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Pitch teams meeting with decision makers

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

The most compelling projects will be pre-selected for these valuable meetings with key broadcasters, online platforms, funds and foundations, and other financiers.

Submissions for the 2022 edition of the Hot Docs Deal Maker are closed. Projects that apply for Hot Docs Forum and/or Deal Maker will be notified of their application status in early March 2022.

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How It Works

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

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

History 

In 2021, 36 projects representing 19 countries and territories were pitched in 800+ Deal Maker meetings to 90 decision makers. The selection included 20 BIPOC directors, 23 projects directed or co-directed by women, and seven projects directed by first-time filmmakers. Since its inception in 2013, the number of participating decision makers has more than doubled. In total, 433 projects and 516 filmmakers have pitched in 4,000 Deal Maker meetings, with millions of dollars raised.

Notable projects that have pitched at Hot Docs Deal Maker in previous years include the 2020 Hot Docs Festival opening night film Softie, Downstream to Kinshasa (2020), Smog Town(2019), The Forum (2019), Love, Gilda (2018), and My Enemy, My Brother (2017), directed by Ann Shin whose film A.rtificial I.mmortality opened the 2021 Festival.