From Anonymous,
In the next month I will be pitching for the chance to write the script for an upcoming film. A producer, having seen some shorts and a webseries I made along with reading some spec scripts, has asked me to go along but this will be my first time and I am unsure of which ‘way’ to pitch. Would you recommend giving a detailed rundown of the script and beats in 5 minutes, or should I give a quick rundown and concentrate on tone and atmosphere?
First off there is no one right way to pitch. However having sold several original stories and landed many more OWA’s, each based on pitches, I can share with you that general approach.
15 minutes. That’s what you should plan on having. Max. I break it up this way:
Act One [5 minutes]: Introduce the main characters, providing each one’s core essence and narrative function [you don't need to say, "This is the Protagonist" or "This is the Nemesis," you can make that clear in how you describe them, but you should know what their respective functions are]; establish story concept and set the plot into motion, basically what happens that jettisons the Protagonist out of their ordinary world and into the story’s adventure.
Act Two [5 minutes]: Do not do a beat for beat breakdown of the second act, rather spotlight 3-6 key subplots [depending upon the genre and type of story] and dynamics that are in play, and provide the listener both some key plot points and the entertaining value of each one. Most listeners are pretty smart and will be able to fill in the dots.
Act Three [5 minutes]: Build to the Final Struggle, show how the story ends up, a taste of the Denouement, and out.
Some tips:
#1: When you start the pitch, don’t talk about the story, tell the story. Just get into it. It’s the story itself that has to be entertaining. All your analysis and points of support for the story, save those for after the pitch. If they are interested in your story, you will have plenty of time to pimp and drill down into it afterward.
#2: Never read from notes. Memorize the pitch, then practice it verbally over and over and over and over again. You should know the pitch backwards and forwards, and be able to convey it conversationally, not like a robot.
#3: Make sure you hit some trailer moments. Try to come up with at least 5 moments that a buyer will be able to see as something they can use to market the movie.
#4: Be passionate. Buttressing a great story concept and well-constructed story is your own emotional connection to the material. A buyer wants to know you are excited about the content and will bring that energy to the writing. Plus there is a psychological subtext at work whereby they feed off your excitement.
#5: That said less is more. Don’t go over the top with your enthusiasm. And this extends to how much detail you provide. The tendency is to want to keep hammering home sales points after the pitch. At some point, you run risk of coming off as desperate. Have confidence in your story. It should sell itself. If it’s not good enough to sell, then no amount of your frenzied verbiage will make up for that.
#6: This is super important: You need to know what the key dynamics of your story are that will create an emotional connection with a potential moviegoer, then make sure you sell those in your pitch. Again not so much talking about those dynamics, but actually conveying through the sharing of the story itself.
Hope that’s helpful. Best of luck with your pitch!
What say ye, GITS community? How do you pitch a story?
That’s all such great advice.
For my money, the most important quality is passion. Give them your pitch as if you just walked out of the theater and thought this was the greatest movie ever, talk about it as if you’re urging a friend to go run to the theater and buy a ticket.
Ben, that brings up one of the greatest Hollywood anecdotes I’ve ever heard. Back when LOTR: The Fellowship of the Rings came out, I went to a special screening in Beverly Hills at which several of the film’s above-the-line crew were present for an after-screening Q&A. And a producer on the film told this amazing story about how the movie ended up getting made. Originally Peter Jackson had a deal with Miramax to make LOTR as two movies. One day the studio brings in Jackson and announces they’ve decided to do it as one movie. Jackson is shocked by the news. First thing he’s heard of this and he says there’s no way you can adapt LOTR as a single film. They tell him, “Well, we already have another writer lined up who’s ready to do it.” Jackson, who has been developing LOTR for years, gets his reps to put pressure on Miramax who finally agree to this: “We’ll give you 2 weeks to set it up elsewhere.”
Pressure on, Jackson scurries around to find another studio. But none of the usual suspects is ready to step up. He pitches the project to Polygram/Working Title, but they are in the process of a business shift and can’t do anything. Finally it comes down to one potential buyer: New Line.
Jackson prepares for his pitch meeting with NL studio chief Bob Shaye like there’s no tomorrow, working up sketches, preparing models, and so forth. He gets in Shaye’s office, then takes off like a madman, leaping around the room, telling the story, acting out all the parts — hobbits, elves, orcs, wizards, everything. Goes on and on and on for like 30 or 40 minutes, non-stop throwing himself in the pitch because he knows if he can’t sell it here, he’s going to lose the project.
Finally he stops, covered with sweat, gasping for breath, flopping down into a chair. Shaye, who has not said a word the entire pitch, stares at Jackson for a few seconds, then asks, “There are three books aren’t there.”
Jackson blinks, then nods his head.
Shaye says, “Well, why not make three movies?”
New Line procured the project from Miramax, ponied up $270M to finance back-to-back-to-back production of the three LOTR movies… and the rest as they say is history.
But there you have an example of a filmmaker’s passion winning the day.
Wow – amazing story, Scott!
I think that’s all studios really want, right? — to buy something that excites them (artistically, financially, etc.), and if the writer is excited, that’s the fuse that can ignite the project. You’re a salesman when you’re pitching, you have to really play that part. I learned how to pitch from a friend of mine who has sold so many pitches it’s pretty ridiculous. He talks about his scripts like he just discovered a buried treasure. And it’s impossible not to absorb his enthusiasm.
Also, watch any interview with Harvey Weinstein where he plugs his movies and you’ll know exactly how to pitch.
Basically, if you’re passionate about your project, someone else will be passionate about your project.