Meetings with Production Co.

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  • Meetings with Production Co.

    Having one of my screenplays repped by a manager, I am now in the fortunate position of taking a series of first meetings with executives at various production companies based on the strength of my writing (though they did pass on the actual screenplay).

    My questions to anyone who is familiar with taking such meetings: What can I expect to occur at a meeting? How should I prepare beforehand? What etiquette should I follow to win them over, in the hopes of getting some writing assignments from them?

    One thing I do expect is to pitch a few of my other ideas. I have several loglines, some with more fleshed out storylines than others. Will an exec want me to relate the entire narrative, beginning to end, or can I get away with selling him/her on just vaguely describing the basic points of the concept? (Sometimes all I really have is the concept/logline.)

    Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

  • #2
    One question is are the meetings "generals" - meaning a general "get to know you" type meeting where the main purpose is for the exec to just match a face to a script. Or are the meetings based on a piece of material that they have that they might want you to adapt (article, book etc.).

    Probably they are generals (otherwise your manager would have told you). In a general, I think the key to keep in you head is the following idea: YOU DON'T NEED THEM, THEY NEED YOU. It means being polite, but very far from desperate. NEVER share more than two ideas - preferably only one that you have very worked out. they will ask you who you are, where are you from, etc. maybe tell youa bout their company and ask you what you're working on. At that point you can pitch one of your ideas, but don't make a big dog and pony show of it. Make them laugh if you can, keep it low-key. DON'T, in a general, pitch an idea for more than a couple minutes unless you're sure it's a very good idea that you've test-run with your manager and friends. What I do in general is ask a lot about the other person, discover what interests, schools, friends we might have in common. This rapport tends to lead them to expose material they might otherwise not have brought up...so after you've both shared a good laugh at something, they say "well there IS this book I guess we could have you look at...".

    Communicate that your focus is on original material but that you're "looking at other things" and considering taking an assignment. You can communicate a hell of a lot of confidence in meetings that will raise your profile in the eyes of the person on the other side of the coffee table.

    Good luck.

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    • #3
      I'm sure a few others can chime in here too, but it should go something like this...

      You'll arrive. They'll be running fifteen minutes or more late.

      You'll go into an office. You meet any and all there. Sit down. Have some small talk. They'll want to possibly here a little bit about you, etc.

      Then they'll most likely ask you about your project(s). "Tell us about it. What's the story? What's it about?" This will be the verbal pitch portion. (See some of the Interviews for various discussions on pitching.) You can briefly tell them the story of each. You should have enough fleshed out for each idea that you can intelligently and clearly talk about each one and even answer some questions. Try to be as prepared with each one as possible. "Well, I have this idea about a horse that goes into space and the battles aliens and then sort saves the planet" is of course way to vague. Be able to at least tell it like you are talking about a great movie you saw the night before.

      What should you do to prepare? Again, have your material ready to talk about. Have it as "fleshed" out as you can in your mind, even if you don't tell all. Don't go nuts but have as much as you can ready. Be or at the very least "sound" confident.

      Also, know about the company you are visiting. What films have they done in the past? What are they workin on now? And so on. Do your homework on them. Ask friends for help on this, your manager, and /or search the Internet.

      Maybe one good way to think about it is this... Put yourself in their shoes. What would you want to hear from you, based on having read your script, that would make you want to hire you to write something else?

      Good luck with the meeting.

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      • #4
        meetings

        A "general" is mostly about rapport. Do you pass the "cool" test? Are you someone the executive would like to work with? Do you have good ideas? About those ideas, I would be cautious about pitching anything that isn't registered (as a treatment at the very least). Don't worry too much about this or let it color the "tone" of the meeting, but I have been in general meetings where an executive would throw out an idea, shamelessly admitting that it wasn't an "in-house" concept, but one that another writer had pitched to them. Now, to be fair, the executive in question wasn't overtly suggesting that I write this idea, but, I did find it a little disconcerting that said exec was tossing off someone else's ideas to another writer (me). I wouldn't be too happy to learn that he had handed one of my ideas over in this way. Again, don't worry too much about this happening. It probably won't. Just be aware before you pitch. Pitch you best, most-thought out material and be confident that whatever it is you're pitching is truly original and great. Also, be yourself and have fun. Being "good in a room" goes a long way.

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        • #5
          Re: meetings

          Never be at a lost for words. That's the kiss of death. That means every question they ask you, you better have a well-thought out, articulate answer for.

          Body language, body language, body language.

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