrative or documentary short film. Filmmakers write in all the time asking if they can see examples of winning sentences. Below you can find real, winning sentences submitted by independent filmmakers who have received thousands of dollars in funding and services to make their short film pitches a reality. You'll notice that not every winning sentence is included here. Out of respect for the filmmakers and their concepts, we don't release the winning sentences until the final films are released. The Film Fund does not favor one genre over another. In addition to the real sentences, our judges have written a few examples, which you'll also find below. You can also read an in-depth analysis of winner Don Fanelli's sentence here.
Example #1: Treehouse
A man struggles to understand why each attempt to build the perfect treehouse leaves him staring at an empty tree with no evidence of previous work; the funding will go to creating multiple treehouses.
Example #2: Sunday Dinner
An Italian-American man confesses to his passionate siblings that he is now vegan and refuses to eat their traditional Sunday meatballs and I need $ for a DP & prod design.
Example #3: Americano
When an undocumented refugee hacker discovers evidence linking a politician to a tragedy on social media, he teams up with a PR director to expose the story; film is shot–need funds for audio post.
Have a great pitch sentence of your own?
Submit it to one of our independent film funding contests here for a chance to receive up to $10,000 in funding and other prizes to make your project a reality.
