Tried my last pitch meeting, won’t ever do it again. Dude sounded excited and interested, and told me he wanted to request my materials. He went on to give me low scores in every category, and said I didn’t know how to explain my characters or provide character art. Bro, I got 6 minutes to talk to you. How much can I tell you in 6 minutes. The worst part is, I have character art, I have animation samples, and I have animatics. I have a synopsis, I have fully written scripts. I get that these people have been “in the industry”, but I’m not going to accept someone telling me my show isn’t ready or I haven’t “thought it through enough”. I’ve worked on this project for 2 years, and maybe if he stuck to his word and requested my material, and gave me more than 6 minutes to speak, he’d see that.
I’m done with this site. These people are all full of shit.
Side note, I’m not complaining, it’s part of the business and I’m fine with that. I just want people to be aware of what’s going on here. I could accept criticism, but make it make sense. I am pissed about wasting 35$ on his garbage feedback though.
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Agreed. Spent $35 on a written pitch to be read. It came in like 4 months later. Not only that but I also got ranked low scores in every single category when I worked on that pitch for 3-4 months and had it proof read by multiple people. It's a joke man. You can meet cool people on this site but don't buy a single thing.
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Jack Murphy 100%, I hate to sound like a whine ass because I really do appreciate criticism. But the guy literally asked me if I have any source material, I told him yes. He said he’d request it, then gave me a review saying I need artwork and proof of concept. Lol, these “execs” need our 35$ for a reason though right. I don’t think anyone really worth working with is on here, and taking multiple pitch meetings made me realize that.
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We have to remember that the pitches we do on Stage 32 are for educational purposes. It's to prepare us for the real thing. But, I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with this. I can only hope it gets better for you.
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I wouldn't look at it like the execs need the money. It's paying them for their time. In this industry, we can't expect people to work for free. I pay for acting classes, so I don't see how paying for an exec to give you advice on your pitch is a ripoff or a scam. I can assure that everyone on here is a working and knowledgeable executive. Try to change your perception. Marcel Nault Jr. is right, the pitches are for educational purposes and to prepare you for the real thing. Instead of focusing on the negative of it, focus on the positives. What can you learn from this? I have not always like the feedback I have gotten from an acting coach especially on a scene I worked hard on, that doesn't mean I find a new coach. Sometimes we grow the most, when we don't hear what we were hoping or wanting to.
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Suzanne Bronson Well when I pay people 35$ to bullshit me, I don’t see how that’s valuable. He didn’t tell me how to improve. How would he, he didn’t even evaluate my work? Stop worshipping these people. And sure, I get it, they want to get paid for their time, why aren’t we paid for ours then when we’re the ones with the material. What about our time? Unless you don’t value yours, but I do
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I think Clifford Anzini you have a perception problem. All the best to you.
Suzanne Bronson Lol thanks Suzy
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I feel you, Clifford. I went through a lot of the same. Once I did two things, my request numbers went way up: 1) I cooled off and re-read the comments with as open a mind as I could muster, and tried addressing their notes without prejudice. 2) I started researching the 'execs' on IMDB before submitting. That helped me read between the lines of all the Stage 32 execs and better target my submissions.
Having said that, I received a pass today on a written pitch. Halfway through the rejection, the exec started commenting on someone else's project. I had to laugh.
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Hi Clifford Anzini! I'm sorry that you didn't have a great experience with your pitch session. Pitch sessions are first and foremost for feedback, which can be subjective. Marcelle and Suzanne, I really appreciate your perspectives on this. In regards to the executive giving you really positive feedback and telling you they would request further materials, and then saying something completely different in the written feedback -- i'd like to look into this. Is this the same pitch we previously discussed over email in November? Or a more recent one? Feel free to shoot me an email at success@stage32.com
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Jim Cushinery Thanks bro, and trust me I’d love to evaluate what they have to say and work on things. I’m not a superstar, I have a lot of learning to do. My problem with this is that this individual offered legitimately nothing of value and didn’t make sense based off our previous conversation. 35$ might not be a lot of money, but it burns my ass to waste hard earned money on something so useless. There needs to be a better system for people like us to get our work out there. The IMDB thing is really smart though.
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I agree with Jim. Do your research before pitching. Who knows? You might pitch your project to someone who has minimal experience either in the genre or in the industry.
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Just wanted to jump back in here and add that if anyone ever has any issues with a session like Clifford Anzini did, you can always email us at success@stage32.com and we'll try to sort it out the best we can. We want you all to succeed and move your projects forward :)