Hi everyone,
I am about to have my first written pitch. Could you please give me some advices and guidelines of should and should not I am supposed to do?
Thank you!
Screenwriting : Written Pitch by Mihail Krastev
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there used to a moderator here, Nick, who assisted with written pitches. Do's and Donts.
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This is an old advertising maxim. AIDA.
Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.
You need to get there ATTENTION. So you need to know your audience and what may interest them. Then show them that in an interesting way.
You get their INTEREST by showing them possibilities in your story. This may be an actor that is interested in it. Or how budget aware it is. Or even how you can see a growing market segment for this film.
DESIRE, there are three things that drive action. Suffering, Dissatisfaction and Jealousy. If you can show how you are solving one of these issues it will prompt desire in a person.
ACTION, is the hard one in a written pitch. But you need to give them an action to undertake. This is either a sense of loss that they want to act upon or a desire base emotion. In advertising it is the “this is only available for a limited time - call now”.
End graciously. Thank them for their time and let them know they are appreciated. People like to help people that they like.
I hope this helps.
I recommend reading save the cat by blake snyder, the first chapter is about written pitches.
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I recommend several books to learners - Save the Cat is not one of them.
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Doug Nelson What would you recommend? (I'm still new to screenwriting)
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Having done a number of these, first of all keep firmly in mind that a lot depends on the mindset, taste and reading level of the reader. For example, on the exact same pitch, I had (among other comments) the following two reactions:
Reader 1: "I commend you on a very well detailed pitch and one that has the makings of something that could be very fun."
This reader also requested the script, and after reading it praised me for having a pitch that evoked the story and setting well.
Reader 2: "I actually found this pitch hard to follow. I really think it is the wording that threw me."
I thought the contrast was quite funny.
However, you need to be concise and clear. Focus on character arcs rather than plain plot. Get the plot across through the characters. Make sure you somehow get across the tone and world of the piece, and also a line to show why you are writing this story. Avoid pictures and fancy typefaces, just keep it clean and clear.