Screenwriting : Paying for pitches by Shawn Adams

Seems to me the cost is reasonable, and you can target your pitch at people who might actually be interested. It is helpful that available execs state what they do NOT want, for example.

Hi Shawn,

Nothing sketchy about it.

It's a service provided by the website. As Christiane has mentioned, executives are listed by the genres they accept, with their profiles attached. It's up to you to do the due diligence.

There are very few opportunities to pitch to producers or executives. If I have to travel in Ireland to do so, it would cost me €100 minimum, presuming the executive was based in Dublin and willing to hear a pitch. If I had to fly stateside, that's the best part of €2K. By comparison, $35 in admin is very reasonable and the option is remote.

Screenwriters should always question when they are paying, BUT should also be willing to invest in their craft and career.

If you read the legal stuff jargon of "pay to pitch" websites and "pitching events", you're not paying for access, you're paying for advice & education.

The good/bad side is when you turn pro (here in America) and do this for an occupation, you will end up paying 10% to 25% of your paychecks to commission & legal fees.

Hi Shawn,

People have payed to pitch here, there and everywhere for years. We are even in the fourth decade of it now, since it started in the last 1990's. Many people got through the door as a result of paid pitches.

At the same time, many people haven't got through the doors, and some complain about paying to pitch after their paid pitches didn't have positive results. I look at that as a "Sour Grapes" mentality, because you can't argue with the success of those who have actually started their careers - or who have made invaluable connections - that way. I can also understand how some people can not afford it.

Yes...it costs money...and yes...some people can get through the doors in other non-paying ways....so at the end of the day it's up to you to decide: pay or not pay? You can read about the Success Stories here on that page in the Script Services section, and also in Jason Mirch's monthly blog in the Blog section.

Best fortunes in your creative endeavors, Shawn, and stay safe!

Dan Guardino Don't you have an agent?

Damian & Dan G, I been with my agent for the past decade/more. We work well together and we understand & respect our professional relationship. It works for us - why change it? He's retiring this year so I know that I'll be out on my own soon but since I'm pretty much retired myself - why should I worry. In today's market, I really don't need him but over the years he's provided me with some strong contacts - which I appreciate.

Nope...

If you consider them fun and practice they are good.

I have never paid to attend a job interview (a pitch by another name).

Hi, Shawn. I've been at this long enough to remember when a writer used to pitch agents and execs and managers directly, and they'd say yay or nay, and if yay you'd send them the script.

Now we're in this brave new world of services like Stage 32 which, together with their colleagues (those agents and execs and managers), have figured out how to monetize the pitching and consultation process.

I can't say I blame them. It's simply a business model that works well online.

It has not worked for me yet, but I usually beat my head against a wall until I get a concussion. Best of luck to you.

I've had some success getting script reads from Happy writers. That includes a couple of meetings a few year back with one of their new script consultants Shaun O'Banion. However, I've had much more success with a competing outfit. It isn't just a question of getting an agent or a manager. Most agents are not going to be interested in your work unless you have something happening. In other words, unless there's other people interested in your screenplay. For example, if your script is on a hot list like Tracking Board, ISA top 25 writers or you have paid and received good reviews at the Blacklist. I was watching Million Dollar Listing last night. One of the British real estate agents talked about how if are several parties interested in the house that makes it more attractive to other buyers. Get the picture?

I recommend going out and looking for any opportunity to pitch with any channel you can find. For example, there's a trade paper call the Infolist that runs some of the Inktip screenplay ads for free. Also try paying for IMDbpro, which gives you tons of contact information for a small fee; and then you can pitch as many people as you want if their phone numbers, addresses or emails are available. I've recently found some online lists of companies accepting unsolicited material recently received two significant script read requests doing blind queries. Getting your material in front of production companies is a constant battle and you have to be an active participant using as many creative ways as you can think of to get through the door.

The community aspect of S 32 is excellent. It's absolutely the best public no cost forum available to new/inexperienced/up-n-coming Indie film folk - hands down. I've been in & around the industry since the late '60s and in all that time I've never paid to pitch a script - so that concept is foreign to me. I recognize that RB & Crew face expenses to keep S 32 on the air and I certainly don't begrudge them the need to make a buck to do so. Charging a fee for pitching practice or various courses seems reasonable to me. Whether it's economically valuable to you (or not) is entirely your call. If you feel it's not of value to you - don't do it. If you feel that it's financially worthy to you - then go for it. Or you can spend thousands of dollars on film school if you would rather.

Hey Shawn Adams! Great to have you here! I am really glad you are a part of the community. I am the Director of Script Services at Stage 32. I wanted to reach out directly to offer some clarity on the Pitch Sessions - as well as all of the other Script Services on Stage 32. The pitch sessions like the other services are a learning and development tool for writers who want to get feedback on their pitch skill, their project, and whether or not their project is strong enough to stand out in an overly crowded market.

One of the things that I make very clear to writers and the executives who work with us is that these sessions are NOT submissions to a executive's company, nor are they submissions to the executive as a representative of their company. They are submissions to an individual with years of industry experience who can offer insights, thoughts, guidance, and advice. If an executive particularly sparks to a project, they are able to connect with that writers directly, at which point Stage 32 steps out of the process.

All of that being said, yes, there have been times in which a connection through Stage 32 has led to massive success for a writer. For instance, a writer just had his project produced starring Malin Akerman, Alec Baldwin, and Bella Thorne, while another writer just had her project put into pre-production with Eli Roth. You can find that story here: https://www.stage32.com/blog/Script-Developed-and-Pitched-Through-Stage-...

