2025 Pitch off Finalists

2025 Pitch Off Finalists 

All the fantastic finalists for Queer Screen’s Pitch Off 2025! This initiative is an opportunity for up-and-coming filmmakers to win $10,000 in funding for a short film project from Queer Screen! And this year, we are thrilled that Screen Australia’s Gender Matters Taskforce will also offer initiatives for eligible female and gender-diverse practitioners selected as finalists (see below). You can check out our previous finalists and winners here.

On Sunday 31 August, at 11am, six finalists will participate in a live Pitch Off at Set Bar at Event Cinemas George St, Sydney. Each of them will present their film proposal to a live audience (yes, you can come along too to watch it all unfold) as well as a panel of experts from the film industry and the Gender Matters Taskforce.

BOTTOMLESS BRUNCH

Director: Lily Drummond | Writer: Lily Drummond | Producer: Lily Drummond, Virginia Blackwell
In line for brunch, a couple break up in a café and spiral into a very public argument over who gets the free coffee on their shared loyalty card.

CAM?

Director: Michail Mathioudakis | Writer: Michail Mathioudakis | Producer: Juliette Beck
Closeted teenager, Chris, grapples with his confusing sexual identity by retreating into the world of internet chat rooms and cam-sex. When he meets fellow teenager Gabe, Chris’ online exploration becomes an increasingly real-world connection.

KILIGS

Director: Alyssa Dimarucut | Writer: Alyssa Dimarucut | Producer: Joelle Snono, Suzanna Steele
At the netball Grand Finals, two former best friends reunite and the line between heartbreak and love begin to blur.

OUT OF BOUNDS

Director: Anna Brownfield  |  Producer: Anna Brownfield
An unlikely hero in the world of football umpiring, Graham Carbery, grapples with his identity and activism against the backdrop of football in the 70s and 80s, finding himself both a target and trailblazer for LGBTQI+ rights in Australia.

PROMISE ME YOU’LL TELL HER

Director: Celeste Diep | Writer: Celeste Diep | Producer: Celeste Diep, Bryan Huang
Faced with an ultimatum from her Trans girlfriend, Michelle must find a way to tell her aging, conservative grandmother before time runs out for them.

UNDER ONE CONDITION

Director: Lilah Benetti | Writer: Lilah Benetti, Maxine Ellah | Producer: Mimo Mukii
When her partner disappears, Eve is left with a child she has no legal claim to and must navigate cultural expectation and chosen family, while the burden of care presses against her, slowly at first, then all at once.

Rosie Braye

An ardent advocate for diverse and authentic storytelling, Rosie brings a holistic perspective to the creative and business sides of film and TV. She has over 16 years’ screen industry experience spanning theatrical distribution, production, development, screen agency investment, unit publicity, communications and marketing. She is currently Screen Investment Manager at Screen NSW and was previously Senior Communications Manager at NIXCO, following roles at StudioCanal Australia, Entertainment One, Transmission Films and Hopscotch Films.

As a producer, Rosie’s first short film, Cherry Season, was commissioned by SBS for the Queer for Short anthology and screened at numerous domestic and international film festivals, including Mardi Gras Film Festival. Her digital series, Ding Dong I’m Gay, was nominated for an AACTA Award for Best Online Comedy or Drama, won Best Comedy Series at Santa Monica WebFest and has amassed over 54 million views on YouTube. Rosie was selected for the Screen NSW Emerging Producer Placement, completing a producer attachment at Curio Pictures, as well as the SPA Practitioner and AIDC Leading Lights programs.

Marc Smolowitz

Marc Smolowitz is a multi-award-winning director, producer, executive producer, and consulting producer who has been significantly involved in over 60 successful independent films. The combined footprint of his works has touched 250+ film festivals & markets on 5 continents, yielding substantial worldwide sales to theatrical, television, and VOD outlets, notable box office receipts, and numerous awards and nominations. His credits include films that have screened at top-tier festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Venice, Tribeca, Locarno, SXSW, Chicago, Palm Springs, SFFILM, AFI DOCS, IDFA, DOC NYC, CPH: DOX, Tokyo, Sydney, Melbourne, Viennale, Jerusalem, among others. His most recent scripted feature film as a producer and executive producer – Outerlands, starring Asia Kate Dillon – world premiered at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival and will have its Australian Premiere at the 2025 Queer Screen Film Festival.

In 2009, Marc founded 13th Gen, a San Francisco-based boutique entertainment company that works with a dynamic range of independent film partners globally to oversee the financing, production, post-production, marketing, sales, and distribution efforts of a vibrant portfolio of films and filmmakers. With talent development as its focus, the company is typically involved in some 10-15 projects concurrently and has successfully advanced Marc’s career-long commitment to powerful social issue filmmaking across all genres. In 2016, he received one of the prestigious Gotham Fellowships to attend the Cannes Film Festival’s Producers Network, marking him as one of the USA’s most influential independent film producers.

Toni Stowers

Toni Stowers is an Investment Manager in Screen Australia’s Narrative Content Department, who recently moved to production from the development team. She joined the agency in February 2023 following four years of producing and developing scripted and documentary projects at No Coincidence Media, includingWe Are Still Here, an official Australia / Aotearoa New Zealand co-production with Mārama Productions. The film opened the 2022 Sydney Film Festival and made its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Toni has also held roles at NITV Commissioning, Sydney Film Festival and her very first job in the entertainment industry was with theatrical agency, HLA Management.