Hi all,

Interested to know if anyone has any experience with this.

So Stage 32 are asking for true stories to be pitched to Jim Young, Owner & Producer at Animus Films and David Hurst, Scripted Development Coordinator at ABC/Lincoln Square Productions.

You have to pay for the 'privilege', $30 each pitch but these are people with access to millions of dollars to potentially make your movie. So I guess if you really think you have a good idea it would be worth it right?

These are face to face pitches (via Skype).

Money making scam or legit?

So I've paid my cash and will be doing it because I think I have one hell of a true story. It hasn't made it to the threads yet because it's been a 2 year project and I'm still about 20 pages from the finish. For all the people that I have rain checks on feature exchanges, this is the script that I want you to read.

Anyway, has anyone done anything like this before? What was it like and would you recommend it?

Thanks.

I doubt Stage 32 would promote any illegitimate stuff. They're a pretty well known site.

$30 is a small price to pay for what could possibly get your script produced.

Good on ya for going for it and I hope they like your idea. And if they don't.. Fuck em.

Yeah I figured parting with $60 wasn't going to be a massive issue so why the hell not.

It's a lottery ticket. Anyone who was actually making a living producing movies would not be doing $30 skype pitches. I'm not saying it's impossible that it could lead to success, but it's HIGHLY unlikely IMO.

I've done it several times with Stage 32. No success yet.

My only caution is that I sometimes get the impression that the folks hearing the pitches are honing their evaluation process as much as the pitchers are trying to perfect their pitch -- a learning experience on both ends.

Good luck.

I did one of these 2 weeks ago. My writing partner had signed up for it. You're basically pitching to people that have managed to get attached at some lower level to a film, and they are trying to milk that film credit. I don't blame them, this is a tough biz, but if they had current careers in the industry, they wouldn't have to do this kind of thing. Same as script gurus.

I do think it can help you practice your pitching though.

I would suggest this:

1) the person on the other end will make his/her decision on whether they like your project in the first 15 seconds of the pitch. Keep that in mind. So your idea must be REALLY high concept. It has to grab right away, in a few words, or you're lost.
2) are there any characters that would appeal to A-listers? Make that a focus.
3) leave plenty of time for him to ask questions. This is important because it lets you get feedback on your concept.

In my opinion, if the $30 pitch is viewed in the context of you are paying $30 to practice pitching - okay. I imagine honing pitching skills important. However, I would think that the linkage to an actual sale would be weak.

I have tried query services, virtual pitchfest, inktip, etc. - all promising industry exposure. The person paying for the service is always left with the following paradigm when done with the service:

* Did the service suck or did my script/idea suck? Impossible to answer.

I have nothing against Stage 32 per se because you can join for free and decide what you want to buy. I might try this since I do need to practice pitching. But I doubt there is any real linkage to production.

What I ever never understood is why you have to pay to expose something valuable to people who need it to make their living. Kind of like pay $30 to Exxon to tell them where you think the oil is.

What I would love to see is a virtual agency. Where you can submit your script/loglines et al for free - they do the work of getting it to producers and in return get a pre-agreed to percentage of the sale. That would incentive them to only do those things that link your script to production. You win - they win.

Thanks for the input all.

I think everything to do with screenplay writing is a bit of a lottery. If you don't have a ticket you definitely aren't going to win though.

Will let you know how it goes.

Quoted from Warren Thanks for the input all. I think everything to do with screenplay writing is a bit of a lottery. If you don't have a ticket you definitely aren't going to win though. Will let you know how it goes.

True that

I wouldn't pay to pitch something. I don't think there's a substitute for grinding it out. Get an IMDB pro account, look up the people you think would be a best fit for you, query them first by email, follow up occasionally, place a phone call. The majority will ignore you, some will write back with a polite no, however every now and then you connect.

And how have those connections worked out for you?

I wonder if dollar for dollar value you have wasted more money on an IMDb pro account than I have on 2 pitches.

It doesn't have to be an IMDB Pro account, that was just an example. You can go about getting your info in a number of ways, it's a lot easier these days than it used to be. You can use http://www.everyonewhosanyone.com.

Point I was trying to make is that getting a script noticed is a numbers game, and you're competing with hundreds of thousands of people, most of whom are P.A.s on movie sets with proximity to decision makers, so it's a grind...

I've used Stage 32s Happy Writer's pitch service (though managed to get it for free)... was good to practice pitching and the 'Exec' requested the script and gave me some useful feedback.

