Best Pitch Forward was a Creative Entrepreneur Meetup hosted on November 27, 2020 in partnership with JAMPRO. This was an exciting opportunity for creative entrepreneurs to share their creative ventures with a panel of three investors. From the 39 applications, 12 creative entrepreneurs were chosen to share their creative ventures with a panel of three investors, resulting in five winners and total cash prizes of $400,000.
The top spots included an Investors’ Choice winner, first runner up, and second runner up. The public got the chance to vote for their favourite pitch for the People’s Choice Award. In addition to the opportunity to pitch for funding, the chosen entrepreneurs have also attended private B2B meetings with a wider group of investors throughout December 2020. These private investor match-making sessions, organized by JAMPRO, were intended to attract additional investment into their projects and move these creative businesses to the next level.
THE WINNERS
1. 1ST PLACE – INVESTORS’ CHOICE WINNERS
– Kevin Jackson – $105,000
Kevin Jackson of Night Vision Media pitched a 2D animated series entitled ‘Melly and Delly’, aimed at young children ages 3 to 6. It follows an “exuberant twin brother and sister from a rural community in Jamaica, who turn their everyday problems into adventures with their mom, a local farmer and entrepreneur.”
– Ina Sotirova – $105,000
Ina Sotirova pitched her feature film project ‘Mango Magic’. MANGO MAGIC is a magical realism film about 11-year-old Jazz, who discovers his heart’s superpower with the help of a Rasta mystic and his magic mangoes, and returns home to heal his dysfunctional family and save the environment, against the backdrop of his beloved grandfather’s death.
2. 2ND PLACE – INVESTORS’ CHOICE WINNER
– Saeed Thomas – $90,000
Saeed Thomas is producing a short film entitled ‘Black Girl in the Ring’ , which was presented by the project’s Director, Joshua Paul. BLACK GIRL IN THE RING, set in the backdrop of 18th Century Jamaica, is a 20 minute short that tells a coming of age story of Jamaican National Hero, Nanny of the Maroons. Nanny is conflicted by wanting to fit into the plantation culture that teaches her to not respect her skin colour and ancestry.
3. 3RD PLACE – INVESTORS’ CHOICE WINNER
– Evonè Walters – $50,000
She gave a passionate pitch of Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ as a fun and exciting way to engage Literature students. THE TEMPEST brings an exciting, creative and innovative way of learning for CXC CSEC students. The Shakespearean play will be staged in the Jamaican culture, filmed and distributed on their website. This filmed play will also be fused in an online course and marketed to CSEC English Literature students as an examination preparation tool.
4. PEOPLE’S CHOICE PITCH WINNER
– Natasha Griffiths – $50,000
Natasha gave a thrilling pitch for ‘Hush Baby Hush, a film about a naive 13-year-old girl, on the cusp of escaping the humdrum of rural Jamaica to live her American dream. Her American dream is dashed when she unwittingly exposes the illegitimacy of her unborn brother and her stepfather abandons them.
All winners also received one (1) month free coworking at the Kingston Creative Hub and Private B2B meetings with JAMPRO Investors.
All persons who pitched on the night but did not place, all received one (1) day free coworking at the Kingston Creative Hub and Private B2B meetings with JAMPRO Investors.
