It’s also possible someone will pitch you an idea in the general meeting. It might be an idea of the producer’s, a newspaper article, maybe even someone else’s script. “We want to do something set during Spring Break,” to use our previous example. Great, right? But there’s a good news/bad news aspect to this. On the one hand, if they are pitching you an idea presumably that means they like it. This is a leg-up from your coming in and just hoping you will have an idea someone else likes. On the other hand, many of the ideas that might come to you this way are highly unformed and sometimes it is just a way to get some “free” feedback. So if this happens, take it seriously, but with a grain of salt. You probably don’t want to go off and come back with twenty pages of notes based on the idea you were handed. It would be a better use of your time to think in broad strokes about how you’d approach the subject, and relay that back to the source.

  If you are pitched something in this manner, attempt to get some background and find out why they are pitching it to you. Some questions you might ask, where applicable: “Do you control the rights?” “How long have you been interested in this idea?” “Is this set up somewhere?” If not, “Who do you think might buy something like this?”

  The answers to these questions can help you understand how real the project is and how much of your time it’s worth. Many projects originate this way, but it can also be a huge waste of your time if you’re not smart about it. Your decision will depend on where you are in your career and what other options you might have at the time. You might also consider who is asking you to do this work. Are they someone who can commission you to write a script if you present a great take on the idea? Are they someone you’re eager to work with? Even if the project is unlikely to come to fruition, developing it a little with them can help build the relationship with the buyer and show them how you work.

  General meetings are with people whom you haven’t met before. If things go well, you can go back in the future and pitch other ideas. Those meetings are similar, except the get-to-know you part is truncated (since they already know you) and the focus is on the one idea.

  If the meeting is an actual pitch meeting – where the purpose is for you to present a specific idea - it will end somewhat differently. When the pitch is over, the buyer will most likely not tell you how they feel. They probably have to discuss it with others in the office before they can buy it. Or, they may know it’s not for them and just tell you that right up front. However, the vast majority of passes happen somewhere between a day and a week later, and usually come to you via your producer or agent. If they have criticisms at the end of the meeting, you have to be careful how you respond. Try to determine if they are asking questions and genuinely want answers, or if they are just justifying the coming pass. If the latter, you should listen politely but there’s no point in getting into a detailed discussion of their issues. Frequently, the response to your pitch can be misleading. Nobody likes to deliver bad news, so the listener may be very encouraging yet have no intention of buying your story. Be careful not to overreact to a positive, but vague, response.

  Wrapping it up.

  After the meeting, say goodbye and leave. Whatever happens, don’t get too stressed out. There will be other meetings in your future.

  If, prior to meeting with buyers, a producer has decided they like your pitch, you will most likely collaborate and hone it with them. It is not at all unusual to come back and re-do a revised version of the pitch several times over a period of months until the producer is happy with it. The next step is to take it to a studio. Now the producer will be going with you to the meeting. They will help set you up to tell your story and help keep things running smoothly. They will let you do the actual pitching – you’re the one the studio exec wants to hear – though the producer may jump in with a quick reminder if you forget something.

  There are variations on this process. The producer may have you pitch to a star or director who is looking for a project before going to the studio. If the star or director attaches himself or herself to the project, they may then join you in the studio pitch. Or they may not. It is also not uncommon to have to pitch your way up through the ranks of the studio. This is why we said earlier that selling a pitch is not always easier or less time consuming than writing a spec script.

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  How to behave in a meeting

  Looking professional.

  Part of presentation is how you look. A pitch is a business meeting – in a sense it’s a job interview – so you should dress appropriately and pay attention to basic hygiene. Of course, what’s appropriate attire in Hollywood can be different from what’s appropriate in other industries.

  You don’t have to wear a business suit. In fact, it might hurt you. You are supposed to be the creative talent – they don’t want you to look like a lawyer. But they also don’t want you to look like the guy who washes the cars in the valet parking.

  Dress like you would for a blind date. Something casual but nice, something you’re comfortable in, and something that makes you feel good about yourself.

  Acting professional.

  Ask any professional writer about pitching and before long you will undoubtedly be hearing horror stories about interruptions. We can’t possibly begin to cover all of the possible interruptions and distractions you may face. But we can give you some general guidelines that should apply in most situations.

  The number-one rule is “Never lose your cool.” Everyone can have a bad day. Whatever happens, smile and be gracious – even if they aren’t. When you pitch, of course you’re trying to sell that idea. But more important is that you start/build/maintain your relationship with the buyer. If they don’t buy this pitch, you want the opportunity to come back with the next one. So don’t get angry or frustrated… or, if you do, don’t let it show.

