I thought you might be interested in this offer by Phil Gladwin who runs excellent courses on screenwrtiting. He’s just written a new book on the the art of pitching which he asked me to review. (my review below) It’s well worth getting and is discounted down to £9.97 until Sunday 17th March.
http://www.screenwritinggoldmine.com/fearless-pitching-offer
REVIEW “The Fearless Pitcher’s Handbook”
Why is pitching so scary? I think it’s something to do with the fear of laying yourself open to ridicule.
You’ve probably spent months or years on your project, reached into your psyche to drag out the emotion, which is now embedded in the script. But now you have to sell it in a minute. . . . and the more important the listener, the more important it is to succeed, so the more scary it becomes.
I really love Philip’s style and I think it’s an invaluable roadmap to the art of pitching. It’s also reassuring that he originally hated pitching. He concentrates on the tactics of short pitches from the 20 second, one sentence logline up to five minutes. He details when to arrive, what to wear, context, content, etc. – even what to drink!
But equally important is his advice on the subtext of pitch meeting. What’s going on under the surface? Including “Lateness –Yours and theirs” – Guess which one is acceptable? He also suggests how you deal with their lateness. I’m not sure I would have the courage to follow his advice though. But what I found really useful is his brilliant tip on the psychology of pitching.
A neat tactic to switch your attitude from fear back into your comfort zone. I’ve read many books on pitching, but this is very straightforward, practical and based on his own experiences, like his excellent “Write a Screenplay package”
There’s no magic formula, but follow his advice, put in a lot of hard work in preparation and your next pitch will be better.
Phil Peel
Tags: Phil Gladwin, Screenwriting Goldmine, screenwritinggoldmine, pitching, writing, screenwriting, review, Philip Gladwin
