I'm a professional writer new to Stage 32. I recently tried two services.
I did a script consult with an industry pro. It took over 3 weeks and phone call to get it done but I got some great feedback. The consultant was a real pro and he treated me like one. Which you don't necessarily find at other Screenwriting Coverage Services. I've all ready made a couple of script changes. However, we wasted a bit of time in the beginning because he assumed I was doing a crime procedural. Maybe because my lead character is in law enforcement and a crime incites the narrative? It's actually a political drama. He patiently stepped me through writing a crime procedural and I told him I'm not sure the world needs another one. LOL. Cold reads are valuable. But this misunderstanding could have been avoided had I been allowed to submit a cover letter, or one-page or even a note.
Last night I got feedback from a Written Pitch. It was scheduled for Sunday. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect. It arrived with a scorecard on top of the form. Total surprise. Like returning to grammar school and getting a grade on your homework. His focus was on how to create an effective document rather than giving me feedback on the premise and potential for a series. He gave me a list of the things you need in a pitch document. Theme, structure, tone, comps, characters, pilot story, future episodes. Future seasons, etc. You see where this is going? He was looking for Series Bible. So, complete waste of my time and money. BTW I have a Bible. It's 20 slides long or a 16 page Word Doc. These industry professionals are seeing Series Bibles from agented writers. It seems futile to believe they'll grasp your TV Series in 1 or 2 pages. I think if I'm paying to pitch I should be able to submit a pitch document that casts my work in the best light possible. I have tow more of these lined up and feel I'm flushing money down the drain.
If you've made it this far... I send Zero Gravity an email pitch, which included a proper series document, and they got back to me in a few hours. They have the script. Fingers crossed.
Hey Lois Tiller - I am the Director of Script Services at Stage 32. Thanks for your feedback. I am thrilled to hear that your consultation call went well. Thanks for your comments on the written pitch session as well. Both of these services are meant to help you improve the scripts and the pitch document based on feedback from the executives on our roster.
This is why - particularly for the pitch feedback - the critique focused on the delivery of the pitch. You are also welcome to pitch live via Skype or phone, during which you are able to answer their questions and address their comments. I also find that professional writers such as yourself tend to thrive during live pitch sessions.
Of course feel free to reach out to me directly at any point. I am happy to take the conversation forward. You can email me at j.mirch@stage32.com - that is the fastest way to reach me.
Good luck with the team at Zero Gravity! We know those guys well and they are fantastic.
Lois, all the VERY BEST to you on working with the folks at Zero Gravity!
I sent a screenplay to the company in November 2019...but it didn't work out. (I hope to send Zero Gravity something else soon...now that I've been learning quite a few lessons since then.)
BEST OF LUCK to you!
... the critique focused on the delivery of the pitch... Jason, I think that's the point of confusion for me. I have pitched many times, mostly for script rewrites or story consultation gigs. I've pitch in prestigious Beverly Hills offices, in restaurants and even hotel bars. When I was in software development I pitched venture capital at a shark tank type of event. I was under the impression that the producer was actively seeking material in my genre and we'd talk about the potential series. BTW I get that the business is extremely subjective. I'm not looking for a pitch coach.
Lois Tiller I might read the feedback as "because of the way it was pitched it didn't help me to understand your project." I've gotten feedback on a verbal pitch that said everything I said was fine, but definitely NOT in that order. I changed up the pitch and tried it again and then it was great (still got feedback on how to improve, but the expected structure was there). I personally like the structure and the fact that you can literally say "This is like X meets Y." Or It's like Jaws without the shark.
As for the pitch delivery style: I hear again and again - conversational style. You want it to be polished but sound like a conversation that someone could jump in on, not like you memorized the first page of your script word for word.
I don't know if that's helpful, but always look for the "note under the note". Sometimes people are trying to be kind. Hope that helps!
Lois, sounds like you're startin' to catch on. There's a lot of minnows in the pond.
Seems like you're going into this with the intentions of selling versus the goal of the pitch which is education and feedback. But every now and then, a solicitor gets excited about an idea, "send me your full script" request.
Over the past 18 months or so I’ve pitched over 60 written pitches to Stage 32 execs. My script is animation so you might not be surprised to hear that some have fallen on stoney ground.. “we don’t do animation” even though (annoyingly) I have tried to pitch within that arena or “all genres of film”
I can empathise with you on the feedback only concerning the pitch format, I’ve had several, with no indication whatsoever on whether my project is viable commercially, which I guess is fair enough.. pitching correctly is part of the learning curve right?
Sooo, understanding the value of this feedback, I’ve tried to improve the format accordingly, but am still having mixed results. One exec prefers one way of formatting, and another says the opposite. Only today I had feedback saying “great pitch, but you must put this first, leave that to the end, and list this at the start etc.”. (None of which are in the Stage 32 pitching guidelines, and also contradict what other exec’s have said).
So considering I’ve spent in excess of 2000 dollars just to try and get it right and to industry standards, I feel myself going round in circles.
Having said all that, I must add that it has absolutely not been a waste of money. Why? Because I’m prepared to be educated, and part of that education is to be able to recognise good feedback from bad. I can now spot it a mile off. Some of the best feedback I’ve had has been very critical, but I now have that gut instinct to know if an exec is worth their salt, and when I know they are, the information they give is truly invaluable. My script is way better now.
