Great American Pitchfest

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  • Great American Pitchfest

    The only threads I can find about this are from 2010-2011. Has anyone been recently? Opinions? Worthwhile?

  • #2
    Re: Great American Pitchfest

    Geez...I haven't done that one SINCE 2011.

    I recall it was one of the cheaper of the lot, Michael Hague was pretty involved. It had the highest volume of people who say "Send me a script" and you never hear from them again.

    It's a pitchfest. A shot in the dark. If you feel like taking the shot, perhaps something will stick for you, but William Goldman's "Nobody knows nothing" certainly applies.

    To quote Jack Burton:

    "You never know 'til you try."

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Great American Pitchfest

      I went a long time ago and really enjoyed it.
      Can't go this year now, but would have. A new opportunity came up. (Yay!)
      I recommend it for others based on my experience. But it was a long time ago.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Great American Pitchfest

        It's a total waste for screenwriters hoping to pitch a script to a producer and get it optioned. Same goes for finding an agent. I went for the first and last time in 2016. Here were the takeaways from my experience:
        1. Pitches on Saturday were so crowded that I didn't even get to pitch.
        2. Many executives that are in the book to pitch don't show up or are there for a very small amount of time.
        3. The big names (i.e. The Cartel) have huge lines. You can spend an hour just waiting to pitch to someone who won't even request your script.
        4. Writers often go over the 5 minutes they're allotted to pitch so you can often start your pitch 1-2 minutes late.
        5. I had script requests from 11 producers. None of them ever responded to my emails or followed up with me. Not classy.
        6. The "executive" lunches are a joke. Don't pay extra to attend them. The food is mediocre and the executives don't want to talk to writers on their break. I don't think they tell the "executives" that have the attendees are writers. When I told an agent I was a writer he literally picked his plate up and moved to a table of all agents. The point of the lunch was to get access to these people but they didn't want to be bothered.
        7. The "executives" are nobodies. One I met at a lunch that I paid extra for was the dad/manager of a child actor whose claim to fame was being in 1 car commercial. This was not what I imagined when I paid a few hundred extra buck to attend this lunch. I imagined it would be someone from a production company or studio.
        8. Another "executive" I met at one of these lunches was literally an unpaid intern who was working for a has been pop star's production company that has zero theatrical or TV credits.

        The best part of the Great American Pitchfest is the speaking talent. The pitching seminar I attended with Pilar Allesandra was phenomenal, but I would recommend that you go to her studio to take her class instead of the insanity of the conference. There was also a conference about Women in TV that I found unexpectedly fascinating and has stuck with me. Other than that, I would not recommend the Great American Pitchfest if your goal is to get your screenplay in to the hands of agents, managers, and producers. Instead, use VirtualPitchfest. It delivers on its promise, is MUCH cheaper, and you can use it in your pajamas. They also have WAY bigger entities on VPF (ABC, NBC/Univeral, Netflix, Disney), so you don't have to waste your time with nobodies pretending to be Hollywood producers.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Great American Pitchfest

          Originally posted by jondavis80 View Post
          It's a total waste for screenwriters hoping to pitch a script to a producer and get it optioned. Same goes for finding an agent. I went for the first and last time in 2016. Here were the takeaways from my experience:
          1. Pitches on Saturday were so crowded that I didn't even get to pitch.
          2. Many executives that are in the book to pitch don't show up or are there for a very small amount of time.
          3. The big names (i.e. The Cartel) have huge lines. You can spend an hour just waiting to pitch to someone who won't even request your script.
          4. Writers often go over the 5 minutes they're allotted to pitch so you can often start your pitch 1-2 minutes late.
          5. I had script requests from 11 producers. None of them ever responded to my emails or followed up with me. Not classy.
          6. The "executive" lunches are a joke. Don't pay extra to attend them. The food is mediocre and the executives don't want to talk to writers on their break. I don't think they tell the "executives" that have the attendees are writers. When I told an agent I was a writer he literally picked his plate up and moved to a table of all agents. The point of the lunch was to get access to these people but they didn't want to be bothered.
          7. The "executives" are nobodies. One I met at a lunch that I paid extra for was the dad/manager of a child actor whose claim to fame was being in 1 car commercial. This was not what I imagined when I paid a few hundred extra buck to attend this lunch. I imagined it would be someone from a production company or studio.
          8. Another "executive" I met at one of these lunches was literally an unpaid intern who was working for a has been pop star's production company that has zero theatrical or TV credits.

          The best part of the Great American Pitchfest is the speaking talent. The pitching seminar I attended with Pilar Allesandra was phenomenal, but I would recommend that you go to her studio to take her class instead of the insanity of the conference. There was also a conference about Women in TV that I found unexpectedly fascinating and has stuck with me. Other than that, I would not recommend the Great American Pitchfest if your goal is to get your screenplay in to the hands of agents, managers, and producers. Instead, use VirtualPitchfest. It delivers on its promise, is MUCH cheaper, and you can use it in your pajamas. They also have WAY bigger entities on VPF (ABC, NBC/Univeral, Netflix, Disney), so you don't have to waste your time with nobodies pretending to be Hollywood producers.
          Just out of curiosity, for the Virtual Pitchfest, are there periods where it's a bad time to pitch? (i.e. November to January--the holiday season)?