  The most common type of disruption you’ll encounter is your listener taking a phone call. Our advice is simply to stop pitching, wait quietly, and when they’re done just pick up where you left off as if nothing had happened. This works for most types of interruptions. The people who are prone to taking calls in meetings are well known and you will likely get a heads-up from your agent, or whoever set the meeting, before you pitch.

  On other occasions, someone may join the pitch late – another exec or producer you didn’t know was going to be there. If they are not an assistant or intern, quickly catch them up on the story by giving the logline, character information and critical plot beats, but avoid going into great detail so you don’t bore the person or people who were there from the start.

  Some buyers will sit quietly and listen to your pitch straight through. Others will interrupt and ask questions. Some will make suggestions. As we said before, don’t let this throw you. Answer their questions and try to address their suggestions with a grateful attitude. Whatever you do, don’t criticize their ideas! They don’t like criticism any more than you do, and they’re not selling anything.

  When you’re just starting out, every pitch can feel like it’s a make-or-break situation for your career. Trust us, it’s not. You’ll get other opportunities. So if things don’t go perfectly, don’t overreact.

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  Props and leave-behinds

  Props.

  It used to be that, for writers, bringing visual aids into a pitch to help sell your story was considered goofy and amateurish. These days, things have changed, somewhat. Some writers now bring concept art, props, maybe even a short video (emphasize short – two minutes at most if you’re going to show it in the meeting).

  However, the vast majority of the time you should rely purely on your storytelling ability to sell your pitch. If it’s based on underlying material – a comic book or a novel – bring that with you. It helps the project feel more substantial. Use other materials with care. If something is organic to the concept it can help, but if not there’s a risk it will smack of “trying too hard.” So if you were pitching a story about, say, an actual specialized, elite, military unit and you had some photos of that unit in action, it would be helpful to make them part of the presentation.

  But if you’re pitching something like a romantic comedy, bringing in props will seem gimmicky. You don’t want to bring in wedding cake to pitch a wedding comedy, for example. A good rule of thumb is that if a visual aid helps make something clearer, you may wish to bring it. If it’s just a gimmick, leave it at home.

  If you do decide to bring something, it should look professional. Remember, these people make media for a living. They’re used to looking at the most high quality materials. Unless you’re a trained designer or artist, don’t bring in drawings you made yourself. And if you shoot a video, it shouldn’t be something you made with your consumer grade camera in your backyard.

  Directors are more likely to bring visual aids to a pitch meeting. There are two things directors commonly use to support their pitches: a sizzle reel or a pitch book. A sizzle reel is a video cut together to show the visual style of the proposed project. Sometimes this is made up of original material, but more commonly it is found footage, often including shots from other movies. Most sizzle reels resemble trailers. A pitch book is a book of imagery – again, sometimes original, sometimes found. Like a sizzle reel, the purpose is to show the director’s visual approach to the material. It is not necessary to produce either a sizzle reel or a pitch book for a director pitch. If you do create something like this, the standard of professionalism still applies. It must look fantastic.

  Leave-behinds.

  Far more common for writers is the “leave-behind.” This is a printed summary of your pitch that you leave with the executive or producer you’ve pitched to. As we alluded to previously, if you come to pitch with a detailed outline there’s a good chance the listener will ask if you can leave it behind for them to read. The reason you might want to do this is that the person you pitched to may have to pitch your idea to other people at the company before deciding whether to move forward. Giving them a leave behind helps them do this better.

  On the other hand, it also gives those mysterious other people something to reject. Many writers refuse to do leave-behinds because they would rather get called in to redo the pitch themselves for the other execs. There’s no guarantee that will happen, but it’s more likely if you haven’t given a convenient summary for them to read instead. Or that’s the theory, anyway.

  If you do decide to give them a leave-behind, limit it to one page. That’s all you really need and you don’t want to get into a situation where you’re writing for free. Also, remember that this is a sales document. It’s more akin to the pitch itself than a treatment. It has to be exciting. It has to grab the reader the same way your pitch ought to grab the listener. If you agree to a leave-behind, we suggest you actually not leave it behind. Send it a day or so later after you’ve had time to think about it. This will allow you to tweak the story based on valuable feedback or insight you may have received in the room. If you’re working with a producer, consult with them before sending anything to the buyer.

  Sometimes people do outrageous things to make an impression. And every once in a while it works. But usually it doesn’t. Our advice is to just be professional. Ultimately, you will succeed or fail based on your ability to tell a compelling story. Focus on crafting and rehearsing the verbal part of your pitch rather than devising intricate gimmicks.

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  CONCLUSION

  Ironically, the end of this book is really just the beginning. If you’ve followed our advice, and if you made the effort, and if you sold a pitch – wow, that’s great! You created something from nothing and sold it to Hollywood. Now the hard work really begins. Now you have to write the thing.