I do feel however, that there should be some kind of fixed guidelines in place to prevent others trudging the long path that I have, but whether this is possible or not is questionable.
To explain how I feel about the pitching system, I’ll relate a quick story:
In the UK we have a vehicle checking system, we call it the M.O.T. It covers the road-worthiness of your vehicle annually. You guys in the U.S. probably have something similar.
When I was a kid with my first banger, I would take it to the garage to have it tested. It always failed, that was a given. So I would take it to the next garage, and the next, to see which one failed it on the least expensive fault. You can’t do that now of course because it’s all tied up, but you see where I’m going with this?
The pitch system is comprised of execs who are individuals and have their own opinions, preferences, experience and expertise, so I’ve found their feedback, on much the same pitch, varies wildly. There’s no regulations. They are individual “garages.”
How come I’ve have marks from 2 to 5 on originality for example? Surely there shouldn’t be such a grey area on this? Shouldn’t all the execs know if there’s anything out there that’s similar. I guess some do, some don’t.
I can also see where you’re coming from regarding the futility of pitching 1 to 2 pages. I’ve tried to put as much information as possible in those 2 pages, only to be told “it’s difficult to read, use broader strokes”. Using broader strokes results in “there should be more about this or more about that”. I swear I’ve almost thrown my computer out of the window in pure frustration.
But I’m going to keep on pitching for as long as I can afford it because it is a valuable education, I do think there’s room for improvement in the system though.
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Hi Lois. You sound a bit frustrated. The Script Coverage is an expensive but reallly helpful experience. You need to ask yourself, if the format of the pilot isn't obvious, then you need to rewrite it so that it is obviious. The pilot is theblueprint for how all other episodes will be laid out. If the executive who read it isn't sure what the format is, if it isn't OBVIOUSLY a political drama, then you need to edit or rewrite to make sure your audience is clear and not misleading in any way. You already seem to know that, based on what you've written here. As for the written OR verbal pitches, all you get is a score card. That's it. You're paying for the experience of pitching to a high level industry executive. The feedback on the score card is icing. Even with the score card, there are valuable learning opportunities. Who should you pitch to? Stage32 does provide a little blurb on each exec, but I think it behooves us as scriptwriters pitching our stories to go further: research the website and IMDB of the company you're pitching to. Who are the executives? How long has it been in operation? How much of their focus is production or management? How does your story compare to their work so far or currently in production? How can you show, during your pitch, that you've done this homework to get to know them What it comes down to, in the end, is your story. You want your story to absolutely kick ass, and you want to have more than one story, in case they ask 'what else have you done?" I looked at your bio and didn't see any onesheets or loglines. You do have a link to your website. I've heard that execus do lurk st32, so consider adding onesheets and loglines. Good luck with all your pitches and Just Keep Writing!!!!
Graham White what a bummer. Have you considered producing a short film as a "proof of concept" to move your work along? You could enter film festival competitions and get out to do some networking. Right before Covid struck I came to the decision to produce my content. I had a short film in development as well as a doc series. With some tremendous help from RSA (Ridley Scott America) I was able to shoot a documentary sizzle in the Navajo Rez in Kayenta. For what it's worth, I think British filmmakers are much more accessible than their US counterparts. I optioned a short to a British director. He found all sorts of really talented people who wanted to be involved. An Oscar winning art director, a Cesar winning DP, even an Oscar nominated A List actor who said "yeah if I'm in town I'll turn up." We just had bad luck with funding. Right now Producers a ton of scripts in their pipelines. A lot of shows got delayed. So, maybe they're not really looking unless you have a really timely project. I have one of those, a story set in the heart of the militia movement. I'm going hard because it's ahead of what will be a trend.
Nick Assunto - Stage 32 Script Services Coordinator Is that true that it's only for feedback? I thought the idea was that you got a scorecard, but that if they were interested they could request the script. So is the Coverage your best bet for selling through the recommend rating? Now I'm confused. I thought the pitching was to pitch your project?
Hey Nick I get 3 or 4 emails a day offering me an opportunity to pitch my work to someone who is actively seeking scripts. These are impassioned, get it while it's hot solicitations. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt up to this point. Putting it down to over stating the offer. Let the buyer beware and all that. But this response from you is in complete contradiction to what I'm seeing in my inbox.
Here's an excerpt.
I'm sure you feel it too. March is already off to a busy start. The producers and executives who are hearing pitches this month have been busier than ever looking for new material and new writers.
They are in business with companies like StudioCanal, Lionsgate, Paramount Television, Millennium Films, and more. A few of them are working with writers they found through Stage 32.
If you're going to have something ready in time to pitch, Lois, don't wait. After these sessions go, the executive will not be available again for a few months. So if you see an executive who is a potential match for your project make sure you jump on it.
"The producers and executives who are hearing pitches this month have been busier than ever looking for new material and new writers...." So, I read that wrong? A lot of platforms offer film pitch presentation services and they are described as such.
Please cancel my 2 remaining written pitch sessions and give me a full refund.
Experience is what you get right after you need it. Cheers.
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Nick Assunto - Stage 32 Script Services Coordinator Thanks for clarifying that Nick - so it was what I thought it was - a networking open-ended opportunity. Looking forward to my pitch this weekend!