Pitching & Packaging

What makes a good pitch? How do you package your projects to set yourself up for success in the film & tv industry. This is your inside look into what development executives, funders and investors are looking for.  About The Hosts: Shant Joshi - President Shant Joshi is an award-winning producer and president of Fae Pictures, based in New York and Toronto, on a mission to decolonize Hollywood. His credits include award winners at Sundance (Framing Agnes), Red Sea (In Flames), Iris Prize (Scaring Women at Night), Durban (Runs in the Family), premieres at Cannes, Venice (The Curfew), Toronto, Canneseries (Streams Flow From A River), Aspen (I Live Here), Palm Springs (Diaspora), Hot Docs, Black Star (Noor and Layla), Bentonville, and BFI London, and nominees for the Canadian Screen Awards (Queen Tut). He was also an executive producer on Nisha Pahuja's Academy Award ® nominated film To Kill A Tiger, an impact producer on John Greyson's TEDDY Award-winning film International Dawn Chorus Day, and an associate producer on Ingrid Veninger's Canadian Screen Award-nominated film Porcupine Lake. Lindsay Blair Goeldner - VP of Production Lindsay Blair Goeldner is an award-winning film producer and the director of production at Fae Pictures, a media production company on a mission to decolonize Hollywood. Originally hailing from Toronto, she splits her time between her hometown and New York City.  Lindsay began her producing career in the commercial world and pivoted to narrative after being admitted to the Canadian Film Centre's prestigious Producer Lab in 2019. Since then she has produced and overseen production on many notable and groundbreaking projects ranging from short films to feature films and episodic work. Some of those projects include short films Diaspora (2022, CBC Gem, Vimeo Staff Pick), Scaring Women at Night (2022, Iris Prize Winner, Vimeo Staff Pick); feature films such as Learn to Swim (2022, Netflix US), Going In (2023, Tubi, Apple), Queen Tut (2023, Crave, CBC), I Like Movies (2023, Netflix Canada) which was selected as one of Canada's Top Ten films of 2022; and the series Streams Flow from a River (2023, Canneseries, Prime Video), which has been renewed for a second season. Through her work, Lindsay aims to elevate emerging and underrepresented talent which continues to be a defining and driving force in her career. Abdul Malik - VP of Development  Abdul Malik,‬‭ a WGC screenwriter and‬‭ award-winning‬‭ journalist based out‬ of Toronto and Edmonton,‬‭ hails from a family of Pakistani immigrants‬‭ and is a‬ 2022 CFC Bell Media Prime Time TV Program graduate. He dropped out of film school to pursue politics, spending his twenties working in the‬ labour movement, participating in worker struggles across Canada as an organizer and photojournalist. Abdul returned‬ to the film industry, starting as the co-writer of the Telefilm-funded‬‭ Peace by Chocolate‬‭, which premiered‬‭ at the Tribeca‬ Film Festival. Abdul's been in writers' rooms on shows such as CTV's‬‭ Transplant,‬‭ Corus/NBC's‬‭ Departure‬‭ ,‬‭ and was a‬ supervising producer on CBC/Lark Production's procedural,‬‭ Allegiance‬‭ . He also penned the Telefilm-funded feature Queen Tut. He served as Executive Producer/Showrunner on season two of the Super Channel digital series‬‭ Streams‬ Flow from a River,‬‭ which was selected for the 2023 Canneseries Program.  Leonard Chan - Director of Development  Leonard Chan is a writer/comedian from Toronto, Canada. As a comedian, he has been heard on Sirius/XM radio and seen on television at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, the Halifax Comedy Festival, StandUp NBC in New York, and the prestigious Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. As a writer, he's worked on shows such as the international hit Kim's Convenience, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, 16 Hudson, Hello (Again) and Streams Flow From A River.He also has two degrees in engineering which he uses only as punchlines and a totally legal number of cats. Lisa Valencia-Svensson - VP of Finance (Pray Away, Call Centre Blues) Lisa is an Emmy award winning and Academy Award shortlisted producer, VP of Finance at Fae Pictures, and consultant for the Documentary Organization of Canada's Business Concierge program. She was previously the Managing Director of the Racial Equity Media Collective and the Acting Industry Programs Director at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. Before that she was Head of Operations at Multitude Films. Credits include IT'S ONLY LIFE AFTER ALL, PRAY AWAY, ALWAYS IN SEASON, CALL HER GANDA, HERMAN'S HOUSE, MIGRANT DREAMS and THE WORLD BEFORE HER.