Pitching programmes are all the rage these days, with almost every festival event hosting some version of the concept. Whether the opportunity is in the form of a short ‘elevator pitch’ or a more developed visual pitch, producers are having to hone their presentation skills in order to really benefit from these events.
Just within the months of September and October there are a host of pitching opportunities; DISCOP Johannesburg and Mahala.tv are running a pitching marathon for short content, The Cape Town International Film Market and Festival is hosting its own pitching session, a new platform has also just launched in South Africa that will provide a unique opportunity for one winner to make a short film with professional production support worth in excess of R300 000.
The Woman Expo in Johannesburg is also offering up to R30 000 for a winning woman in film or photography, there is even a pitching competition in Somalia, for short film innovation and this past month saw the Nigerian Lights Camera Africa Festival hosting its own pitching competition.
Even though these events may seem like a long-shot for many producers, the chance to practice pitching in front of various judges and in various formats is always valuable. Having a short pitch perfected and ready to go means that no opportunity will be missed – like the next time you find yourself in an elevator with that studio exec!
With these opportunities in mind, here are some of the best tips from around the web on how to perfect your pitch:
- Writing your pitch is like writing a script. You have to put that much thought and care into it in order for it to work.
- As soon as you see them check their phone or their watch—or even if they doodle for two seconds—it’s over.
- Your pitch must be as short, concise and (more importantly) as interesting as possible.
- Keep the interest on the relationship you are building with them and not on the facts, focus on pitching yourself.
- Take the time to fully understand your concept. Know the world you intend to create as well as the characters you plan to have inhabit that world.
- Where you’re pitching is just as important as what you’re pitching. Know the past projects of the places you’re pitching to. If the company you’re meeting with is known for its horror movies, chances are they’re not going to be all that receptive to your idea for a romantic comedy.
- Hit your target points: concept, characters, story. Anything more than that and you’re likely overselling your idea and boring your audience.
- Practice your pitch. Run it by a few friends, co-workers, relatives, the family pet, whomever. It’s essential that you have a structured speech that will allow you to get out everything about your idea that you need to in a reasonable amount of time.
- Never try to tell your whole story. This is by far the biggest mistake any writer or filmmaker can make. You’ve got 60-90 seconds to pitch your story. If you try to include every important detail of your screenplay you’ll run out of time before your prospective buyer has a clear picture of the potential of your project.
- Begin by revealing how you came up with the idea. Don’t lead with your title or log line. Titles are close to meaningless, and usually confusing, when a buyer knows nothing about the story at all.
- The main reason that some pitches don’t result in requests is not because the pitch was no good; it’s because the buyer just isn’t looking for that type of movie project.
