Ten documentary filmmaking teams were selected to pitch their feature works-in-progress at the 2026 Big Sky Pitch, Friday February 20th at the culmination of the DocShop conference. Covering a vast array of subjects and coming from an exciting diversity of voices, the projects ranged from early development to ready for sale. The 2026 Big Sky Pitch jury of funders and commissioning editors included representatives from Concordia Studio, Dogwoof, EverWonder Studio, Firelight Media, Ford Foundation and Magnolia Pictures. Prior to the pitch day, participants received coaching support from Nonfiction Hotlists’s Adam Neuhaus. Free and open to the public, the pitch event took place at the Missoula Community Theater with a live audience and a record attendance for the festival.
The remarkable slate of projects and presenters at the 2026 Big Sky Pitch included:
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM - Marley McDonald (Director & Editor)
THE GRIND - Dan Chen (Director & Producer) and Eric Cook (Producer)
KARACHI SKY - Sofian Khan (Director) and Kiva Reardon (Producer)
THE LAND OF WILD HORSES - Catherine Orchard (Director & Producer)
ORQUÍDEA - Emily Cohen Ibañez (Director & Producer) and Amanda Arya (Producer)
SONS OF THE RIVER - Katyayani Kumar (Director) and Eric Cook (Producer)
TAXI DRIVER - Sara Chishti (Director & Producer)
THIS BODY, TOO | Y ESTE CUERPO TAMBIÉN - Arisleyda Dilone (Director)
TOPOLOGY OF A HOUSE | 笑忘屋 - Kai Luo (Director) and Sol Ye (Producer)
WATCH THE CIRCUS BURN - Nathan Truesdell (Director) and Kat Nguyen (Producer)
Visit our website to learn more about the 2026 Big Sky Pitch projects and alumni projects.
“Such an amazing experience and opportunity! Thank you to Rory who organized an incredible cohort and some stellar judges. We are all still in touch! I had the best time.”
“I had a great time at Big Sky! The fest organizers were so easy to work with and very supportive. At the Pitch I made a ton of new friends and learned so much about the what the next steps for my current project should be. Missoula is beautiful and the food was delicious. Great time overall!”