The FÍS TV Summit Pitching Competition 2026 presented by NTAFTV takes place at the annual FÍS TV Summit, held in the Radisson Red Galway on 26th February 2026.
Expression of Interest – Have Your Say
The National Talent Academy for Film & Television Drama (NTAFT) would like to find out what potential participants and viewers of the FÍS TV Summit Pitching Competition are interested in for the 2026 iteration!
As we begin planning for the next edition of the FÍS TV Summit, we’re particularly keen to gauge industry interest in shifting the competition’s focus from live-action drama to unscripted formats. This could include genres such as reality, competition, lifestyle, factual entertainment, talk shows, and docuseries. All of which play an increasingly important role in Irish screen sector.
The FÍS TV Summit Pitching Competition has become one of the most anticipated features of the annual Summit - offering emerging and established creatives the chance to pitch their original ideas to leading industry professionals, with a chance to both win a prize and to network with possible producers and collaborators for their project.
Now, we want to hear from you. Whether you’ve previously taken part, attended as an audience member, or are thinking about entering for the first time, your feedback will help us shape the format, focus, and support available for next year’s competition.
We’ve created a short Expression of Interest & Feedback Questionnaire to capture ideas and suggestions from across the industry.
It only takes a few minutes to complete, and your feedback will directly influence how we design the 2026 Pitching Competition. Please fill out this form here Oct 31st at noon.
About FÍS TV Summit Pitching Competition
The most recent winner of the FÍS TV Summit Pitching Competition was Sarah Jane Scott with Unleashed, which told the story of an everyday superwoman and single mam Corina and her true crime obsessed, rich glam-mam BFF Ann Marie, who have been singlehandedly keeping their respective shit shows on the road for way too long, and have finally had enough.
The 2025 finalists for the Pitching Competition all took part in workshops with Michael Zam, a screenwriter, television writer, playwright/librettist, and professor. He was co-creator, writer and co-producer on the FX miniseries, Feud: Bette & Joan, which was nominated for 18 Emmy's, including two for Zam, and which was based on his Black-Listed screenplay, Best Actress.
Previous winners include Sarah-Jane Scott, 2025 with Unleashed, Patricia Kelly, 2024 with Humdrum, and Heather Brown, 2023 with The Peace Makers.
The 2020 FÍS TV Summit Pitching Competition was won by the team made up of Ray Lawlor, Oonagh Kearney & Paddy Hayes who pitched their show Obituary, about a small-town obituarist who resorts to murder when work dries up locally. In the audience that year was Laurent Boissel (APC Studios) who loved the idea and signed on as executive producer alongside Paddy Hayes for the show which was shot in Donegal in 2023 and broadcast on RTÉ. Obituary is now in production for its second season.
The FÍS TV Summit Pitching Competition, presented by NTAFTV, will open to the public for applications in November 2025.
For questions, please email kenny@ardan.ie
The NTA Film & TV Drama is an initiative of Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, managed by Ardán.