Is there such a thing as pitching a story idea with characters and basic plot to someone who would buy it and assign it to a writer?
Filmmaking / Directing : Pitching a story idea? by Erin Campion
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Hey, Jeff. You are so right. Thank you SO much for the advice. Once protected, would I still need an agent? On the Stage 32 Pitch weekends do writers already have agents? Maybe an Entertainment Attorney (I happen to know a very good one up here in Marin)? I appreciate your opinion! Thanks.
Thanks so much, Jeff. Great info!
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If you have a WGA agent, the agent will (hopefully) set up meetings for you with his professional colleagues, and you will not have to pay for pitchfests. If you don't have an agent or manager, you may have to query agents/managers/producers, and you may have to pay if you want to pitch via pitchfests. Pitchfests are a way for unrepresented creators (or creators repped by small, non-WGA agencies or small managers outside the mainstream) to get in the door. I went to my first pitchfest last year as a producer (the Fade In pitchfest). I went as a favor to a manager friend. I think I took pitches for 2 hours, and you hear a new pitch every 5 minutes. As a producer, I received no monetary compensation for attending the pitchfest, but they give you a gift bag to help compensate you for your time.
Erin and Jeff: Those who pitch with Stage 32 Happy Writers DO NOT have agents nor entertainment attorneys. They most often are independent, amateur, or aspiring screenwriters pitching a speculative screenplay (spec script) that they have written to either an executive of their choice or they sign up to participate in the online pitchfests. These executives are looking for material and those who are pitching to them hope to have their script requested to be read. These screenwriters are pitching completed, executed, written work, not ideas. Erin, if you need further assistance or have more questions about Happy Writers please reach out to Joey Tuccio or send your questions to assistant@stage32.com. Happy Writers also offers consulting and coverage services. All Stage 32 pitches are handled and organized by Happy Writers who would guide you through each step. Here is the link with all the information about Stage 32 Happy Writers: https://www.stage32.com/happy-writers. :)
Hi Beth, I'm learning a lot! I understand the basic pitching environment.... I don't want to Write the screenplay or TV show...I want to hand it over to someone and now I see that there are ways to do that. Thank you so much for steering me to these wonderful resources.... There is so much to discover in this Stage 32 realm! Thank you so much for the help! Take care xxxx Erin
Beth, Joey - please explain that NDAs are not standard in mainstream Hollywood. This has come up before in other threads. You might have to sign an NDA if you've been given the Star Wars script, but 99.9% of the time, there is no NDA.
Regina, thank you for sharing your professional knowledge and experience—greatly appreciated, as always! I did send a message to Joey informing him about this thread. Joey works with so many executives he would be better able to comment about these issues than I. However, personally, I am well-aware that NDAs are not standard practice in mainstream Hollywood and may cause a person insisting on their use to inadvertently appear to be inexperienced and/or hard to work with—something we all wish to avoid! I'll message Joey again. :)
I will say that when I've visited tech companies, I have been asked to sign NDAs, so I do believe it's standard practice in other industries.
Yes, I believe it's more standard in other industries as well. For example, I've had to sign NDAs when I worked in advertising. When invited to do a pitch proposal for a company looking for a new agency, they often would have everyone involved sign NDAs as they (the company) share confidential material in order for an ad agency to develop an informed campaign. Often these NDAs have a time limit. I once did some brand work for Oprah's Angel Network and was not allowed to talk about nor show any samples of the work that I did until after a certain amount of time—we're talking years. :)
Okay, I will! Thanks, everyone... this is a nice infusion of positive energy!