Pitch Contest

The 4th Annual NYU Sports Film Festival will host its inaugural Pitch Contest, featuring presentations from 5 selected filmmakers to a judging panel of esteemed sports media producers! Presenters will pitch their projects and receive feedback from judges Billy Raftery (Point Road Productions), Sing Lee Lathan, and Chinyere Vann (SaChin Productions) in real time at the event.

Date | Friday, April 26th

Time | 3:30-4:30pm

L ocation | NYU Production Lab (16 Washington Pl)

Follow on Instagram and visit our to stay updated on the festival!

About Billy Raftery: Billy Raftery graduated Columbia University and founded the Children Rise Foundation where he directed and produced award-winning ANGELS IN EXILE narrated by Academy Award winner Charlize Theron (Red Granite, Amazon Prime) in 2016. In 2018, he founded Point Road Productions with NBA legend Grant Hill and began accruing a robust slate of Intellectual Properties that are in development or production. Currently, Billy is directing and producing several films in production with industry leader Cinetic Media. While at Point Road, Billy directed and produced other acclaimed and award winning films like THE MAESTRO: ROLLIE MASSIMINO STORY (Fox Sports, 2018), WITH A KISS (CBS Sports, Turner Sports, 2017), THE PREPPIE CONNECTION (Showtime, IFC Films, 2016) and LONG SHOT (Hulu, option by WWE Studios, 2015). He also kickstarted ESPN's 2019 Fan Story branded campaign with DR. FANDOM.

About Sing Lee Lathan: Sing Lee Lathan is the director and creative producer of Black Lion TV. She leads operations in its effort to preserve, promote, and present the arts and talent of the African diaspora. Sing started her television career as a young actor on The Cosby Show. Transitioning her gifts behind the camera she started working for MTV Sports and Music Festival which led to projects working for the NBA, as well as other music sports-related media projects. In her most recent work, Sing directed and produced the Emmy Award Winning WNET Group All Arts special Michael Mwenso Honors George Floyd, which premiered May 25th, 2021. The episode was the network’s launch of The First Twenty, a series exploring events from the past two decades that caused shifts in the collective American consciousness, told from the narrative point of view of various artists.

In 2021 and 2022, Sing directed music videos for Grammy-nominated producer and artist Kosine. Smoke + Dreams and Kings, featuring Idris Elba, which was featured on Spotify’s 2020 Black Lives Matter playlist and garnered over one million streams worldwide. She directed an animated music video for artist Jahi Sundance’s debut album Everyone But You, featuring Robert Glasper, released in April 2021. In 2020, Sing directed and served as executive producer on the documentary short, The Mood. The film was nominated for Best Documentary Short in eleven film festivals including The FLOW Festival and Film Market, AG & Art Film Festival, and the Southeastern International Film & Music Festival. She was nominated for 2020 Best Documentary Director by The Short Film Awards (The SOFIES). She won Best Director of a Short Documentary at The Silver State Film Festival. Sing sits on the board of the Black Women Film Network and is a member of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, New York Chapter, the Brown Girls Doc Mafia Network, and Film Fatales. She holds a BFA in Film and Television from NYU, Tisch School of the Arts and an Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership from Fordham, Gabelli School of Business. A Harvard Online certificate in Power and Influence, and will be starting her MPS in Virtual Production as a Unilumin Scholarship recipient at the newly opened Martin Scorsese NYU Tisch production facility at Industry City, Brooklyn in the Fall of 2024.

About Chinyere Vann: Born to a Brooklyn born Yiddish/ Italian speaking African - American father and Brooklyn born Toisan speaking Chinese- American mother. Chinyere Vann (pronounced “Chain-Eye-Ear”) is a Brooklyn born, mother of three, a 3-time EMMY Award-winning producer/associate director, basketball protégée, birthing doula and community builder. A former child star, Chinyere's early career included an 11-year stint as a FORD child model and a recurring role on Sesame Street for seven years. Despite her success in modeling and acting, Chinyere gained worldwide recognition through her achievements in basketball. She notably played for the "ALL Boy" AAU Team Red Star, (the only girl on the team). Chinyere's groundbreaking participation in ALL Boy NYC tournaments, ie: West 4th, Soul in the Hole, Rucker Park, garnered national and international acclaim. She was the FIRST NIKE amateur female athlete with her own campaign, featured in various media outlets, including ABC's "A Passion to Play," Essence Magazine's "Top 25 Women" under 25, NBC's "Today Show," and Sports Illustrated.Graduating from Brooklyn’s Poly Prep High School with over 2,200 points, ranking as one of the TOP 100 in New York State; Chinyere earned a Division I basketball scholarship to the University of Iowa, where she became a Big Ten Conference Champion. After a year of play in Iowa, Chinyere decided to move closer to home; transferred and was awarded a Division I basketball scholarship at Fordham University.

Upon graduating from Fordham University, majoring in communications /African American studies and a minor in sociology; Chinyere was offered the opportunity to try out to play basketball for several WNBA and overseas teams. However, she chose a different path, entering the world of broadcast television.Joining CBS Sports in 2001, Chinyere's career roared from a US Open tennis game logger to a broadcast associate director, director, and producer. Her notable achievements include coverage of the NFL, Super Bowl, NCAA basketball, March Madness, The Masters, US Open tennis, Tour de France, and more. She received three EMMY Awards for coverage of NCAA Men’s Basketball March Madness and AFC Football Playoffs. Post the death of George Floyd, Chinyere established and structured the Black Steering Committee which a catapulted a movement towards DEIJB work at CBS Viacom Corporation. The BSC was created to provide a space to uplift and empower the underrepresented African American / Black community at the Network. Before leaving CBS Sports, Chinyere was the coordinating producer for the NFL Today Show. Chinyere transitioned from a successful 21-year career at CBS Sports in September 2022 to pursue her diverse interests and focus on full-time motherhood. Co-founding SaChin Productions, a Brooklyn based independent film, television, and live event production company, Chinyere showcased her talents behind the camera. The company, known for producing the Afro Latino Festival NYC and the sports show "Keeping Score" on WBAI radio, aims to unite people through compelling content. Post CBS Sports, Chinyere continued to work in television and film, co-directing for the NBA 2K League, the Charlemagne the GOD Show, and field producing documentary "Eternal You" showcased in the Sundance Film Festival 2024.

Audience Notice: By entering the venue and live proceedings, you agree to be video and/or audio recorded by the producers of the event.

Accommodation Statement: The NYU Production Lab provides reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. Requests for accommodations for events and services should be submitted at least two weeks before the date of the accommodation need. Please email [email protected] for assistance.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

NYU Production Lab, 16 Washington Place, New York, United States