The Australian arm of documentary pitching event Good Pitch has secured A$2m (US$1.5m) in funding from the philanthropic arm of Ian Darling’s Shark Island Productions.

The commitment from Shark Island Institute will fund the operations of Good Pitch Australia for the next five years, enabling the organisation to provide support to the 19 docs in its portfolio.

Six new films and their social impact campaigns were presented today as part of the event’s third and final documentary pitching event.

The support will also fund an annual series of Good Pitch Impact Labs at the Institute for 20 established and emerging filmmakers over the next five years.

Good Pitch, which is held in various cities around the world, is an initiative of UK funding organisation Britdoc and the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program. In Australia, Good Pitch is hosted by Shark Island Institute in partnership with the Documentary Australia Foundation.

Shows that have been supported by Good Pitch Australia events held in 2014 and 2015 include That Sugar Film, Gayby Baby, Call Me Dad and The Opposition.

Darling, exec director at Shark Island Institute, said: “Whilst this will be the final Good Pitch Australia event, there’s still much work to do with 19 documentary projects in the portfolio.

“We want to ensure Good Pitch can deliver at the highest possible standard and provide an outstanding return on social capital for the philanthropic donors, the not-for-profit partners and the documentary filmmakers.”

Shark Island Institute supports the art of documentary filmmaking and storytelling, bringing filmmakers, philanthropists, not-for-profits, artists, audiences and storytellers together in a variety of creative spaces.

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