Film Your Documentary With Spitfire Pictures and Tongal

View the Project Spitfire Official Rules

Tongal has teamed up with Oscar-winning film production company Spitfire Pictures to help you bring your documentary to the silver screen.

Spitfire Pictures? Winner of the 2012 Academy Award for Undefeated? Producers of two iconic music documentaries directed by Martin Scorsese: No Direction Home: Bob Dylan and George Harrison: Living In The Material World? Producers of the Grammy Award-winning Foo Fighters: Back and Forth? Yeah... that Spitfire Pictures!

This is the sound of opportunity knocking, and baby it is time to SAY HELLO!

This incredible opportunity to get your documentary funded and released is supported by a $110,000 prize pool plus a share of the profits.*. At each stage of the project, winners will be rewarded and guided through the next phase of development.

We're doing this the Tongal way... Together

This project will be approached the way we do everything at Tongal: with the development and production broken into distinct phases, rewards for the winners at each level, and everyone doing what they do best to contribute to an outstanding result.

View the Project Brief

Here's how it will work, step by step:

Subject Phase:

Open: September 17, 2013

Who Participates?

Anyone with an idea for a documentary

Be the visionary! Find your material, a story that needs to be told, and submit it as a Subject for the documentary film.

Each winning Subject will receive $1,000, and 5% of Tongal's net profits if a film based on that Subject is distributed.

Pitch Phase:

Open: November 7, 2013

Who Participates?

Anyone with an idea for a documentary

This is where filmmakers enter the arena! You will select one of the winning documentary Subjects and make your Pitch to get funding for the next round. This is your chance to tell us how you'll execute your big screen production.

Sizzle Reel Phase:

Open: January 7, 2014

Who Participates?

The 8 filmmakers who won the Pitch round

The Sizzle Reel is where you really dive into the narrative, and the look and feel of your final production. Show us what your film will look like. Get your audience excited. Think of the Sizzle Reel as a preview for your documentary - show us something we want to watch (and fund!). 2 Sizzle Reel winners will each receive $35,000 with which to make their feature-length Director's Cut.

Director's Cut Phase:

Open: March 7, 2014

Who Participates?

The 2 Sizzle Reel winners

Then, if Spitfire obtains a distribution deal, the winning filmmakers will be entitled to participate in up to 50% of Tongal's net profits from the film.

The 2 Sizzle Reel winners will work with Spitfire and Tongal to produce and deliver the Director's Cut of their documentaries. We will evaluate the cuts and select at least one of the filmmakers (but we could select both) to receive an additional $15,000 in finishing funds to complete the film.

Subject Phase:

Open: March 7, 2014

Who Participates?

The winner of the Director's Cut round

The winner of the Director's Cut will deliver a Final Cut of their film using the $15,000 of finishing funds. You'll work hand in hand with Tongal and Spitfire to craft the Final Cut of your winning documentary, while Spitfire attempts to obtain a distribution deal to bring your film to the silver screen and beyond.

*FOR DETAILS REGARDING PRIZES AND PROFIT SHARING, PLEASE CONSULT THE OFFICIAL RULES