I talked with Jason Mirch the other day about my screenplay. He gave be an big atta boy aaand some homework. The consultation was very insightful and I learned a few more things about making the story better and a couple leads to send the screenplay on to the next step after I make a few adjustments.
IL looking forward to pitching next month in Las Vegas.
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Best of luck. I haven’t heard back yet about my pitch but staying busy with my writing (got 2 chapters done on Tuesday).
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Awesome! What's next month in Las vegas?
To Jeff - It's an event hosted by Author House Publishing called Pitchfest. A few dozen Hollywood producers/agents attend. I was told it would be a lot like speed dating. At Each station I would have 5 minutes to pitch my film.
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Cool! I live in LV, so was wondering if I missed something, but it is a 'book to film' so outside my area. Best of luck to you! Keep us posted!
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Hey Alex R Price! I really enjoyed the read and I am happy my feedback was helpful! Always glad to work with passionate writers to develop material. Keep it up! Best of luck to you!
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Beware - AuthorHouse is a vanity publisher; as far as I know, they're not in any way connected to the film biz. I would very, very, very carefully vetted every single producer/agent scheduled to be there. Very carefully. I mean, very carefully.
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Let me just say this, as a former development executive who has taken 3000 pitches at pitchfests, teaches pitching for a living, wrote a dozen articles on pitchfests, and has attended about 75 pitchfests over the years.... every piece of advice Jack Sprat just said is completely incorrect and is really bad advice. like... really bad advice. sorry.
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To follow up... Execs (and assistants) and Managers/Reps WANT to know about YOU. They hear 100 decent ideas a day - they want to know why YOU are the writer to write that story, what sets you apart, what connects you to it. Especially NOW - when they're looking for new POVS/Voices. If you just pitch plot and not YOURSELF - you are wasting your time. NEVER EVER speak for 5 minutes and feel like you could speak another 10 minutes. If you prepare for 15 minutes, you will NEVER be able to pitch your whole story. That is NOT what they want. If you have 5 minutes with them, your pitch should be no longer than 3 minutes. They want to know how EFFICIENTLY and SPECIFICALLY you can pitch the A to Z of your story in the strongest way while making it sound commercial. Pitch concept, character, conflict, give them the genre, the comps, a great logline. You save the other 2 minutes for questions and so they can get to know you. If you speak for 4 minutes and 55 seconds, there is no time for them to ask you anything. They will NOT keep the pitch going if they like it - there's a line of people waiting to pitch and the event won't let them. They may ask you for a one-sheet, but you've missed your opportunity for them to connect with you.
Do NOT go to the oldest person in the room - god that's horrible advice. If there's an old guy at a pitchfest it's because no one wants to work with him anymore and he's not getting any decent material. Go to the YOUNG, HUNGRY execs who are trying to find something to bring in and put their name on. Go to the boutique companies WITH credits - it's the biggest company in the room who is only there for the money and the free lunch. Thy don't need your project. You don't have to thank them for being there and go on and on about it, but you want to be polite. And have fun!