Meet The Whickers’ and Sheffield DocFest Podcast Pitch Award Finalists 2024
We are thrilled to unveil our six finalists for the 2024 Podcast Pitch Award.
In, what is only our second year of the Podcast Pitch Award, we are delighted to report that we have been overwhelmed by the high number of quality applications from around the world.
The award is a joint initiative with Sheffield DocFest celebrating the global trend towards solo and episodic listening to factual audio, and together we have deliberated over the many original, educational, fascinating and, sometimes pretty whacky, entries.
Our finalists will present their projects to an esteemed panel of industry judges? and a live audience on Saturday, June 15th, during Sheffield DocFest 2024 and will have the chance to win a grand first prize of £5,000 with £2,000 going to the runner up.
Jane Ray, Artistic Director at The Whickers, shared her thoughts on this year’s finalists: “We were thrilled and moved by the quality and variety of the projects submitted to this year’s podcasting pitch awards. It was a joy to tune in to such wondrous new stories from around the world. From the heartbreaking to the hilarious, incisively investigative to the fabulously whimsical. We encountered a dictator’s underpants and alien tin foil and loved the way complex ideas were being expressed through the everyday, such as the history of the world told through pickling vegetables and the tragedy of modern slavery through a punnet of strawberries. Themes did emerge. I think we expected several projects around the environment, queer politics, healing and mental health but were surprised that boxing popped up so much. We would like to thank everyone all who applied and congratulate those shortlisted. I cannot wait to meet the finalists on stage at the Sheffield Crucible and am so grateful that I don’t have to decide on the winners.
The 31st edition of Sheffield DocFest will take place from Wednesday, June 12th, to Monday, June 17th, 2024. Industry Passes and tickets are now available for purchase here.
And now, without further ado, we are thrilled to unveil our six finalists.