Jim Fisher: Screenwriter, director and producer in Westfield, Indiana.

Thank you for the feedback. I ended up in second place with this film. Good fun to make. I accidentally wrote 8 sequels to it....

You're welcome, Micke Askernäs. Congratulations on winning second place!

congrats -- i like your discipline. thats awesome. doing and redoing is film. it makes us sharper. thanks for sharing. i too have a short film about fear im been rumenating -- still in pre pro though -- good luck!

Yair Avivi - shoot our Success Team an email at success@stage32.com and they will give you our pitch guidelines that will help you out with how to structure your pitch and some sample questions of what to ask, as well as what questions you might get asked. Pat is our Writer Liaison - let him know what you are writing when you email in and he'll be able to help you guide your way!

Hey Yair Avivi would love to speak with you further about the pitch process. Like Amanda mentioned, I'm the Writer Liaison here at Stage 32 and would be delighted to help you get prepped for your pitch. Please email me at success@stage32.com and I can send you 2 templates on how best to structure your verbal pitch that will help demystify the process. In my experience, pitches typically start with a brief introduction where you tell them your name and where you're from, then you want to jump right into introducing your project you're pitching - Script Title, Format (TV or movie), Genre, Time Period (if your project is not modern), then Rating (raunchy R-rated or For Kids?). From there, you want to give the logline and briefly cover comps (if there are good, clear comps). And at this point, you're off to the races. Set up your characters and world, then get into the story and communicate it like you're telling friends about it at a party. Go slowly and be clear, direct, and concise. Make eye contact and remember to breathe, while taking natural pauses. You won't need to hit every beat in your story, but you want to cover the key story arcs and the engine driving the story forward, while staying grounded in your protagonist's experience and noting how secondary characters/the antagonist work alongside the main character to provide tension, relief and excitement. And either at the beginning or the end, you should add a little bit about why now? Why is your story relevant today and include a personal connection to the material if you can.

When you've pitched for 5 minutes or so, there will be a Q&A portion at the end. Here you might get a. chance to clarify or expand on different things in your story. Take them! Some questions you might get asked include:

Have you given thought into who would play your lead?

Do you know what type of budget this could be?

Do you have other scripts you've written in this genre?

Best of luck with your pitch, Yair! Always remember to stay light and have fun! Your wrote your story because you loved it, so share the story as though it's your favorite thing ever!

You know a pitch worked if the pitchee asks questions. It means they are interested enough to get more insight into your project/script.

An alien invasion starts as people party on the roof.

Title - "The 7 Hour War: A Half-Life Story"

Regular people find themselves hopeless in an all-encompassing terror… until they learn about a hero who has inspired people, Gordon Freeman, so they must traverse Hell on Earth to link up with his movement.

Think: "Cloverfield" meets "Independence Day"

Why this Story Now? To get Gabe Newell to finally make "Half-Life 2: Episode Three"

Hey, Billy Kwack. That'd be messed up. I can see that scene working in a Crime, Action, or Thriller movie.

I like it, Michael Dzurak. I thought about INDEPENDENCE DAY and CLOVERFIELD when I made this post. And where's the HALF-LIFE movie, Hollywood???

I think the logline needs to be shorter, Arthur Charpentier.

Like this: After signing with a zombie model agency, a live girl who dreams of becoming a supermodel fights for her life against colleagues and a mysterious killer so she won’t have to work forever as a zombie.

Or this: A live girl who dreams of becoming a supermodel works at a zombie model agency where she fights for her life against colleagues and a mysterious killer so she won’t have to work forever as a zombie.

Okay, I get you. Thank you so much for your help, Maurice Vaughan! Both logline options look great.

You're welcome, Arthur Charpentier.

I use writerduet. Is it the best? who knows? But its not the software that gets you a deal! As long you find it user friendly and has the features you like then write.

These Zombie posts never die.

I suggest you use writer duet.

Oh, YES! This is especially true if the writer is struggling with formatting, but actually has a good story. Formatting issues or early drafts can drag down script notes through details that don't address the writer's main concerns. In fact, in a way, by submitting a synopsis, the writer acknowledges that they want the reader to focus on the story/character for this iteration. Great point, Jim! Thanks for sharing!

Very true maybe in another piece this is something we can cover, I know writing partners and WGA stuff is often covered in interviews with managers/agents

It’s simple. An “and” between two writers means each is paid as an individual writer. While, an “&” between two writers’ names means they are paid as one writer.

Your "meets" blurb makes me assume the story is about chess player thwarts an alien invasion and turns out to be a baby.

Yes!

Thank you, Jim Fisher!

Jeff, you're right in your thinking. Mine varies from yours. If I got Harvey in an elevator, personally what I teach and what I would go with is the Quick Pitch (aka Valet Pitch or Elevator Pitch) to get him hooked. I want him to ask for me to send him the script. I've had this experience more than once, actually bumping into producers waiting for the valet to deliver our vehicles when I was asked, "what are you up to?" Not enough time for a beginning, middle and end. Just that quick, tantalizing couple of sentences that wet his/her appetite to want to know more.

Jim--HA... actually there is more than enough time for beg, mid, end :) If you write the premise line right. Most people dont' know how to do that... so they can't even wrap their heads around this... but it can be done. One sentence can contain your whole movie and tell the entire story. And CATCH their interest. But... as with anything... I say whatever works... do it. Go with what you know and are comfortable with... my moto: Listen to everyone, try everything, follow no one. You're your own guru. :) Actually a little add-on:) my take on premise line isn't to give people a "new" way to pitch. The premise line is really a tool to help the writer avoid screwed up writing, not pitch a story. It can be used for pitching, but pitching is a whole other art and science... I think my take on premise lines is a solid one for pitching... but that's not my main concern. My main concern is intervening in the writing process BEFORE the writer starts pages. With a proper premise line they have a canary in the coal mine and they can avoid getting lost in the writing woods (we've all been there). A good premise line is a map of your story's entire structure--in one or two (reasonably short) sentences--so it's a map. That's what I'm really all about... pitching is not my thing. Development is. J

Jeff, To your first paragraph, the reason behind my thinking of using a QP versus Premise is that it gives fewer points to which a producer can find something that doesn't appeal to them. But, I agree, stick with what works for you and only pass it on as 'advice' to others with the caveat it may not work for them. As to your second paragraph, interesting how close we are in our thinking. I achieve the same results you do in intervening with a writer before they start their pages by using the Quick Pitch. If they can't give me a QP of their 'movie', it is obvious they have a problem in one of the 7 key elements in their story. From there it doesn't take long to narrow down the exact problem or problems - which is a good thing to know BEFORE you start writing rather than at page 40 or 60.