The Pitch

A pitch is about not telling a story but selling a story. The idea is to convince them that the story will make a good investment that will be accepted by the intended audiences. This is important I think as when writing I can be too close to my story that I lose sight of the big picture, with the huge amount of money spent in making a film and the entertainment value for the audience.

So how do you sell an idea?

Start by keeping it simple. The reason for this is not only due to the amount of time that the producer is willing to give the person doing the pitch but ultimately it also serves as a test of how clearly the plot of the story works.

The movie Twins (1988) about twins who are complete opposites in term of physical appearance and character is an excellent example. The situation where you have a contrast between the two characters promises a lot of comic possibilities.

Let the script explore and explain the details. For the pitch, pack a lot of punch and go for the knockout.

Now, I’d like to try to apply the principles we learn this week, for the purpose of pitching for an idea that I have for a romantic comedy.

I thought that a simple love story could be larger than life when put under the microscope slide. This story is about love that is already lost that presents itself with a second chance.

Jack and Jill were falling in love with each other in their final year in college when it all crashed abruptly after he had learned that she was in fact in a relationship with a successful architect. Jill was about to leave the other man but before she could, Jack had learned about this and refused to talk with her and after graduating decide to move to another city and where he worked in advertising.

I will direct the producer’s attention by asking questions to pique their curiosity. These questions could be, how did fate brought them together again? Again the idea here is not to put too much emphasis on the details but rather set the direction for the plot. 

The twist of fate happened when working on a production of an advertisement led him to a fishing village and there she was running a small seafood restaurant. Surprised to have met Jack again, Jill created a lie about being married and having children when all. From then on they keep meeting each other, first by chance then otherwise in this scenic setting with fishing boats by the river and seagulls.

As the story progress, she had to cover up the fact that everything she said was a lie with him discovering inconsistencies of her story.