I think it's less of a lottery than the IMDB Pro route as you already know exactly who you are pitching to and who they work for... though the IMDB Pro route is perfectly valid and I've used that too.

VPF is worth a look too, though it's written pitches, less feedback but a good range of options... and Roadmap Writer's too...

My advice... use as many as you can within your budget, you never know which route will prove successful.

I think that's pretty solid advise.

Quoted from AnthonyCawood I've used Stage 32s Happy Writer's pitch service (though managed to get it for free)... was good to practice pitching and the 'Exec' requested the script and gave me some useful feedback. I think it's less of a lottery than the IMDB Pro route as you already know exactly who you are pitching to and who they work for... though the IMDB Pro route is perfectly valid and I've used that too. VPF is worth a look too, though it's written pitches, less feedback but a good range of options... and Roadmap Writer's too... My advice... use as many as you can within your budget, you never know which route will prove successful.

Generally agree with this other than I am not a fan of Virtual Pitch Fest (VPF).

- You don't know who actually read the pitch
- They really don't have to "respond" - they merely click a dialogue block for a pre-written  standard response.

Dave - true re VPF,  but I've had a couple of read requests, which they don't have to do either, one led to an initial discussion on a script that ultimately didn't go anywhere but a bit more than a tick box ;-)

Very cool -

When you pitch as ajr describes, be it spending budget on imdb or not, you talk to people you choose who could fit for your projects. You learn their thinking, their connections, you start to build a database in your head about who is who, who wants what, how's the philosophy of their company etc…

It's knowledge.

You really cannot compare a buy-me service to the hard work that (as I describe above) starts with research about who you phone or email, why, and what ends with analyzing the outcome and making conclusions. Conclusions you may need at some point. Those experiences build a net of information. My opinion at least.

But I don't know how hard it is in America. I just can say from what I know, those filmmakers are all real people, who listen, feel, and can be convinced through quality and also psychology when it comes to communication. The later point can't be emphasized enough.

In the end, sure you must invest. In books, your time, information, festivals or competitions. I said it before but few do understand or listen: Screenwriting might take everything from you without giving anything back. If you'd instead be another kind of artist, say, a singer, then at least you can stand in the pedestrian zone and give your all. Screenwriters without a credit or productivity do not exist for the public or even their closest in case of their performance and heavy efforts. I just can repeat myself, thinking of foregone comments of mine: It is dangerous. Especially when your passion gets out of control and you want more space then the world is willing to offer. Who decides what you deserve in this vague field? Just hard.

So what's your price? :-)


Anybody got an info about the July OWC ladies and gentlemen?

Warren - I will be interested to hear what your thoughts are on the process after you go through the pitch.  

Quoted from eldave1 Warren - I will be interested to hear what your thoughts are on the process after you go through the pitch.

Thanks for reminding me, Dave. Sorry, I helped to derail the thread. Good luck from me too, Warren. When you can overview the costs, then making whatever experience is all right I believe.

Good or bad, I'll let you all know how it goes. It's happening this weekend.

Good luck this weekend then.

Did you pitch it to any of your screenwriter friends?

And is it $30 or $60? You said somewhere here that you're willing to spend a 60 so I'm confused.

No I have kept this script very much under wraps.

It's $30 each and I'm pitching to two different people.

My experiences with the stage32 pitching stuff isn't good, really. I've pitched twice, but both times with a written pitch rather than a skype session, because those sessions are at 3-4 am for my time. After a couple of weeks I got back coverage notes, but not more than 2-3 sentences. I think for the price you can get much better notes for your script / pitch document. You can submit both to CWA for example, iirc the submission fee is 40$ there and you get 5+ pages of detailed notes for each plus you are running in their contest.

Guess it depends what you want. I don't want to enter a contest and I don't particularly care about notes out of this. Either they like it or they don't.

It you want to enter a contest and you want notes then that would be an excellent idea I imagine.

I had to unsubscribe from Stage32. They were plugging pitch sessions, web workshops, TED talks and all sorts, more or less every day. I've yet to hear of anyone who got a genuine deal from any of these types of events.

Similarly if you go down the script competition/festival route which guarantee the winning scripts will go out to 100 production companies and get you are phone call with real studio execs. Folk act like they've won the jackpot when they win one of these, but they never seem to lead anywhere. I had an 'award winning script' sent out to 100 production companies after winning a competition once, I didn't get a single follow up.

These things are great practice for pitching and interacting with low-level operatives on the fringes of the industry. If you treat it like that and have the cash to spare, I don't see the harm at all. I hope the pitch was a good experience for you.