I once pitched my script about a man and his dog to a WME agent. Immediately, he told me that they represented Tim Allen and his movie the Shaggy Dog bombed. So, they were not interested in dog movies.
That’s something you will encounter, so get used to it. While you are pitching, they are sifting through their brain for anything similar in development. If they interrupt you to ask questions, that’s a good thing. It means you have their interest. If they interrupt you to give advice on your pitch, you’ve already lost them so don’t kill yourself trying to win them back.
You can hit on all cylinders. I mean, knock it out of the park. And it doesn’t guarantee that someone will ask to read your script. The person you are pitching to, their personality and frame of mind all play a big part in the results. If you know who you will be pitching to in advance, do your homework about them. Know their films and compliment them on something but don’t kiss their ass.
Where you pitch is important too. There’s a big difference between sitting across from an executive at a pitchfest and chatting with them over drinks at the bar. But we’ll talk more about pitchfests and query services in another post.
Look, there is no art to pitching, even though some would argue with me. No two people pitch the same way. Remember when I talked about breaking out of your shell. You don’t have to be the life of the party. You just need to be comfortable talking to one person or a large group about your story.
Practice. Practice. Practice.
Stay tuned for Part 3!
#pitchingyourscript #pitchingyourmovie #pitchingtoanagent