Documentary festival Sheffield DocFest and Climate Spring are to launch the Climate Spring Documentary Pitch at Sheffield DocFest 2025.
Four creatives will pitch their documentary idea at Sheffield DocFest 2025 and one winner will receive £10,000 development funding and support from Climate Spring.
This documentary development pitch aims to “offer exposure and creative support for experienced producers, directors and production companies with commercially viable climate stories for TV and streamers.”
The brief is for a project for the TV/Streamer market that will “discover exciting new content in climate storytelling and demonstrate how compelling narratives inspire and entertain a broad audience.” The project could be for a returnable doc-series, a “bingeable” box set, a “thought-provoking format”, or a “noisy single”. Feature doc ideas are not being sought.
The pitch will look for ideas that fall into one of two categories:
Justice: Who is responsible for this crisis? How can we demonstrate to the audience that ordinary people can create justice against the odds?
Change: Audiences want to know what responding to the climate crisis means for us all. What will the journey towards a better future look like?
Four shortlisted ideas will be pitched live at an event during the Sheffield Documentary Festival. The competition will be judged by experts in the TV and climate narrative spaces, including commissioners, producers and funders. The winning pitch will be announced on the day. Successfully shortlisted ideas will receive a festival pass and a contribution towards their travel and accommodation.
Applicants will need to submit an up-to-date CV, and a one-page (A4) text version of the documentary idea. The one-pager will have a “strong and compelling topline” followed by a bullet point format/narrative/story arc. “You can support your idea with an eye-catching image or poster.”
The deadline to apply is Monday 19th May 2025. To apply, click here.
Josh Cockcroft, Climate Spring’s Director, said: “We’re thrilled to bring this new pitch competition to Sheffield DocFest — a festival that champions bold, creative storytelling. This competition is about finding those standout ideas that don’t just document a crisis but show how we navigate through it — how we build justice, resilience and agency. We’re calling on brilliant creatives to show audiences what the journey to a regenerative future really looks like.”
David Leach, Climate Spring’s Head of Unscripted, said: “For me, having been a producer for almost 20 years, Sheffield DocFest is the place to go in our industry to do business and catch up with the documentary community. It is a creative space where talented filmmakers, commissioners, funders, and upcoming directors can connect and make amazing things happen. The Climate Crisis needs creative minds to engage and help show the way forward. Documentaries have done so much to highlight the problem, our challenge now is to show the solution.”
Mimi Poskitt, Sheffield DocFest’s Managing Director, added: “We’re incredibly excited to be able to work with Climate Spring to support film makers tell the essential stories that need to be shared around the Climate Crisis. Climate Spring’s expertise will enable some of our best film makers to bring these urgent issues to light.”
Jon Creamer
Share this story
