Screenwriting : Pitching. Yesterday in the Pitch Tank session by Dave Begley

Ive been to a few pitch competitions and they always expected you to give a logline.

Good catch. It's not easy to pitch. That time limit is pretty daunting.

I'm imagining the group pitching might have submitted their loglines prior to the webcast. They needed every second of those minutes for details!

Hey Dave, it depends on the style of the pitch I think. And no two pitches are the same. The best pitch I ever took felt more like a conversation than it did a traditional "pitch" without the rote "My logline is......the comps are......the themes are......."

And when I pitch, I work the logline in without drawing too much attention to it.

I spoke with the director of "Angel has Fallen" at the AFF last year and he said that the movie came about because Girard Butler called him and pitched the idea to him, and even Girard Butler was expected to deliver a "hook" within 20 seconds to catch his attention. I would suggest following his advice and make sure the first 15-20 seconds hook the person youre pitching, then spend the next 60 seconds explaining the emotional journey/challenges the character must overcome. Its not about the details of the plot. There are inner and outer conflicts the character must overcome and you need to focus on the inner journey because that is the one we can empathize with.