At the beginning of July, the pitching event "Shoot the Book! Of the 12 titles selected, she presented "Ruby Fairygale", the only children's book, and talks in this interview about her many wonderful experiences and encounters at the Croisette. This has been your first time pitching "Shoot the Book! What was the atmosphere like?
The personal encounters at the film festival and the subsequent conversations with film professionals and colleagues from the book industry were a great benefit for us, it had a special "feel good" atmosphere. Each personal encounter has been engaging. And the personal exchanges on site β between all the events, discussions, and film premieres β led to exciting reflections and great ideas for a cinematic realisation of "Ruby Fairygale".
Together, we even thought of possibilities for the further development of the book series. After being limited to only online meetings for so long, this experience of being in-person still resonates. I think back very fondly on the intensive brainstorming sessions during the event and I will try to implement the new knowledge in future pitchings.
Have you previously participated in other pitching formats? We always like to take part in pitching events for possible literary adaptations. How did you prepare for your pitch? We prepared the pitches in small groups over several online workshops. This was followed by a video shoot as "Shoot the Book! Luckily it happened as an in-person event in the end. As it turned out, the filming of my video pitch was quite challenging. First, we set up a film set close to a lake, but then a storm came up and we were not able to finish it.
In an alternative production in our publishing building, the camera literally broke. But despite all these initial difficulties, in the end, the short two-minute pitch was convincing and was a good preparation for Cannes. What were the reactions like? I am very excited about the responses from the production companies, but I am also already working on a draft for the script with an European director. Through the exchange in Cannes, I got to know many producers from abroad, which is particularly exciting for a publisher of children's and young adult books.
