Screenwriting : A good Pass by Peter Roach

Like all you Hollywood hopefuls. I submitted a written pitch.

Reply: This idea is interesting but work needs to be done for the pitch to really sell that idea.

On the street this is the dreaded ‘keep walking son and take this PASS with ya.’

I submitted to a Head of Creative Development who must have seen many a crappy pitch. I think that made the difference on the quality of reply. I received comprehensive reasons why my pitch failed.

I won’t list them here, but damn, it was “why the phuck did I not write that BEFORE submitting.”

I have had responses on other pitches I suspect that were written after a long day, and the reader was home with a terrible spouse and a sick pet. I once had to write a report to a government big cheese after taking a red eye from the West Coast.

This pitch review was the type yer Dad gave you when your team lost and you didn’t get a consolation cup. Frank, helpful and inspiring at the same time. So I rewrote the pitch, it is now smooth as a forty year old malt.

I actually want to thank the honest bastard.