AACTA Reg Grundy Award finalists: Best pitches for new Aussie TV shows

Thousands of people entered a competition looking for Australia’s best new TV show idea. Now, the top five have been announced.

You might recall that back in September the AACTA announced a competition inviting anyone and everyone to enter their idea for a new TV show.

The winner, as picked by a panel of judges, will get $50,000 to develop their show idea.

There were thousands of entries for the Reg Grundy Award which the judges have now whittled down to a top five, with a winner set to be announced later this month.

So what were the show pitches that wowed the judges the most? Here are the five finalists.

Next Slide Please – Zach Mander

Comedians take to the stage to deliver a TED Talk on a subject they have no idea about, prompted only by a power point presentation they are seeing for the first time.

A slide presentation projected behind them gives them the title of their talk and cycles through graphs, pictures, and notes as their only stimulus. They have five minutes to convince the audience they are an expert; leading to hilarious situations.

RELATED: TV exec reveals worst pitches she’s ever heard for new shows

Kevin Rudd giving a TED Talk in 2015.

The Marriage Pitch – Samantha Davies

There have been thousands of dating and wedding shows over the years, but never has a series focused on the single most emotionally jolting and dramatic ritual in our culture: the act of bending down on one knee to pop the ultimate question.

The series will be centred around Australian proposal planner pioneer Samantha Davies who over the past decade has created the ultimate luxury proposal experience for countless couples throughout Australia and beyond with her business Unforgettable Proposals.

Trash to Cash – Sebastian Langton

Storage Wars meets American Pickers. Enter an underground world of gutter hustlers from all walks of life, scavenging to make an extra buck. We follow the antics of real life characters searching street clean-up piles to discover the most valuable trash to be turned into hard cash.

Each episode will follow a number of gutter hustlers as they travel around collecting the most valuable discarded items and hustle to on-sell them into the market (Facebook Marketplace / Gumtree etc).

Hard rubbish. Photographer: Liam Kidston

Vintage Van Revival: Trip or Flip - Elise Strachan

Each week, a dynamic duo is given $10,000 to purchase, renovate and restore a vintage second hand caravan in their own quirky style. The completed vans are professionally valued and the maker can choose to TRIP (keep / rent) or FLIP (sell) pocketing the profits.

May the best van win!

Seven Pups – Geraldine Coy

A social experiment tracing a year in the behavioural development of one litter of seven pups and the seven culturally diverse families who will raise them. This is a unique look at nature vs nurture, through the doggie door.

The series will cover the first 12 months of seven puppies’ lives.

To watch the five finalists pitch their ideas to the expert judging panel, tune into AACTA ScreenFest on Sunday 29 November, 1pm AEDT. AACTA ScreenFest is entirely free and open to anyone (including non AACTA members) but you do have to book here