The Pitch

"I think I can sum up the show for you in one word. Nothing"


I am not the greatest pitch guy, not even close and I have comfort with many writers who confess secretly at not being good at it. I'm often suspicious of anyone who likes to pitch a project. 

What I know about pitching is this: those who pitch great will often write less than great and those who stumble through can very often write better. Having said that there are writers out there who can do both successfully.

There are a lot of pitch articles and segments in other books and they're written quite well. But when you're there in one of those southwest themed offices at Dreamworks or the bungalow that belonged to Dean Martin on the Warner's lot, and with people staring at you, and telling you to woo and excite them, it's not a lot of fun. But it can be.

My biggest problem with pitches is that I can't fully believe in an idea that I don't like. This would be usually be something that I know they're looking for as seen by agent and now I have to "wow" them. I'm not a wow-er at heart, I'd rather be biking in Venice Beach.

So what about an idea I like?

That's different, although my enthusiasm can struggle to come out.

What kind of person gives a good pitch? Could you sell the proverbial refrigerators to Inuits? 
Could you sell used cars? Because that's the intensity level you need to get attention. But as with many facets of this writing business, there are no clear rules.

You may encounter a lovely woman at Warner's who decorated Dean's bungalow with photos of him and some record covers. Janet Burrows was that,you felt easy with her; she had a relaxing tone that convinced you that she was interested.

On the other  hand you could have two writers at Universal Studios who thought they had written the best TV series ever and interrupted my pitch to tell me how smart and wonderful they were. 

When they told me they had created a 16th century swordsman and rapper. Yes -- a swordsman rapper! I didn't say a word, just realizing I will not get anything from these idiots. Even if they take me on, it would be working harder than ever because they thought they were the smartest.

So finally I stood up and said something like "I think we're all wasting our time" and walked out of the office. They managed to film two episodes and the series was dead.


As mentioned, I'm taking pieces out of my book The Working Writers Screenplay.