Where are they now?

Each year at Banff a number of producers are chosen to bring their projects-in-development to the attention of the international television industry in the hopes of securing coproduction partners and/or broadcaster interest. Playback went back to the 1999 pitchers to find out whether any of their projects have been greenlit for production since last year’s Banff Market Simulation. Stories continue to p. B23.

When writer/producer Judy Mazzeo Zocchi of New Jersey-based dingles & company arrived at Banff in 1999, she had a completed pilot for Paulie and Sasha – a mixed animation and live-action show based on her own series of books. Paulie and Sasha are two bears from opposite ends of the world who travel the planet together in search of their dreams.

Having arrived at Banff last year with great momentum, Zocchi had no sooner finished her pitch when an international partner was literally tapping her on the shoulder.

The meeting that ensued secured an Australian broadcast partner, Screentime Party. In a too-good-to-be-true scenario, Zocchi explains, ‘they thought they had a u.s. syndicator on board – but that fell through.’

Even so, through the Market Simulation at Banff, Zocchi was able to secure the Australian partner that is still on board – pending the addition of a u.s. broadcaster, something that has yet to come through.

Although family responsibilities have kept Zocchi away from the pitch circuit over the past two months (and away from this year’s Banff festival), she is far from giving up on the project.

‘It’s still active for sure. I put a lot of money into developing the property. There’s a series of books out based on the property. I can’t let all the money we put into it go awry.’

According to Zocchi, although it didn’t net her a completed broadcast deal, ‘Banff is a wonderful place to do business. Basically, if I had an American broadcaster right now, I could come to the table with 50 to 60 percent of the budget, from other people, pending. So I just need that last piece of the puzzle.’

Zocchi is pleased with the buzz created at Banff for her project. She believes it has made pitching easier. ‘To make that phone call and say I have somebody to come to the table with – already – is a different phone call than starting from scratch. And that’s what Banff provided. There was a lot of positive energy that happened. So it was a validation of the project.’