A pitch for a feature film about a lonely young boy and his budding bonds with his farm animals has won a Motion Picture Association-backed contest in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, it was announced on Thursday.
Animator Chen Xifeng’s Pig Digging is one of four final entries selected from 15 submissions from China and around the world, with the result announced during the state-backed China International KingBonn New Media Shorts Festival.
Chen, who said in the MPA statement that he has worked on his pitch for a year, will be provided with a free trip to Los Angeles, where he will attend a five-day immersion course about the film industry and also pitch his idea to local executives.
The competition was hosted alongside script mentoring sessions featuring American screenwriter David Freeman, Chinese director Zhang Daisheng, Canadian-based Chinese filmmaker Wan g Shuibo, Rio Film Commission Chairman Steve Solot, Berlin International Short Film Festival Chairman Heinz Hermanns, Hong Kong critic Lau Shing-hon and Herman van Eyken, head of Griffith Film School in Brisbane.
“The film project pitch finalists were of a very high standard which suggests that there is a great depth of creative skill in Shenzhen, and we hope that their creativity will be able to shine in front of audiences around the world,” said Mike Ellis, the president and managing director of MPA’s Asia Pacific arm.