Success Stories: MAY'5 13 Things I've learned from pitching to Happy Writers

I've just had a crazy week pitching to 11 execs on Happy Writers and learned so much in the process I thought it might be useful to share with others who might be thinking about doing the same. Why 11? Dishonest answer - I'm based in the UK and with the cost of getting to LA, finding somewhere to stay etc. I figured the money would be better spent on pitches. Do it all in one go. If I messed up a pitch I could always refine and go again soon. Honest answer - It turns out I'm an addict. I love it. I couldn't stop myself booking more and more. Eventually capping it at 11. Which sounds nuts, but so much of your life in this business is trying to get through the door. With Happy Writers, you're in the room. And that's just too seductive. So, here's what I learned in the course of the pitching process: 1) 8mins is both a lot of time and no time at all First pitch I did I got the dreaded hand and had to garble the finish. 8mins seems like plenty of time but no matter what you think the pitch can always be more succinct and by the end of the process I was wrapping up around 5mins on the dot every time. It might not seem like much time initially but after a while you realise it's actually really quite a lot of time. Execs want it delivered fast and would much rather have the time to ask questions and quiz you on you project. 2) Use a timer After the first couple of pitches I started using a stopwatch so I knew exactly where I was timewise. After that I could always tell when I needed to wrap up. It sounds brutal and it is. But actually it's a game and if you play it well they will remember you. 3) Why questions matter When you're pitching, it's just you talking. And you're probably saying the same thing you've said a number of times before so it won't be as fresh. When execs throw questions at you then it's your chance to come alive. And that's where you'll find your most passionate pitching actually happens. You've got to have that question time. 4) You have to be passionate about the material Being in the UK all my pitches happened in the very early hours of the morning. Unsurprisingly the 2am ones went the least well. I was just tired and didn't really bring it. The ones that went really well I was just so much better engaged with the material and I noticed the difference instantly. 5) Tell a story I know this is a cheap trick but it really works. I've been pitching a TV show based on an experience that happened to me. So I told the story of how it happened. Kept it short but instantly, relating it back to me made it come alive for the execs. I made up most of it but that doesn't matter because you're telling a story and that's the job. Time and time again they kept coming back to that 'real-life' experience, wanting to know more, wanting to know what really happened. I'm sure that makes you memorable. 6) You can't please everyone You can generally get a pretty good idea of when it's gone well. But sometimes you're just wrong. A couple of pitches I thought I'd messed up ended up in requests and a couple of others were a surprise pass and this was another reason for doing a big stack of them: I figured it would all even out in the end.... hopefully. 7) Skype is weird... Skype doesn't always work. It drops out sometimes. That's incredibly frustrating as you lose your flow and it disrupts their experience. Tough. It's also really strange when people are a long way from the camera and you can't see their faces properly. I had one exec writing the notes from his previous pitch and not even looking at me while I was pitching which was really weird. It's just weird. But you just have to take that on the chin. 8) Know your material intimately This is really important. Execs really respond well when you're not reading off a page. I memorised a ton of facts to help sell the world I was pitching but I also made sure I really knew my material. This also helps keep it fresh each time you pitch. 9) Keep working on the pitch, keep refreshing it I kept changing my pitch, flipping the order of things and reacting to what had gone well previously so I was accumulating hit points that I knew landed each time. You learn so much about your material by pitching it that you might not have even realised before and it's all valid and should be integrated. 10) Doing just one sucks. Do two at a time if you can. Most days I was doing two pitches in an evening. It's such a focussed shot of adrenaline pitching in 8mins that if I ballsed it up I really got annoyed if I didn't have another opportunity to pitch that same evening. It costs money of course but just knowing I could go again meant any failures were only briefly experienced. 11) Logline. Logline. Logline. I never got mine right. But I realised about halfway through that the logline is actually the most important piece of the opening of your pitch. The temptation is to try and put the whole story in there but that's wrong. It's tossing the ball up and following through with the bat comes next. Hook them with the logline and you've got them in your hand for the next 90 secs. By the end I'd chopped half the logline off and just trusted that the hook was strong enough. 12) It's worth it The amount I've learned from pitching to these guys has been immense. Not just about the quality of the material but about the importance of selling it to people. It's a show and even if your work isn't ultimately that great you can entice people to read if you pitch it well and that initial impression goes a long way. 13) English Accent Put on an english accent! (Just kidding!) So... did any of the above help me get my script requested? I pitched to 11, 9 requested it. Completely blown away by the response. We've already met with a producer we pitched to and even if no-one else comes back to us, that's already a win. It might not be for everyone but I highly recommend dipping a toe in and just getting exposure to the reality of this crazy business. If you can survive and even thrive in the pitch sessions then it gives you huge confidence that you can get in the room and get people to read your work. Whatever happens after that... well we'll see.... Happy Pitching! Robin