Screenwriting : Pitch Practice Invitation to the community! by John Mezes

Awesome! I hope if you're reading this you'll join! John is an incredible host and gives great feedback on pitches!!

Brooklynn and John Mezes host phenomenal Pitch Practices! Brooklynn and John are two of the best when it comes to giving pitch feedback. I highly recommend the Pitch Practices.

A GREAT opportunity for writers to get meaningful feedback. Don't miss out on this. Thanks, John Mezes!

Emily and Sam, thank you both for your endorsements of something Brooklynn and I love doing, helping other community members with the necessity of pitching. Your support is appreciated.

Maurice, my friend, I thank you for your support. Coming from someone so intricate and important to our Stage 32 community, it's high praise.

If you're not attending these incredible sessions with John Mezes and Brooklyn, you're doing yourself a disservice!

You're welcome, John Mezes. I'm on a deadline for a project this week, but I plan to be at the Pitch Practice next week.

Thank you, RB, my friend! We appreciate the support.

Always welcome Maurice. Good luck on your project!

I confess I've been busy writing and have not been on here as much as I would like. Saying that, I'm embarrassed to say I don't know how to sign up for this Pitch Practice. I'm getting to that point and need to observe how and what to expect. .

Thanks, John Mezes. Hope your movie's coming along great.

Hi Marian! Being busy writing is a great thing! No embarrassment at all. If you are a writers' room member here on Stage 32 then you should be receiving an email zink to the practice a 1/2 hour before it starts, or you can go to the portal from the red writers' room tab on the home page here and clink on the link next to the pitch practice listing when it starts @5:30 pm PST/8:30 pm EST. Hope to see you there!

Some delays with the strike and other factors, Maurice, but it'll resume quick enough. Gotta weather the tough storms to get to the promised land.

Absolutely! This is essential for all those wanting to pitch to a manger or talent agent! An opportunity to learn and hone your pitching skills!

Thanks, John! See you there!

Thank you Waheed! Appreciate the support!

Fantastic opportunity! Practicing is the best way to make sure you deliver a pitch you're happy with and to do your project justice.

Thank you, Ewan. I appreciate the support. We educate in an atmosphere of fun and honesty and with the best interests of our attendees at heart.

Thank you! I'd seen it promoted, but couldn't make it last week b/c I was in a car driving back from Florida.

I'll see about coming in next week, because I could use some help pitching - I tend to get wrapped up in the details over the broader arc, I assume people know characters and situations they might not (my main script is a pilot starring Sherlock Holmes's friend and biographer Dr. Watson coming into his own as a detective). Also, another one of the movie screenplays I'm writing is a BDSM-themed erotic thriller that I pitched once, and NEVER got feedback on - not even a "We can't judge this because we don't handle anything like it." I'd like to figure out how to pitch that idea that both gets the premise across and doesn't cause the person I'm pitching to to freak out, or failing that to find out if I should just put the script in the trunk.

Hi Tim! Nice to meet you. No worries, pitch practice is every Thursday (5:30 pm PST/8:30 pm EST) except on Thanksgiving, so when you're ready to join us, please do. Your projects sound interesting. My co-host Brooklynn and I have heard many different themed pitches during our tenures so we aren't freaked out by much, LOL. We'd love to here your pitch when It's ready to go. I'm sorry you experienced that negative and unprofessional bail on feedback for your pitch, especially if you paid for it. I believe our notes will help you find that balance you're speaking of. I believe that a script should never go into a trunk, drawer, closet, etc. because with some rewriting and valuable notes, you might be sitting on a gem.

John, where are the classes? I'm hoping virtual because I'm in Jersey City, so unless your class is held in NYC I really can't make that....

Hi Tim. The pitch practice tank sessions are right here on Stage 32, and they are virtual through zoom. If you're a writers room member, it's available to you every Thursday (5:30 pm PST/8:30 pm EST). You should receive an email link to the zoom practice 1/2 early before they start, or you can go on the Stage 32 portal from the red writers room tab and clink on the link next to the pitch practice ad right when it starts.

John, thanks! I'll try and come by Thursday night, assuming no other weird stuff happens.

I also suggested Lauren Gibbons Paul drop in and try pitching her screenplay, because I think pitching is a great way to see how well your structure and characters work by telling them to other people and seeing if they get confuzzled or not.

I recommend this opportunity to my fellow writers.

PS: The guy I pitched KINKY KILLS (don't like the title but afraid "Kinko the Killer" will get me sued by Kinko's!) to finally got back to me. He didn't have any problem with the content (at least not in his critique), but he felt I need to work on making the killer's motivation clearer (which I didn't even touch on, so he's right there!) and spend less time talking about the main characters' relationship and more about the investigation....

Which kind of proves my point about how pitching helps your story structure!

Thank you Tim for passing the invitation along to Lauren. The more the merrier! Actually, those aren't bad notes, Tim. Equal parts motivation, character development, and action (investigation) mixed together make a great script.

I appreciate the endorsement, Joshua. Hope to see you there too.

John—once I got his notes I was really impressed! Guess it just took him a while—and thinking back, I was all over the map with this pitch.

Perfect Pitch! Hope to hear it? Want to master it? Pop in at Pitch Practice, co-hosted by Broklynn Fields and John Mezes, and pick up Pearls of Wisdom. Or, watch Thursday Night Football and pitch to the TV.

Thanks Smokey! Appreciate the endorsement and enjoyed having you in the session too.

John Mezes U R the bestest.