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Great American Pitchfest

            Originally posted by Friday View Post
            Just out of curiosity, for the Virtual Pitchfest, are there periods where it's a bad time to pitch? (i.e. November to January--the holiday season)?
            I have won the Hotlist contest twice this year (I joined VPF in January) and have not observed a bad time of year so far to pitch. Some pros will suspend their profiles if they're not currently taking pitches which is nice since pitches can be about $8-$10 each and you wouldn't want to waste one. I would avoid pitching on Mondays because, just like everyone, they are slammed with emails. Pitch in the afternoons and later in the week.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Great American Pitchfest

              Originally posted by jondavis80 View Post
              I have won the Hotlist contest twice this year (I joined VPF in January) and have not observed a bad time of year so far to pitch. Some pros will suspend their profiles if they're not currently taking pitches which is nice since pitches can be about $8-$10 each and you wouldn't want to waste one. I would avoid pitching on Mondays because, just like everyone, they are slammed with emails. Pitch in the afternoons and later in the week.
              Cool. Thanks for the advice. There are some big names on their site according to their email....do those big names really listen to pitches...or is it more of the smaller producers/managers...?

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Great American Pitchfest

                Everyone listed on their accepts pitches. You choose who you pitch to based on the company and what they're looking for. Compared to other sites that can charge $30+ for a pitch, VPF is a steal. And I've encountered a much higher rate of script request than than sites like InkTip, Black List, or Stage 32. Give it a try. You won't regret it.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Great American Pitchfest

                  As for GAP, I'm in no position to ever go to it or anything like it (location, money, etc.), but before they take it down check out this from 2015, and go through it with a fine-toothed comb:

                  http://scriptfest.com/home/wp-conten...-Directory.pdf

                  It seems like those in attendance are honestly hoping to find stuff, but the cautionary tales listed in this thread are good to keep in mind.

                  As for VPF, I'm a fan, but I haven't used it much for 2 years. My productivity is down over that time, as I polish and pitch via regular email for free, but the biggest issue I have with it is merely the cost. You can pay for a lot of $10 pitches for mostly "it just didn't grab us" replies.

                  As well, you can do up a majestic pitch and they'll respond as if there was too much info... pass. You can do up a pithy pitch, and they'll respond that they found it interesting but that there's wasn't 'enough information'. Worst of all is when they ask a question, or make a statement that deserves/demands a response, and you can only do that with another $10 pitch!

                  I've always thought that they should allow some sort of dialogue to play out, like LinkedIn does: When you make a connection there, then you can dialogue back and forth with no limitations. I'm sure some sort of rule could be made in VPF that would keep that 'conversation' on the original pitch, and not to let it go elsewhere. Anyway, that's just my main critique, aside from the cost. I'd like to see it at $5 per.

                  Last complaint may be that they have a list of 'what the pro is looking for'. I've pitched a comedy to somebody, who supposedly was looking for them, but their response included 'we are not looking at comedies right now'.

                  On the positive, there are definitely connections to be made to people in the named companies. Where else can a non-union writer at least get a foot in the door with NBC, Fox, Cross Creek (replaced by New Republic), etc.? It really doesn't matter that it's probably an unpaid assistant. One expects too much from any of these systems if you expect the boss to read it.

                  As for Inktip, I've only taken advantage of their $60/four-month preferred newsletter of leads, not their Blacklist-clone set-up. I have had a few more script requests from it than I have from elsewhere, but at least it offers genuine leads from people who want to make a particular film (eg. 'drama suitable for 18-year-old actress', budget $500K, can be shot in the U.K.'). My biggest positive is maybe unique to me: I have a lot of material, so among their 10 leads per week I have had 2 to 7 or more to reply to. Over four months, my cost per pitch might be $2 or even less so, yeah, that Thursday night when the newsletter comes in is pretty exciting!

                  But still, the leads are rarely over $10M, mostly below $2M, and you have to imagine that hundreds of writers are responding.

                  But, those odds never stopped us before, have they!

                  So knock yourselves out on these three possibilities; each have positives and negatives. And, there are so many more among them (blklst, etc.)

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Great American Pitchfest

                    I've been to this once, back in 2013; long story short I was able to pitch 16 / 17 people, got half a dozen script requests and ended up signing with one of the managers I pitched.

                    Lots of the criticisms laid out by other posters are totally accurate but some success can still be had.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Great American Pitchfest

                      FWIW, it's naive to think that the experience level of the contacts you're pitching to on VPF are any higher than who you're going to be sitting down with at a pitch fest. This is an opportunity for underpaid, low level folks to make a little cash while fielding queries that their company probably receives a zillion of any way regardless of any event or service (as if there were a dearth of screenwriters offering their wares, a need to seek them out, oy vey!)

                      It's just one more example of the growing "pay to play" trend that's evolved over the past decade or so, and is only getting worse for writers.

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