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Pitch teams meeting with decision makers
Photo by Murphy Owusu

Hot Docs Deal Maker is a one-on-one pitch meeting program for producers seeking financing and distribution from the international marketplace.

The most compelling projects were pre-selected for these valuable meetings with key broadcasters, online platforms, funds and foundations, distributors and sales agents, and other financiers. Projects at all stages—development, production and post-production—can apply to Deal Maker.

During the 2025 edition of Hot Docs Deal Maker, 52 projects representing 45 countries pitched in 650 + pre-arranged meetings with over 90 decision makers — all within just three days: two in person and one online.

Applicants are encouraged to complete their applications themselves and not use Chat GPT or other forms of AI.

If you are employing AI for translation purposes, please note this in your submission. We encourage you to have these translated sections reviewed to ensure they clearly and accurately reflect your project.

PLEASE NOTE: Accepted film teams are responsible for own travel, accommodation, and industry passes.

Hot Docs Deal Maker and Works-in-Progress are the same application process. When applying, you can choose to apply for both.

Distribution Rendezvous has merged with Deal Maker. Projects that wish to meet with distributors and sales agents, and have not yet closed financing, should apply to Deal Maker.

How It Works

Selected projects participate in a series of 20-minute pitch meetings with the decision makers with whom they have matched.

Selected participants request meetings with participating decision makers. Decision makers review requests and accept those that are appropriate for their mandates. The Hot Docs industry team also provide some curated matchmaking.

History

During the 2025 edition of Hot Docs Deal Maker, 52 projects representing 45 countries pitched in 650 + pre-arranged meetings with over 90 decision makers — all within just three days: two in person and one online. During the in-person Industry days, an average of 15 meetings were happening simultaneously at all times. Among the selection, 14 projects represent Canada, while 21 boast BIPOC directors, and 32 are helmed or co-helmed by women. Notably, 14 projects mark the directorial debut of promising talents.

Since its inception, 744 projects and 740+ filmmakers have pitched in almost 5700 Deal Maker meetings.

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