When I wrote my project — inspired by the world of the EDM scene — one of my favorite DJs and his music had a huge influence on me. Secretly, it was always a dream of mine that maybe some of his tracks, or even he himself, could appear in the project, even if only for a brief cameo moment.
At the same time, I was fully aware of the other side of it: choices like this can significantly increase the budget and make the project much harder to produce.
When I created the pitch deck, I hesitated for a long time about whether I should even mention this idea at all. In the end, I decided to include it.
Honestly, I still don’t know if it was the right decision.
But creatively — and even from a marketing perspective — I feel there could be something incredibly powerful about connecting the project to the very world that inspired it in the first place.
What do you think? Should writers dare to dream big already at the pitch stage, or is it better to stay completely grounded in realism?
I think it depends on the role of that particular person/cast. If he is the main protagonist, then a high paycheck may be justified, but otherwise, it would seem a bad choice if it is not a self-funding project.