  That’s the job. Pitching was just the way you got the job, and this is part of the broader perspective we mentioned in our introduction. As we also said in our introduction, this is a book about pitching, not screenwriting. Screenwriting is a complex profession that involves a combination of technical know-how, language skills, narrative instincts and a grasp of the human condition in all its folly and splendor. It’s not easy. In fact, it’s really hard.

  But if you took this book to heart, it’s also possible the job just got a little easier. Think about pitching and think about the regiment this book required of you. The suggestions in this book encouraged you to analyze many of your narrative choices with a clear eye and with a practical, market-oriented goal in mind. It also encouraged you to factor in other non-narrative elements such as casting and other production related considerations.

  While it might be a stretch to say this book will make you a better writer, it’s very possible it will make you a better storyteller and lead to a more marketable form of writing. After all, aspects of pitching, such as concept and castability, not only are desirable qualities for a pitch but also tend to be the qualities Hollywood looks for when they decide which scripts they want to produce. This is really what it’s all about. And this truly is the broader perspective.

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  INDUSTRY SLANG

  Agent: A person or organization legally empowered to represents someone with the purposed of procuring employment. Typically, agents are licensed and regulated by state government. They are sometimes referred to as “talent agents,” although in the entertainment industry this phrase is more often used to refer to agents that represent actors. Writers' agents are franchised by the Writers Guild of America.

  An assignment: A writing job that involves working on someone else’s project, such as a rewrite of someone else’s script or adaptation of a book owned by someone else.

  Attorney: Attorneys are regulated by state government and licensed by the Bar Association to practice law in the state where they work. Entertainment attorneys in Hollywood are specialists in contract law related to artist and labor agreements, intellectual property and other media related legal matters.

  Baby writer: A new writer, usually in television.

  Boutique agency: A smaller agency often specializing in only a few types of representation. For example, a boutique agency might only represent a select list of screenwriters, or they might only represent child actors.

  Coverage: A written summary and evaluation of a script, teleplay or book. Active production companies commission experienced readers to read the material and write coverage to help the production company evaluate the film and television potential of the large volume of materials they are submitted for production consideration. Coverage usually includes a logline, summary, and evaluation.

  Development: A term in Hollywood that refers to the acquisition and improvement of stories, ideas, and scripts. We say “improvement,” but this is the ideal case. When it’s not the ideal case, it’s sometimes referred to as “development hell.”

  Development executive: An employee of a production company whose job responsibilities can include meeting writers, writing notes and coverage, and managing the workflow of scripts. Sometimes, female development executives are referred to pejoratively as “D-girls.” Never use this phrase.

  Development hell: When development goes wrong. Frequently, this is where the “improvement” results in the end product being unrecognizable, when compared to how it started out.

  Elevator pitch: A slightly tongue-in-cheek term for a very short pitch. This is the version of a pitch you will want handy if, by some luck, you find yourself on a brief elevator ride with Steven Spielberg or some other important person in the entertainment industry.

  Execution dependent: An idea that depends on quality execution to be successful. Hard to sell as a pitch, probably must be spec-ed. Most low concept ideas are execution dependent.

  Four-quadrant: A Hollywood phrase used in marketing and distribution that refers to a film that will appeal to the widest possible audience. Collectively, the four quadrants are Young Men, Young Women, Older Men and Older Women.

  Franchise: In television, it refers to the creative aspect of a series that allows the series to present related storylines every week and also be ongoing, season after season. In motion pictures, franchise typically means a film that can spawn sequels and valuable ancillary “spin-offs,” such as merchandising and even theme park attractions. But these two definitions can overlap. For example, the TV series “Star Trek” is one of the most successful franchises in history, having spawned numerous additional series but also many motion pictures.

  General meetings: Also known as “Generals” among writers. A meeting with a studio, producer or production company not related to a specific project, but rather just to get acquainted. Be prepared to pitch anyway.

  High concept: A movie idea that can be easily summarized in a compelling sentence or two. Sometimes also referred to as a “one-liner.”

  IMDb: The Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com). A prominent web site dedicated to amassing the credits and statistics related to every film and television production ever made. Though the listings are occasionally inaccurate, it is often the first place professionals in Hollywood check when doing research.

  Intellectual property (aka I.P.): The generic term for creations of the mind that can be legally owned, including such things as books, screenplays and characters. Most often the term intellectual property is used pertaining to copyright, trademark and patent law.

  Life rights: A somewhat misleading phrase related to the collection of real and inferred rights held by living people. Life rights are commonly considered to include rights related to privacy, defamation and publicity.

  Logline: A short description of the movie or television project. This term is typically used for the listing or cataloging of the project in places like an online tracking board, a film festival directory or in a publication like “TV Guide.”

 

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