I
was at the Austin Film Festival pitching a script to an agent at one of the top
agencies. The script I was pitching was
my baby, a screenplay I’d worked really hard on. I pitched it with energy and heart. I had a feeling I’d nailed it!
And
then she spoke.
I
still remember her words: “I’m sorry hon’, that’s a dink for me.” I think
she said “dink”. It might have been
“ding”. It didn’t matter. This was a genuine authority, a powerful
agent. And my story was a flop. And not just as executed. My whole idea was a flop!
A
year later that screenplay won a Nicholl Fellowship.
That
same woman ended up taking me out for breakfast, at the Peninsula in Beverly
Hills.
I
ordered an egg white frittata.
It
was tasty.
Don’t
let anyone discourage you.
****
Years
later, I had a meeting with an Oscar-winning producer to pitch for a job. The job was a paid writing assignment, to
adapt a popular children’s book into a feature film.
My
challenge was to pitch my take on the adaptation to this producer, a whip
smart, highly accomplished woman. If she
liked what she heard, the plan was for both of us to take the pitch to an
independent financier the next day.
I
really wanted to work with her. I had to
get this right.
So
I asked around about the different ways to pitch this kind of project. I was given advice to make a series of
storyboards outlining my story. I jumped
on the advice and spent hours preparing a dozen illustrated storyboards.
I
practiced my pitch over and over.
And
in I went to this woman’s office.
And
the first thing she said was: “No. No storyboards.”
She
didn’t like them – too formal. I had to
wing it. I got through the pitch
anyway. And she liked it. Well, half of it.
She
wanted me to redo the other half. Half a
storyline for a feature film! Over
night. So we could pitch the new version
the very next day! I’m not talking about
pitching a logline here. I’m talking
about a full-on twenty-minute synopsis.
But
here’s the thing:
Her
feedback made sense. It was
constructive. She had reasons for the
changes she wanted, and her reasoning was sound.
So I
stayed up all night and revised half the treatment, and in the morning we
pitched the new story to the finance guy.
In
the end, we didn’t get the financing.
But this producer was now on my side.
And we ended up taking that pitch to Sony, Universal, Fox and DreamWorks.
I got to meet a half dozen studio execs
in one day.
If
I’d said no to this producer, if I’d said, you’re wrong, I’m right, I’m not
staying up all night, I never would have had that opportunity.
Don’t
let the challenges discourage you.
This
screenplay business, it’s harder than you think.
But
you can do it.
