No doubt you've seen promotion for new Ken Burns documentary THE US AND THE HOLOCAUST. I have TWO screenplays that relate to this subject matter -- one about a boy escaping Nazi Germany who encounters prejudice in his new home -- the USA. And the other about Anne and Charles Lindbergh and the American anti-semitism leading up to WWII that prevented many Jews from entering this country. MY QUESTION IS: HOW CAN I DOVETAIL ON THIS NEW DOCUMENTARY TO PITCH MY WORK TO AGENTS, MANAGERS OR PRODUCERS???? PLEASE HELP!!
On Writing : The US and the Holocaust by Rosemary Zibart
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Where is this documentary? Best, Rutger
US Public Broadcasting System (PBS), 9/18. Might be able to stream it from Europe with a VPN.
https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/us-and-the-holocaust/
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Good question, Rosemary Zibart and one we're all faced with. How and should we grab thunder from someone else's work/publicity to promote our own stuff. It works for public events like news stories -- I've learned that from various webinars I've watched about leveraging the news for story pitches -- but could go either way when you're chasing someone else's bandwagon. Personally, I'd be in touch with whoever created the media or release that you are trying to dovetail onto.
As for pitching, you've come to the right place... unless you are seriously connected or do high end catering in Malibu. The media, and anyone who has to listen to pitches, is fortressed beyond belief. Stage 32 brings execs in to be pitched to. It's not free, but costs a lot less than what it's likely to take to even chance breathing the same air as these gatekeepers. And most of them don't appreciate everyone 'whispering stories in their ear' when they are out on the town.
Stage 32 puts them face to camera in their office or pitch receptive environment, rather than face down in their salad on the 3rd ave promenade. They have to listen to you! And they give you feedback. If they don't clamour for your script, they tell you why. It might take a few pitches to get it right, but by crikey it sure beats any alternative out there to us mere plebs.
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Hi Morgan -- thanks for your response. I've been working the Stage 32 circuit for several years. What I find most frustrating is when my work is highly praised and then not given a "consider" or maybe just one "consider" -- I don't get it. But I do think this PBS documentary will publicize and make more accessible the subject matter. I think I'll learn a lot from it. And I've been researching the subject for years.
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Hi Rosemary Zibart - Prior to Stage 32, I worked for the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. There is a circuit of 250+ Jewish film festivals worldwide that are looking for content like yours.
Here's some financial resources:
San Francisco JFF - https://jfi.org/for-filmmakers
Miami JFF has filmmaker grants, you may need to contact them directly about it - https://miamijewishfilmfestival.org/
And if you like, I have a distributor I can introduce you too. Just let me know!
At least once every few years, we had a film that was from PBS play our fest.
Pitch your stories as they are . Maybe one as a pilot and the other as a 1st episode for series i.e. Hunters . Either way those are great stories that need to be told.