Submissions are now closed.
Early Deadline: May 5 ($45)
Final Deadline: May 24 ($60) – 11:59pm Hawaii-Aleutian Time Extended Deadline: June 3 ($60) – 11:59pm Hawaii-Aleutian Time
About
Spotlight on Documentaries is a successful market for U.S. and international buyers, sales agents, and financiers to meet with filmmakers with new non-fiction feature and series projects in development and production
Presenting 60+ documentary projects ranging from those at an early financing stage (i.e. early development or in production) to those nearing completion (i.e. in post-production or at a rough cut stage), this section includes emerging and established filmmakers working in non-fiction.
Accepted filmmakers take part in pre-scheduled one-on-one meetings with potential financing and distribution partners, speed dating meetings with festival programmers, and invitations to private documentary events.
Timeline
— Information Session: April 28 (view a recording of the session here)
— Early Submission Deadline: May 5
— Final Submission Deadline: May 24
— Submissions Notifications: mid-July
— 2022 Gotham Week Project Market: September 18 – 23
Eligibility & Application Materials
- To apply to the Project Market, you must be a member of The Gotham. Use the code GWPM22 for 25% off of your annual membership fee when you join at the Pro or Essential level. Learn more about membership.
- Filmmakers with a project in development, production or post-production seeking financing partners, broadcast/distribution, and festival invitations.
- Projects may only be submitted by US filmmakers or a filmmaker or producer residing in the US. International filmmakers can apply through one of Gotham’s Presenting Partners, see below.
- Feature-length applicants must have a visual sample to submit (requirements below).
- Long-Form Doc Series should have an intended episode length of at least 22 minutes or a significant sample and deck or bible; it can be in development or production but must have a visual sample to submit.
- Short-Form Doc Series must have an intended episode length of no more than 15 minutes; it can be in development or production but must have a visual sample to submit. Deck or bible also recommended.
- Features (intended 52 mins or longer). Work-in-progress features in production or post-production, but not yet complete, with sample material to submit
- Series – Long Form (episode length 22 mins or longer). Limited or continuing series of two or more episodes; in development or production with sample material to submit preferred.
- Series – Short Form (avg episode length 15 mins or less). Limited or continuing series of three or more episodes; in development or production with sample material to submit required.
- Projects need to have a sample of at least 6 minutes and no more than 20 minutes.
- Projects in Rough Cut stage can submit maximum 40 minutes of edited footage or identify (timecode) the 40 minutes of longer cut the committee should watch.
For more information, please read: Program Guidelines and FAQ.
Recent Alumni
Jessica Kingdon’s Ascension, Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes, Reid Davenport’s I Didn’t See You There; Alex Pritz’s The Territory, Angelo Madsen Minax’s North by Current, Jon-Sesrie Goff’s After Sherman, Steven Bognar & Julia Reichert’s American Factory, Jessica Earnshaw’s Jacinta, Rachel Lears’ Knock Down the House, Luke Lorentzen’s Midnight Family, Brett Story’s The Hottest August, Stephen Maing’s Crime + Punishment, Almudena Carracedo & Robert Bahar’s The Silence of Others, Michael Palmieri & Donal Mosher’s The Gospel of Eureka, Nancy Schwartzman’s Roll Red Roll, Kirsten Johnson’s Cameraperson, Nanfu Wang’s I Am Another You, Keith Maitland’s Tower, Yance Ford’s Strong Island, Lyric Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe’s (T)error, Catherine Gund’s Chavela.
Presenting Partners
Around the world, The Gotham has partnerships with key support organizations and funding bodies that provide the most exciting international projects the opportunity to seek out the resources and connections the Project Forum can provide. Non-U.S. applicants to the Project Forum may only submit via these partners.
2022 Presenting Partners
- ACE Producers
- CineMart – International Film Festival Rotterdam
- CoPro – The Israel Documentary Screen Market (docs only)
- EAVE
- French in Motion / CNC
- Hot Docs Forum, Deal Maker and Rendezvous (docs only)
- IDFA Forum (docs only)
- Israel Film Fund
- National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa
- Screen Scotland
- Sheffield Doc/Fest MeetMarket (docs only)
- Sundance Institute
- Telefilm Canada
- TorinoFilmLab
- Venice Biennale College – Cinema.