Ask Yourself - Am I Really Giving a Good Pitch?

Saturday, I was a panelist expert at the "Final Draft Take a Meeting" PitchFest. What a great venue for writers new and old to have a chance to pitch their ideas. My managers table was one of two reality television tables taking reality pitches at the event. At exactly 9:30 the clock started to roll as people ran in to the hall to find their "appointment" for the next 15 minutes to give their pitch. So for 15 minutes participants got to try and sell their idea and get sound advice for their projects. What a great inspiring place!

Our first pitch of the morning was the best pitch of the day. I can't say what the pitch was about, but it was in the High School genre. The gal pitching had just graduated from Vanderbilt College and was full of energy. She had done her research and it was a well thought out idea. She took notes from our notes and listened intently as we told her we liked her idea...put together a treatment and get back in touch with us.

Our table was specific to the Reality TV genre and we did have one guy who snuck into our table to sit down and pitch us his "movie." It was all about Cocaine. A town that was duped into eating a cookie that was unannounced to them was made with...you guessed it...COCAINE. I got really confused because he started talking about Sigmund Freud for 10 minutes and then about his story. I felt he took to much time explaining the inspiration for his script rather than his storyline. Anyway, bravo for being there and having the guts to pitch! The rest of the day was filled with average ideas. And my relief for the second half of the day turned out to be 2 other clients of my manager - both of whom are very funny, have great ideas and Sold and idea...Just signed papers this week. So Congrats to them!

Some Components to Giving a Good Pitch:

Introduce yourself, give a brief background of you and then your logline.

The most important thing of your pitch...is your logline. Get out what your project is about within the first three minutes of your pitch. I personally don't mind if you open with a short sentence on why you thought of the idea, but have your logline memorized and ready to roll off your tongue. "Its a competition to see who gets the most fame...the fastest! The tables are turned on “Celebrity Bloggers” to see if they can make ‘stars’ out of total nobodies, in the ultimate quest for fame. Can just about anyone with a little determination, winning personality and a desire to inspire, become famous?"Now this is one of my own loglines... but you get the picture.

Practice your Pitch!

The thing is, I am not going to be excited if you are not excited about your own creation. I know that its nerve racking to do it all in under 15 minutes, (or how ever long you have) but you have to get over the nervous factor and get your pitch out. Practice your pitch. Do it in front of a mirror. Pitch it to your brother, mother or lover. Just keep practicing. And, you want to be able to have good energy, because it will help people visualize your idea. If you describe it as though its unfolding right there at that very moment - and I can see your excitement THEN I can see your vision and I am going to want to hear more!

Always Have a Back Up!

I say this as experience from pitching. A few scenarios can happen:

A. They have something just like it! What else do you have?

B. Pass, what else do you have?

C. I love it, what else do you have?

Take Constructive Criticism Evenly

When the person listening to your pitch explains to you why they are passing, listen to their comments constructively on why they are passing. Don't get mad if the other person is giving you a pass. Listen, there have been times in my past that Network executives have told me their thoughts on why it wouldn't work at their Network. I take everything they say into my brain - even if I don't agree. Chances are its only going to help me at some point down the road with this project or another one.

All in all it was a good day for me to see just what other people are pitching. You want to be in the know, to see if your ideas are on the money, and to see what not to do! Congratulations to everyone who pitched on Saturday!

P.S. I want to know are there people out there that would be interested if we set up a REALITY TV pitch fest? Please comment and let me know!