It’s about confidence, enthusiasm, belief in yourself and belief in your idea! Part of creating a successful pitch for a film comes down to how you “work the room”…
Are you confident and able to front people, get their attention and hold their attention? Do you enjoy public speaking? Can you tell a good story? Or are you the sort of person who ends up listening to the guy telling the story?
Okay, firstly, be aware that it’s not the script you’re pitching. It’s the movie you’re pitching! In fact, we’ve all done this… ever seen a movie and then someone’s asked you to describe it? That’s a movie you’ve just pitched to them!
The same concept applies to convincing a studio executive about how good the movie is. Your job is to get them to believe you’ve already seen a great film, and you’re simply telling them about it! To make this happen, you’ve got to know your film. Everything about it, every aspect, inside and out!
To achieve this, you must create the treatment for your film. (Of course, you’ll never actually show them the treatment, but you’ll use it as the basic outline for your film). The writing of your treatment allows you to get the film idea clearly and cleanly inside your head.
Now it’s time to pitch your idea.
1. Firstly, milk the plot set-up.
Really set the stage. Describe the character as if you’re all watching him for the first time. Skimp a little on character detail. Let them wonder. Go for mystery. Something like this...
The same concept applies to convincing a studio executive about how good the movie is. Your job is to get them to believe you’ve already seen a great film, and you’re simply telling them about it! To make this happen, you’ve got to know your film. Everything about it, every aspect, inside and out!
To achieve this, you must create the treatment for your film. (Of course, you’ll never actually show them the treatment, but you’ll use it as the basic outline for your film). The writing of your treatment allows you to get the film idea clearly and cleanly inside your head.
Now it’s time to pitch your idea.
1. Firstly, milk the plot set-up.
Really set the stage. Describe the character as if you’re all watching him for the first time. Skimp a little on character detail. Let them wonder. Go for mystery. Something like this...
“We open on a man. Handsome. Sweaty. Leather jacket and fedora. We don’t know who or where he is, other than that he’s a movie star, and it’s a jungle. He walks into a cave. The guys with him scramble inside. Too afraid. He approaches a golden idol, hidden in here for what must be centuries. It’s right there! Why doesn’t he take it? What is he afraid of? He makes his choice. He takes the idol... Nothing. He did it! (Insert pause here for suspense – sip water from your glass) And that’s when the 5-tonne boulder comes dropping out of a chute, rolling towards him with unstoppable fury...”
Whoa-daddy! What’s good about going with a ‘cold opening’ to your pitch is that it sucks your listeners in. That’s why this trick works in movies, right? And pitches are movies, right? Build the mystery. Let them wonder. And then when you’ve got them...
2. Anticipate (and be able to answer) their questions.
Now it’s time to tell them about Indiana Jones. What they want is the basics. Who is he? What does he do? What makes him special? What does he want out of life? And what’s his basic flaw? Be direct. Sharp. This isn’t the time to be fancy and flowery. These are your magic bullets. And if possible, try and use this information to lead to the...
3. The big plot point.
“It’s 1935. Indiana Jones is a world famous archeologist who spends half the year in a tweed jacket teaching at a university, and the other half on incredible and deadly adventures to retrieve lost treasures from exotic places. They say he’s dodged death 100 times, and they’re right. But that doesn’t mean he’s happy. He once loved, but she left him, and now he collects women like he collects his artifacts. It’s all about the hunt. Belief in the power of love, or the power of the objects he finds? Nope. Maybe that’s why he’s skeptical when the CIA comes to visit him. They want him to find a supposedly unfindable object that’s supposed to have incredible powers. And he’s got to find it before Hitler does. And what is it? (Go for the suspenseful pause here - take a sip from your water) Only the lost Ark of the Covenant. The golden container of the tablets that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai. A direct connection to God himself.”
That’s exposition, character, back-story, theme, and the major plot point of Act One. Weave it. Milk it. Get into it. If you’re ashamed of your own story, you’re dead in the water.
So that’s the pitch for ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’, you get the idea! Pitch the action like it’s happening RIGHT NOW! (duck!). Pitch the character, theme and plot points as woven paragraphs, where the execs and producers see how the elements intertwine and feed into each other. Did you notice how all that ‘Raiders’ stuff came out sounding like dialogue? Well, that’s how you do it. You write your pitch like it’s dialogue. And this is the crucial technique, you must...
4. ..Write your pitch before you pitch it.
It has to be instinctive. It needs to come across naturally. But not memorized so that it ends up sounding like you’re reciting lines from a school play. Simply write it out. By writing it in your own voice, you’ll quickly start to get a feel for how you’re going to tell the story. It may take a few hours to get through this process so that you can smoothly pitch for eight minutes. Smoooooothly. No bumps. No glitches. This is crucial. Remember, you’ve already seen this movie, right? If you’ve seen it, why would you be trying to remember it, mid-pitch? No, you must be absolutely confident of this movie. If you’re not, they won’t be either.
As you go through this forwards-and-backwards preparation, you’ll find a few things start to happen. You may begin to emphasize some parts of your scripted pitch and downplay others. Here and there, you might invent a subtle new turn of phrase. You’ll discover the parts that get you excited. You’ll find the drama built into it.
And when you’re done… you’re ready. The effect is a well-thought-out, well-organized, apparently entirely off-the-cuff telling of a movie. In short, it’s a good pitch.
oOo
So… the big day has arrived. Your chance to dazzle, your time to shine!
