All About Pitching

Pitching … Love it or hate it, it needs to be done if you’re going to sell your work. There’s just no way out of it!

Sometimesyou will be pitching on paper via one pagers and treatments. Other times it will be in a formal pitching environment like the Pitchfest at London Screenwriters Festival, or for virtual opportunities. 

With the festival on everyone’s radar, here are my top pitching tips. These are for those pitching face-to-face, whether that’s across a desk or via a Zoom screen. Ready? Let’s go!

1) Know your logline inside out

Knowing the central concept yourself and relaying it as clearly as possible is an absolute must, don’t make the person you’re pitching to have to guess.

What’s more, you can relay your logline as formally or informally as you like, it really doesn’t matter. No one is ever going to jump on you for being prepared, so if you have to read out your logline ‘cos of nerves, where’s the harm?

Remember though: a logline is not a tagline!

2) Don’t forget to tell your pitchee what your project IS

Really obvious here, but I often finding myself asking things like, “Is it for television or film?” This can be important, especially in the post-streamer age.

From here, you might get asked a bit about the project’s genre or its audience. If it’s for TV, what sort of slot are we looking at? Is it a returning drama, continuing drama or serial?

If it’s a film, what kind of certificate do you envisage and why? Who is your audience? What types of things have they watched before? Why would they like your project?

This is when people say, ‘BUT I’ve heard people don’t like hearing stuff like “JAWS MEETS PITCH BLACK” – is this true? 

I don’t think I’ve knowingly met people who absolutely hate using this device. That said, simply sticking two movies/shows together is not always the best idea. I’ve heard lots of people shoving two soundalike movies or TV series together that don’t work AT ALL. So make sure you have watched your comparables!!!

With the above in mind, I would be more inclined to say something like:

“The audience who might like this movie are the types who may have watched the likes of [two or three similar movies], are in this [age range] and may have read books like [1 or 2 books].”

3) Do I bring any extras with me?

I think this depends on the context. Don’t ever press scripts or USBs into the hands of others, unsolicited. If a speed pitching session, I don’t see anything wrong with giving your pitchee a one pager, though I think it’s polite to ask first.

If you’re doing a more formal pitch and have been told you can bring props, one pagers, mood boards or powerpoint, then ALWAYS DO SO. Such things can make you less self-conscious and feed into helping your confidence and focus. Props can also help others to “visualise” your project better. But keep it as simple as possible and don’t overload people.

Oh – and if in doubt, ask what you can bring.

4) Don’t get caught up in the plot 

Remember, you’re pitching a project your pitchee has NOT READ YET. Whilst this is mind-numbingly obvious, it’s VERY easy to lapse into “and this happens… and then this happens… and then this happens…” Then the pitchee is more than likely going to zone out. Week!

Instead of going for the smaller details then, give us a “sense” of the WHOLE. Lots of pitching people recommend “selling the sizzle, not the steak”. This means focusing on:

• logline
• characters
• goals
• genre
• audience

NOT the ins and outs of the plot. MORE: 8 Tips For Perfect Pitches & Super Selling Documents

5) Calm down!

It’s very easy to get het up when pitching and unexpected things *do* happen. Once at a pitching event I shook someone’s hand as I was sitting down, missed my chair, fell to the floor AND pulled them over so the (rather rickety!) table collapsed. It was very, very embarrassing. But hey, the producer in question has always remembered me ever since!!!

But hopefully, this kind of calamity will not befall you and all you’ll get is a case of chronic nerves. If this happens, don’t panic. If your mind goes blank or you start stuttering or whatever, just be truthful. Say you need a moment to compose yourself. No one’s going to think any the less of you.

Model Pitch For You

For anyone who wants it then, here is the model pitch I often provide for those who ask me:

Hi, I’m [name, a little bit of relevant b.g – one/two sentences max]. I’m here today to pitch a [genre of project/title of project], it’s a [TV script/Film script/web series/whatever]. The logine is [logline] and it’s aimed at [audience + why].

Obviously depending on the context/time you have (and whether you have props or other people with you), you can expand or reduce it to fit.

I think it encapsulates those burning questions a pitchee *might* have about your project. This also means in the questions/feedback part you can talk in more detail about the project, rather than chase after any important, yet missing elements you didn’t cover upfront. MORE: Logline Hacks To Help You Pitch

GOOD LUCK!!!