Feature Film Pitch Deck

Raen Messina

A working space for concept development, research, script, and funding preparation.

The Working Room

Each section below is a container for ideas, research, and deliverables. As the project develops, these will be filled in and refined until they form a complete pitch.

Film Concept

Active

Logline

A lonely old man, starved for intimacy, fakes a disability and hires a young woman to look after him. What he doesn't know is that she has a secret of her own.

Setting

Two worlds. The first: his small, cramped, messy apartment -- the real world. The second: the world of the novel he is writing, which she helps him edit -- a hut on the edge of the ocean, surrounded by rocky cliffs. The film moves between these two spaces, blurring where one ends and the other begins.

Central Tension

When we begin to care for someone and depend on them, how much does honesty matter? Both characters grow emotionally and physically dependent on each other -- even as they begin to realise they are both lying.

The Novel Within the Film

The old man's novel is a mermaid allegory: an old man finds a woman washed onto the beach after a storm. He nurses her back to health. She doesn't speak. It's the classic male fantasy of the helpless woman you must care for and guide -- a semi-father figure narrative that dates back to ancient Greek mythology. His dreams and desires are almost childlike, expressed through this story. That's the point of it. The film unpacks that allegory.

Resonances

A deeply human story of two people who become emotionally and physically dependent on each other. The timeline is non-linear.

Script

In Progress

The screenplay. This is the backbone of the entire pitch. Without a script, there is no film.

Prompts to move forward:

Outline the three-act structure
Write character profiles for the main cast
What is the opening scene? Write a first draft
Identify key scenes that need to exist

Research & References

Active

Films, books, articles, visual references, and anything that feeds the creative and strategic direction.

Prompts to move forward:

List 5 films that share a similar tone or vision
Research South African film funding bodies
Find visual references for the look and feel
What are comparable independent films and their budgets?

Budget

Not Started

Realistic cost breakdown. Funders need to see you understand what this costs and where the money goes.

Prompts to move forward:

Research typical budgets for indie features of this scope
Identify key budget categories (cast, crew, equipment, post, locations)
What can be done in-house at The Hearth?
Draft a top-line budget estimate

Funding Strategy

Active

Where is the money coming from? Grants, investors, co-productions, crowdfunding? Map the terrain.

Prompts to move forward:

List all potential funding sources (NFVF, DTI, private investors, international grants)
What are the application deadlines and requirements?
Is co-production an option? With whom?
Would crowdfunding make sense as a component?

Visual Pitch

Not Started

The designed deck itself. Mood boards, key frames, treatment pages. The thing you hand to someone who can say yes.

Prompts to move forward:

Create a mood board capturing the visual tone
Design a one-sheet (poster concept)
Collect stills or concept art for key scenes
Build the pitch deck layout (Keynote / PDF)

Next Steps

Finish the script

The script is the foundation. Everything else flows from here. Push through to a complete first draft.

Consolidate research

Bring all funding research, references, and notes into this space. Organize by category.

Build the budget

Once the script is solid, break down what it actually costs. Be realistic.

Design the pitch deck

Assemble everything into a polished, presentable document that tells the story of this film.