Any last hints?
Step 1: Lynx Extra-Dry.
Forget about “controlling” your sweat. You want to be able to strike a match off your armpits.
Step 2: Know where it is you’re going.
Get there early, but don’t go in early. Show up exactly at the time of your appointment. They’ll be making you wait, regardless, but that’s irrelevant. Don’t think about your pitch at all. That will screw you up. Just read ‘Who Weekly’ or stare at the wall and laugh about how superior you are to the world. You’re not, but just do it. It helps.
Step 3: When offered a drink, accept water.
Never soda. Too gassy. Just water. Don’t drink it now, even though you’re probably as thirsty as a guy who’s just eaten a fistful of salt. Wait until you start pitching. Then use your glass of water as a prop. When you get to a cliffhanger (drinks water) take a slug. Make ‘em wait.
Step 4: When you’re done, don't overstay your welcome...
Sure, stick around for a brief period of time to hear any immediate reactions, but not too long. You’ve got another pitch to get to right away…even if you don’t.
2. Anticipate (and be able to answer) their questions.
Now it’s time to tell them about Indiana Jones. What they want is the basics. Who is he? What does he do? What makes him special? What does he want out of life? And what’s his basic flaw? Be direct. Sharp. This isn’t the time to be fancy and flowery. These are your magic bullets. And if possible, try and use this information to lead to the...
3. The big plot point.
“It’s 1935. Indiana Jones is a world famous archeologist who spends half the year in a tweed jacket teaching at a university, and the other half on incredible and deadly adventures to retrieve lost treasures from exotic places. They say he’s dodged death 100 times, and they’re right. But that doesn’t mean he’s happy. He once loved, but she left him, and now he collects women like he collects his artifacts. It’s all about the hunt. Belief in the power of love, or the power of the objects he finds? Nope. Maybe that’s why he’s skeptical when the CIA comes to visit him. They want him to find a supposedly unfindable object that’s supposed to have incredible powers. And he’s got to find it before Hitler does. And what is it? (Go for the suspenseful pause here - take a sip from your water) Only the lost Ark of the Covenant. The golden container of the tablets that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai. A direct connection to God himself.”
That’s exposition, character, back-story, theme, and the major plot point of Act One. Weave it. Milk it. Get into it. If you’re ashamed of your own story, you’re dead in the water.
So that’s the pitch for ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’, you get the idea! Pitch the action like it’s happening RIGHT NOW! (duck!). Pitch the character, theme and plot points as woven paragraphs, where the execs and producers see how the elements intertwine and feed into each other. Did you notice how all that ‘Raiders’ stuff came out sounding like dialogue? Well, that’s how you do it. You write your pitch like it’s dialogue. And this is the crucial technique, you must...
4. ..Write your pitch before you pitch it.
It has to be instinctive. It needs to come across naturally. But not memorized so that it ends up sounding like you’re reciting lines from a school play. Simply write it out. By writing it in your own voice, you’ll quickly start to get a feel for how you’re going to tell the story. It may take a few hours to get through this process so that you can smoothly pitch for eight minutes. Smoooooothly. No bumps. No glitches. This is crucial. Remember, you’ve already seen this movie, right? If you’ve seen it, why would you be trying to remember it, mid-pitch? No, you must be absolutely confident of this movie. If you’re not, they won’t be either.
As you go through this forwards-and-backwards preparation, you’ll find a few things start to happen. You may begin to emphasize some parts of your scripted pitch and downplay others. Here and there, you might invent a subtle new turn of phrase. You’ll discover the parts that get you excited. You’ll find the drama built into it.
And when you’re done… you’re ready. The effect is a well-thought-out, well-organized, apparently entirely off-the-cuff telling of a movie. In short, it’s a good pitch.
oOo
So… the big day has arrived. Your chance to dazzle, your time to shine!
Any last hints?
Step 1: Lynx Extra-Dry.
Forget about “controlling” your sweat. You want to be able to strike a match off your armpits.
Step 2: Know where it is you’re going.
Get there early, but don’t go in early. Show up exactly at the time of your appointment. They’ll be making you wait, regardless, but that’s irrelevant. Don’t think about your pitch at all. That will screw you up. Just read ‘Who Weekly’ or stare at the wall and laugh about how superior you are to the world. You’re not, but just do it. It helps.
Step 3: When offered a drink, accept water.
Never soda. Too gassy. Just water. Don’t drink it now, even though you’re probably as thirsty as a guy who’s just eaten a fistful of salt. Wait until you start pitching. Then use your glass of water as a prop. When you get to a cliffhanger (drinks water) take a slug. Make ‘em wait.
Step 4: When you’re done, don't overstay your welcome...
Sure, stick around for a brief period of time to hear any immediate reactions, but not too long. You’ve got another pitch to get to right away…even if you don’t.
http://artfulwriter.com/archives/2005/08/how_to_pitch.html
Other Relevant FTV sites:
New Media Technology: http://get-up-and-run.blogspot.com/
The Western Genre: http://thewesterngenre.blogspot.com/
French New Wave: http://thefrenchnewwave.blogspot.com/
Product Placement: http://whyproductplacement.blogspot.com/
Film Crew Roles: http://filmcrewproductionroles.blogspot.com/