Another writer from Scotland just had a producer come onto develop a series of books he has written on William Wallace. You can find that story here: https://www.stage32.com/blog/Braveheart-Descendent-and-Author-Lands-Prod...

till others have landed managers and agents after connecting through pitch sessions - and other script services. You can find a story here: https://www.stage32.com/blog/Do-You-Doubt-the-Power-of-the-Pitch-How-Pit...

There have been countless other successes as a result of our Script Services - both in terms of connections through Stage 32 and guidance and help from executives that lead to option agreements, signings, paid gigs, and productions. Please feel free to reach out to me at any point and let me know what you are working on. I would love to be helpful to you and your projects. j.mirch@stage32.com is the fastest way to reach me.

Thanks, Jason. That does clarify things. I'll check it out with this in mind.

Jason, your answer to Shawn was excellent. You said better what I was getting at above: your service is educational, with a possibility (but no guarantee) of gaining traction with folks in the industry.

By the way, I have been an advertising copywriter, so I care greatly about readability. I have looked far and wide, and consulted with ad agency execs, to try and find ANY evidence that gray text is easier to read than black text. There is NO such evidence. Gray text is a designer fad that is long overdue to be shot in the head like a zombie. You would do us a terrific favor to switch to black text. Thanks for considering it.

Yeah, I'd say this is the new way of doing things. Paying for pitches or to have your script reads. Especially during Covid-19. You can't simply take people out for coffee anymore...

I'm not totally against paying for pitches, but I do think it's an attempt to shortcut the process.

The process being:

1)honing your craft (there are free ways of doing that),

2)building relationships (difficult in this day, but not impossible),

3)querying (cold querying is sort of mashing 2 and 4 together)

4) pitching

This process takes time - there's no way around it, esp. if you're looking at creating a career rather than making a single sale.

I'm not saying trying shortcuts is necessarily bad. But the reality is you're going to pay your dues to make it in this industry. Either in time (as above) or money (paid pitches, film school, etc.) or both.

Now, if you're trying to shortcut the process in order to score the BIG ONE - it simply won't work. For every single legitimate "overnight success" (most actually aren't) there are TENS OF THOUSANDS of others who've worked long and hard to achieve success. Those might be better odds than the lottery, but not by much.

So, as others have said here, pay or not - it's your choice. And the result is all yours, too.

Just sayin'. :)

Yeah, John Day, I did kind of ramble, didn't I. Maybe it's better said that, IMO, paying for pitches is unnecessary, given the free methods of eventually reaching the same place. And, yes, you're pretty much assured of a response when you pay, although it's not assured that said response will be constructive. However, taking the time to develop relationships deeply enough that you can pitch to those relationships (friends/colleagues) pretty much guarantees a constructive response.

I think I'm rambling again. :)

Bottom line is we're all going to pay our dues to be successful - whether in time or money or both. I simply prefer to go down the not-paying path (after pursuing the paid path for many years) - but everyone has to make their choice.

Just seeing this, so apologies for my late response. When I was acting and was trying to score meetings w/agents I was met with the old "cul-de-sac" Can't get Repped unless you're referred and can't get referred unless you did work/union,etc. Same for writing in some respects. If you lack support of those in the industry that can get your work in front of managers, agents, producers, then pay-to-play is an option to do that. Also decison-makers that you wouldn't have access to cause that agency "slush email" is basically useless for un-repped writers, you now have access to. By including this aspect doesn't mean you stop scouring IMDB for potential champions of your work but is an added tool in your goal to not only get repped but get known for your work. Getting to the point of being a working, paid writer is not always a straight line. Side-note...when acting I got two agents from the pay-to-play route that normally I wouldn't have an audience with. Gotta be nimble.

Monique, your answer resonates with me. Since my last contribution to this chain of posts, four months ago, I have continued to spend a marriage-jeopardizing amount of money on pitches. The occasional pitch has led to a request for the full script at no extra charge for reading it (which costs around $250 to buy). So, is the main benefit of Stage 32 educational, or is it guaranteed access to folks who might not otherwise read your stuff, or would take forever to get around to it? For me it's a 50/50 split. Regarding the education, I must be careful to recognize when a comment is just an opinion or a preference. I have gotten tons of conflicting notes on pitches. Some want more detail, some less. Some want more plot, some want more character. For my pitch for a thriller, one guy hated the twist ending, while another thought it was brilliant. So I listen to all suggestions, make any changes I agree with, and ignore those I don't. Same goes for the scripts themselves. Someday I hope to face the dilemma of being offered money to make changes I don't agree with. Cheers to all.

David, therein lies the biggest problem with paid pitches, IMO. Without knowing (as in knowing somewhat personally) who you're pitching to, you're going to get a different response every time, as you've pointed out.

Taking the time to develop relationships is still the way to go, IMO.

S32 is a great place to do that because of the community atmosphere.

When I see studio executives still falling and floating like leaves in autumn, the answer to whether to invest in pitches - wait till mid-2021. This industry is in the middle of inventing a "c-section". Agents, other intermediary crap that sits like fat on the bones will just be cut out of the equation by lowering the commissions, smaller budgets, and smaller incentives. Financial institutions didn't do that in 98-2000 and they got punches in the face later in 2008. So, if you're rich enough to pay for the contests and pitches - dude, you're in a wrong business (take the other side and start accepting pitches) - never pay for your talent, and never sweeten a deal with lubing yourself into the industry that runs on dry charisma.