The Pitcher Festival of Creativity released the shortlisted entries across all categories of the 2021 Pitcher Awards on 20 May 2021 to kickstart the 2021 Pitcher Festival. The final winners will be announced on the 22nd of May 2021 at the Pitcher Awards Show. Despite the pandemic, there was an increase of about 25% in entries with countries like Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire and Mauritius sending in entries for the first time.
Nnamdi Ndu, Chairman of Pitcher Festival, said “It’s year 4 for Pitcher Awards and only second year that we’re opening up entries to countries outside West Africa. We’re grateful that Pitcher Awards is being well-received across Africa and the vision uniting the creativity of Africa is becoming more real every day.”
On judging, Nnamdi says “We have an accomplished jury with membership that cuts across Africa. All the subregions are represented, and they are doing a fantastic job and we’re truly thankful to them.”
The Pitcher Awards 5 main categories are judged by 4 juries: Heritage, Channel, Digital and Good and the newly launched Entertainment. The Heritage category includes entries in Film, Audio, Print, Design, Branded Content and Outdoor and Activations. The Channel category includes entries in Use of Media, Use of Data, Use of Insights and Strategy, PR and Reputation Management and Integrated Campaigns; while the Digital category covers works in Social Media, Messaging, Apps and Websites. The Good category includes subcategories for work done by for Nonprofit Organizations, a second subcategory includes works done by For-Profit organizations and the new one-off subcategory honouring excellence in campaigns and initiatives addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Entries in Entertainment were submitted under Entertainment Film, Live Events, Sports, Comic Skits, Use of Music and Music Video.
The final of winners the Pitcher Awards will be announced during the Pitcher Awards Show which will be streamed online at the Pitcher Festival website and also run as TV broadcast on 22 May 2021 by 6:30pm GMT+1 on TVC Entertainment and by 8:00pm GMT+1 on TVC News.
The TVC Entertainment platforms are as follows: GoTV Channel 27; StarTimes Channel 121; Play TV Channel 801; NigerianTerrestrial UHF 49.
The TVC News platforms are as follows: DSTV Channel 418; GoTV Channel 45; StarTimes Channel 307; Play TV Channel 190; Starsat Channel 270 & Sky UK Channel 515