On September 24, the Pizza Hut and Film Project Pitches Awards Ceremony at the 11th BJIFF was officially held at Pizza Hut (Guangqu Road Restaurant) in Beijing. The award ceremony of the Project Pitches was held in collaboration with Pizza Hut China in the form of cocktail party themed “Pizza Hut Night”, where senior and young filmmakers were gathered to share their experience of creation and production, and conduct free cooperation and exchanges. 

 

Cao Baoping, Jury President of the 11th BJIFF Beijing Film Market Project Pitches, director, screenwriter and producer, Yu Baimei, famous director, screenwriter and producer, Zhao Fang (Gillian Zhao), famous producer and presenter, provided one-on-one guidance for excellent young filmmakers in Chinese-speaking regions, conducted final review on 17 outstanding projects and jointly decided on the awards of project pitches this year. As the awards of project pitches were revealed on the day, Pizza Hut China presented the winners the “Pizza Hut Gift" to encourage the young filmmakers to pursue the “Pizza Hut Dream of Film".

 

 

The BJIFF and Pizza Hut China cooperated to hold the awards ceremony of project pitches at the Pizza Hut Restaurant for the first time. As Pizza Hut China's in-depth exploration in the film industry and related lifestyle fields, the cooperation with the BJIFF made the film festival awards ceremony used to be shown on the screen held at  public restaurant in a vivid and natural form, so that the young filmmakers could receive the real feedback from the industry and the public about the films. 

 

The activity of “Pizza Hut Night” implemented by both parties enabled the practitioners in the film field to conduct in-depth exchanges with young filmmakers and young audiences, so that the traditional film festival could be integrated into the public life in a relaxed and natural way. By combining the delicacy atmosphere at Pizza Hut and the language of film images, two parties transformed the activity into a social scene for young filmmakers to freely exchange from the perspectives of food and environment. It also made it easier and more natural for those who love the film, the life and the delicacy to experience the joy out of the foods and images.

 

“Pizza Hut Night” took innovative measures to bring the BJIFF closer to the life of the public. As a leading brand of casual restaurants, Pizza Hut has always insisted on innovation to enrich the experience in offline restaurants. The brand of Pizza Hut has always been committed to deeply integrating into the diversified lifestyles of young people. On December 27, 2020, Pizza Hut's opened the first film-themed restaurant in Jiuxianqiao, Beijing. As the restaurant of entertainment and social exchanges for young people, the brand-new theme restaurant aims to create a preferred restaurant for urban white-collar employers to have daily gatherings and festive social gatherings. The brand will also use movie-derived content to enrich the restaurant experience activities, show the mature works of filmmakers in scenes, and illuminate the "light and shadow dreams" of young people. The brand will also make use of film derived content to enrich the restaurant experience, display the mature films of the filmmakers on scene and light up the “dream of lights and shadows” for the young people.

The “Pizza Hut Night” jointed created by the BJIFF and Pizza Hut China brought the joy of food and film to the public and witnessed the “determination to win” of the catering and film industries with mutual assistance and self-reliance. The year 2020 marks the 10th anniversary of the BJIFF and the 30th anniversary of Pizza Hut China. The “Pizza Hut Night” 2021 also witnessed the start of the "new decade" journey of the broth brands. In the future, Pizza Hut China will rely on film-themed restaurant to cover offline social scenes across the country, make concerted efforts to create light, help the mass dissemination of excellent works by Chinese young filmmakers and illuminate the “Pizza Hut” way for more young generations who love films in the "next decade”.