How to Pitch Your Film: A Step-By-Step Breakdown
How to Pitch Your Film: A
Step-By-Step Breakdown
“Nobody
wants to be the first in on the project—everyone wants to get on a train that’s
moving.”
The road to getting a film off the ground is never straight and narrow,
especially if you’re starting at the bottom. What if you could pitch your film
in exactly the right way to exactly the right people?
At the SXSW 2017,
a group of producers, financiers, and distributors sat down on the Pitch,
Package, Produce panel to explain the process of successfully
pitching your film with those goals in mind. (For more, here are some pointers on
the psychology of pitching.)
"Don’t
say you have the next Jurassic Park, a mega hit, or the next Insidious,
which came out of nowhere, and can’t be replicated. You want to be
realistic."
From industry veterans Tiffany Boyle (Ramo Law PC), Jessica Freeborn
(Pretty____Ideas), Stefan Nowicki (Sundial Pictures), and Tyler
MacIntyre (Tragedy Girls), here's a breakdown of the most important
steps in the pitch process.
Step 1: Research
Whether you are looking to pitch to a producer, distributor, or
financier, the first step is always finding out who is the best fit. That means
researching who is in the business of aligning themselves with films that are
similar to your own.
"What do I look for from a pitch? Honestly, it’s not about what I
like personally," said Freeborn. "It’s whether or not it fits with
our mandate. For example, don’t pitch a horror film to Focus Features—they do
awards-worthy films. The first part is knowing who you are pitching and what
they are looking for."
According to the panelists, you should certainly tweak your presentation
to fit who you are pitching to—but do so within reason. "Don’t think about
forcing yourself to do a project just because [a company] might be interested
in it," said MacIntyre. "Think about it as having passion projects
ready to get made, and who might make it. I do horror movies between $2-5
million, for example. There was a while where I was pitching, and people would
ask, 'Do you have any haunted house movies?' It was because The
Conjuring just came out. I didn’t mind. I find ways to explain
projects I’m passionate about in terms of recent successes."
Step 2: Pitch meeting
Networking,
cold emailing, pitch fests,
and events...whatever you have to do, start doing it. If you have an agent,
manager, or lawyer,
financiers and distributors should talk to these reps. If you don’t, get
creative.
"Networking is the best place to start," said Boyle.
"Producer networking events, in particular. There are platforms like Stage
32 that have pitch events where you can be heard by industry, or IFP Film Week,
or Women in Film. There are lots of places you can look into."
"Definitely
don’t include your script in the cold email."
What about cold emails and unsolicited requests? "I respond to
emails all the time, because we’re a growing company," said Freeborn.
"But many others don’t. If you’re going to do a cold email, be sure to
include a short bio, a sense of the project or content you’re focused on, as
well as if anyone is attached. Definitely don’t include your script in the cold
email, but do mention that you can send it over if they’re interested in
reading more."
Step 3: Comp films
Comp films are films that are comparable to yours in terms of marketing
and success. But don't make the common mistake of comparing your film to
another film creatively—unless you are pitching to a producer, you want to pull
comps from a business standpoint.
"Someone you pitch to may like your project, but they still need to
sell it up the ladder [in the company]," said Freeborn. "Start by
making 10 comparable films. Don’t say you have the next Jurassic Park,
a mega hit, or the next Insidious, which came out of nowhere, and
can’t be replicated. You want to be realistic, if not conservative, because you
don’t want to sound cocky or delusional. We use comps to find how much money to
give you, so pick relatively recent films that you think your film could
emulate in terms of success."
Step 4: Find a champion
If you had a champion and some buzz, you’d be that much more likely to
get a pitch meeting. But what if you have nothing?
According to the panelists, you can try to get an actor or director on
board who can bring some credibility to the project. Otherwise, film festival
programmers who champion your work are your best bet.
"Nobody want to be the first in the project," said Boyle.
"Everyone wants to get on a train that’s moving. Most actors will get in
with money. If you haven’t done anything before, you may have to put in
significant money. Or maybe try getting an actor on as a producer, if she or he
can get excited about the project. Otherwise, look for [programmers at]
Sundance and SXSW."
Step 5: Proof of concept
How useful is it to have a short that
shows off your feature idea? It depends if you can pull
it off the short film with your current resources.
"A proof of concept can be amazing, like Whiplash,"
said McIntyre. "But if it didn’t come out exactly the right way, it can
backfire. Alternately, sometimes you can use a short to post online, and if
have a lot of hits, you show that there is interest in the idea."
Step 6: Over-prepare your pitch materials
According to the panelists, these are the materials you should prepare
for your pitch, whether you incorporate them into the presentation or not:
o Copy of the Script/IP content
o Synopsis
o Logline
o Show Bible or Deck (For TV, this includes character, episode, and season
breakdown.)
o Lookbook (Creates the tone and feel. If it’s a drama for example, the
lookbook can help explain if it’s a gritty drama or an eerie drama. Here’s
where you can include creative comps.)
o Bios of Producer & Other Key Crew
o Financing already in place
o Budget
o Cast, if attached
o Director, if attached
o Contact Info
Step 6: Be personable during the pitch
Whether you’re giving your pitch in person, on the phone, or even over
email, you can ruin your own by not being personable. You may be nervous, but
try to be friendly!
"You want to be fun, friendly, charming," said Freeborn.
"You want people to want to work with you. Life is short—if we don’t want
to work with you, we won’t."
Nowicki added, "When in doubt, just show your enthusiasm and you
passion."
Step 7: Follow up politely
According to panelists, a small company may take three to four weeks to
read your script and materials (assuming they’ve asked to see them). A bigger
company may take up to six months. Regardless, always stay polite, as a pass on
this project may not mean you won’t get a greenlight on something else in the
future.
"After that initial period, [following up on] a bi-weekly basis is
okay," said Boyle. "If you don’t want to pester the person, ask them
to let you know when to check in next. By all means, keep me filled in on your
career or next project. If you need an answer, just politely say, 'We’d love an
answer by such and such a date, as we have a few offers.'"
Finally, remember that very few pitches are picked up by distributors
and financiers. Know that rejection is part of the process. Keep at it!
When one door closes, another opens.
Have you had luck pitching your film or series?
Comments
Post a Comment