One: It Matters How You
Say It
I flew into Los Angeles
from New York one afternoon and headed immediately to the offices of a well known production company to
practice a pitch we were taking out to several studios the next day. The President of the company, who had brought me
in to do this, was too busy, so she handed me off to her Vice President. The Vice President was also “busy” and handed
me off to his assistant.
Although a little thrown
off, I went through my twenty minute pitch for this assistant. But I was dehydrated from the flight and not
as prepared as I could have been, so I recalled facts a bit too slowly and generally
stumbled through the whole thing. It was
obvious the assistant hated it.
The Vice President then
felt he better listen to it, and again I floundered. He didn’t have any ideas on how to make it
better. I don’t think he thought I was
worth the effort. He didn’t seem at all
enthusiastic about our meetings the next day.
That night and the next morning,
I worked really hard on being more prepared.
Our first pitch was to Fox, and this time I didn’t hesitate. I didn’t stumble on my words. And because I was prepared, I could focus on
delivering the pitch with confidence and energy.
It went over well. Suddenly, the production company's Vice President who had
seemed completely uninterested changed his mind about the project. Now he thought it was worth his time.
Here’s the thing: It was
the exact same pitch. Same characters,
same wording, same everything. The only
thing that was different was my delivery.
It matters how you say it. A lot.
Two: It’s Okay To Bomb
If there’s a theme to my
screenwriting blog, it’s that I make mistakes.
Often. I’ve definitely messed up
my share of pitch meetings.
It’s actually not that big
a deal.
Based on my ample
experience with crashing and burning, I can tell you this: No one will put out a press release regarding
your idiocy. No one will refuse to work
with you again (at least not to your face).
No one will seek a restraining order keeping you out of Hollywood. Well, there was this one time --
It’s kind of like being a
politician. It’s amazing how much you
can screw up and still have a career.
All you need is a new script. A
new pitch. A new idea. And you’ll get a second chance. And a third.
And as many after that as
you can stand.
Three: Pitching Is Awesome
Pitching scares a lot of
screenwriters. I actually love it. It’s not that it doesn’t stress me out. It does.
Big time. Right before a meeting,
I usually think I’m about to have a cardiac event.
What I love so much is
being in the game, putting a story in front of the people who actually have the
power to get it made.
That’s worth a little bit
of terror any day!
