I finally got the pitch report for the pitch I thought had gone so well. Although the exec was complimentary in her report, she ended up passing on the script, in spite of the fact that she said, twice, that she was going to request it. I totally understand getting passes, but it's particularly disheartening to wait so long and think I'm going to get a request only to find out otherwise.
Screenwriting : Pitch Sessions: When What They Say Doesn't Match What They Write by Susan Rocha Bays
Pitch Sessions: When What They Say Doesn't Match What They Write
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Execs don't want to say no in person. They don't like being mean to people's faces most of the time. If the exec doesn't give you their email in the pitch and say "send it to me", it's almost always a pass.
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Hi Susan, Danny has a point in that executives don't like having to tell someone no. It can be awkward, especially if the writer asks during their pitch "so, do you want to read it? Would you like to give it a read?" Saying "no" after that is... awkward. I will say that if an executive doesn't give you their email in the pitch, it doesn't mean you won't be requested. Most of our success stories didn't go straight from pitching to "here's my email". They followed our process of pitch-requested-script sent-meeting requested. To Bill's point, sometimes an executive can get really into a pitch, but once they sit on it for a few minutes and give it some further thought, they change their mind. They are people, after all - their opinions are subject to change as often as any of ours. I wouldn't call her office and ask for clarification however. Unsolicited phone calls are a big no-no and come across as grossly unprofessional more than anything else. For your specific report, I looked and the executive said they thought it was a great idea, but a little too small for them to fit into the marketplace. That'll happen! Sometimes an executive gets really excited, but when they give it a second thought they realize it doesn't totally fit their company's slate or mandate. It's OK when that happens and it can be a good thing because it means you're a writer who's on their radar as having good ideas. If you came back to that same executive with material more suited for their slate, you'd be in an extremely advantageous position.