Filmmakers should learn art of pitching: Manikandan

Mumbai: Filmmaker Manikandan strongly believes aspiring filmmakers should also develop the skill to pitch their films along with strong acumen over various crafts of cinema.

"If you have just 5-7 minutes to convince a distributor to invest in your film, how'd you do it? Here's where the art of pitching plays a vital role," Manikandan told IANS at the ongoing 17th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.

Widely popular for his critically-acclaimed Tamil directorial debut "Kaaka Muttai", he was here to present his second directorial "Kutrame Thandanaia in the Film Mart, an initiative aimed to bridge the gap between content creator and content platform.

"Pitching to a distributor is equivalent to meeting a star and narrating one line of your story. One can't afford to waste too much time. It also shows how streamlined someone thoughts are about their film," he said.

The Mart featured international buyers like Lionsgate, Cinetic Media and Rapid Eye Movies.

Representing the studios are Yash Raj Films, Viacom18 and PVR Pictures. The producers present were Drishyam and Phantom Films; digital platforms such as HotStar, SonyLIV and HOOQ; and mobile operators like Airtel and Jio.

The list of other curated films includes "Peddlers", "Monsoon Shootout", "Haraamkhoor" and "Thithi".