Best Pitches Have...

All of us have been in the film, video, television, media industry and I understand pitches have to hook the producers in. I also understand that you have to tell a little about yourself and then your story. Some producers I have spoken to say that characters are more important than the story when you pitch. Other producers argue that the story is more important. From the experience and feedback I've received, it appears the best pitches have both.

Now another argument that five producers had in front of me was whether or not to tell the ending. Some said yes and others said no. Of course during the pitch, you want to get them interested in reading your material. You also want to respect and acknowledge the person you're pitching to by making eye contact and being sincere. If you have a three minute pitch what do you think is the best solution?

During my pitch I also told them the high concept that makes the Sci-fi story different and marketable from others without to much detail. They seemed to love that. Also there's another question, Do you tell them that my story is for example Gravity meets Aliens etc.  There's been conflict with that issue.

I also realized that some of the people I was pitching to had more of a television background and some others had film backgrounds. I think that makes a big difference. But for the sake of this article I am sticking to pitching a script for a Major Motion Picture.

When you read the material about pitching in books an in articles they're all different, but it's nothing like telling your story to a real person who is commenting and listening. An exchange of dialogue takes place. I received excellent feedback on my pitch, but found it interesting that producers were arguing among themselves for a moment about what should be in a story.

So I put the questions to everyone. What do you think is the best way to pitch, should it be story and character arcs? Should I tell them what movies it may relate to even though there is a possibility they may hate one of the films I'm mentioning?

I also know it depends on the genre so we will stick to Sci-fi to simplify the issue for a major motion. If anyone wishes to write a pitch in the comment session please feel free to do so. I am interested in your opinions. Happy Writing.