NI Screenwriter Will Pitch

Northern Irish screenwriter David McCrea has won one of ten places in the Son of the Pitch competition organised by the Screenwriters' Festival (SWF) in conjunction with 4Talent, according to Northern Ireland Screen. His pitch for the feature film entitled Lottery was selected from over 900 entries.

David will be pitching his idea in front of a live audience and to a panel of industry experts who will ask about his pitch and, in a cunning twist for SWF'09, the audience will also get to ask questions.

The prize includes a free four day ticket (worth £300) to the Screenwriters' Festival 2009 taking place Monday 26th to Thursday 29th October in Cheltenham courtesy of SWF and 4Talent.

As one of the 10 finalists David also gets a private masterclass in pitching from Julian Friedmann of the 'Blake Friedmann Agency'. Three winners will be chosen but the real prize is the industry professionals listening to the pitch in the audience who could feel that your idea is exactly what they are looking for.

This Son of the Pitch event is one of the most prestigious opportunities for screenwriters, in particular undiscovered talent, in the UK to breakthrough and be discovered.

David recently wrote, produced, and directed his debut short film, "The Carnival Queen", and is developing several feature film scripts, his second short film, an online drama series, and a television sitcom.

The full shortlist of winners is:

• Philippa Langley - The Council
• Steve Moore - OneFourSeven
• Tim Clague - Delete Friend?
• Khalid Shamis - Chilli Chilli Bang Bang
• Martin Keady - The First Man
• David McCrea - Lottery
• David Turner - In the Name of Light Entertainment
• Stavros Pamballis - Saving Abeo
• Tim Telling - Office Gothic
• Zenon Texeira - Maddogs and Indian Men