There are books, DVDs, tutorials, coaching business and much more devoted to advising screenwriters how to pitch their screenplay. Pitching is a verbal presentation of your idea. Your goal is to sell your idea to a production executive or agent so that they want to hire you to write a screenplay and pay you to do so.
A typical pitch meeting gives you about 15 minutes to explain your story and characters and why an audience would be interested in them. You must display energy, passion, confidence and commitment to your idea. You should arrive early and be prepared to wait. You should know the key elements from beginning to end, backward and forward. You don’t want to show up and read your logline and plot points from index cards. You should look and act professional. Remember that you want this meeting to establish a business relationship. Prepare a one or two sentence description of yourself. Be aware of time constraints. Don’t ramble. Watch your audience to make sure they are staying interested.
Practice your pitch. Don’t think you can show up for your meeting and wing it. Practice pitching to a friend. Practice pitching a movie you’ve already seen before practicing with your screenplay. The goal is to leave your audience feeling like they’ve seen a great trailer for your story.
Your pitch should be about ten minutes long. You should address who the movie is about (the main character) and what happens to that character during the course of the movie. That includes the character’s situation at the beginning, during and after the movie’s climax as well as what that character has to overcome during the movie.
Be sure to cover your story’s genre. Movies are sold as comedies, thrillers, or dramas. The genre helps convey how marketable your screenplay is. Be sure you are pitching your script to the right people. Producers and production companies that specialize in action picture won’t be interested in a romantic comedy. Do your homework and learn the right players for your genre.
Spend some time studying sales techniques. Salespeople essentially “pitch” products or ideas all the time. It’s worth your time to learn about their best selling methods. You also might consider a coaching session. Selling or pitching coaches can help you perfect your presentation and build your confidence.
Speaking of sales, don’t underestimate financial considerations. You want to create confidence that the film can be produced within defined dollar limits. Addressing this issue upfront will probably separate you from others pitching their scripts to the same people. Be familiar with the costs of producing your script so that you can defend it. You need to sell the commercial viability of your idea.
Know whom you’re pitching to. Research the people you’re pitching to—what are their past movie credits? Also know your intended audience and past successes in this genre. Be ready to provide background on your story, topic, and characters. Brainstorm a list of questions potential buyers might have for you about your script. They might want to know what sparked your interest in the topic.
Try to get a follow-up phone call, email or meeting scheduled before the meeting ends. If you got all the way up to a pitch meeting, chances are good the people you met with are interested in you enough to maintain contact.
Pitching is an art. Your success depends on your idea and how well you present it.