VPF Virtual Pitch Fest anyone?

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  • #31
    Re: VPF Virtual Pitch Fest anyone?

    Originally posted by LateNightWriter View Post
    I'm a huge fan of Virtual Pitch Fest. I've gotten reads from companies which in the past didn't respond to my email queries, and these are excellent companies with whom I now have an established relationship and an open door to submit more work.

    The essential thing is to thoroughly research the companies before you pitch. Use IMDBPro free 30-day subscription if necessary. Do not rely on the brief blurb provided on VPF. Also, research the principals at those companies -- often their credit history (which may have been at other companies) will indicate their tastes.

    The more research you do, and the more you refine and polish your logline and pitch, the better your response rate will be. Sure, some companies will just spit back the boilerplate "Subject matter didn't grab us" response. But I've actually gotten responses to pitches where the exec gave a detailed reason for passing on the pitch -- along with an email to use in the future to pitch directly to that exec.

    I don't know about GrumpyWriter's experience, but the one time my pitch went over five business days I was sent a free pitch immediately.

    Late Night Writer
    Yeah -- in the past that's what happened with me as well. They were quick to provide a free pitch. Just, this last time, I got no response. I've always been a big fan too. Just saying that the more I know about the companies on their list and what they're looking for, the more discrepancies I'm finding. I still think it's a relatively useful service, though, in most cases, as long as, like you said, you do your research and use IMDBPro to ensure you aren't paying to query companies you can find the contact info. for elsewhere.

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    • #32
      Re: VPF Virtual Pitch Fest anyone?

      Agree, Grumpy. For me, there is value in being able to target specific companies that I believe would respond to my work, and to know who's reading my screenplays. I'm not a fan of the anonymous download services. I also appreciate the fast turnaround of VPF.

      Late Night Writer

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      • #33
        Re: VPF Virtual Pitch Fest anyone?

        I've found sometimes that people listed as agents and managers are actually assistants or runners. Same with some prodcos - the person listed as "producer" is actually an assistant to the CE or VP, etc. Not that it's a bad thing to submit to these people - it'd just be nice if VPF let you know this kind of detail up front.

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        • #34
          Re: VPF Virtual Pitch Fest anyone?

          Originally posted by RobWriter View Post
          I've found sometimes that people listed as agents and managers are actually assistants or runners. Same with some prodcos - the person listed as "producer" is actually an assistant to the CE or VP, etc. Not that it's a bad thing to submit to these people - it'd just be nice if VPF let you know this kind of detail up front.
          But at least you still know where your script is going and you can keep track. The number one reason I will probably never go on the Blacklist is because I like knowing who's reading my script.

          That said, VPF has a flaw in that, if one of the companies you submitted to in the past is no longer active, if you go back into your submission history on the site, that company will no longer appear by name (it says "inactive" or something). So make sure to keep your own track record, print/save your queries etc., if that's something that's important to you. Otherwise, you can lose track of who you submitted to.

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          • #35
            Re: VPF Virtual Pitch Fest anyone?

            Just a heads up, because not everybody tracks these things (or cares), but today VPF has their best pricing that I've ever seen from them:

            5 pitches for $50 + 2 free
            10 for $90 + 3 free
            25 for $189 + 5 free

            I sure don't have the cash, but some of you may.

            But read the various VPF threads for cautions. The main ones, from my p.o.v. (and extensive experience in year's past), is to not blow them all at once, and to research their "Pro" list both on their stated "needs" and genres, and on who's actually going to review the pitch.

            Buy the pitches now, then use them over the weeks or months to come. Today's pricing is not a bad deal, for those with some discretionary income.

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            • #36
              Re: VPF Virtual Pitch Fest anyone?

              As a past user of the site, I would highly advise pitching managers and agents first and foremost and not burning pitches on individual producers. If you land an agent or manager, they can solicit your work for free to all these producers and more.

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              • #37
                Re: VPF Virtual Pitch Fest anyone?

                STILL ON FOR TODAY, SUNDAY JULY-1-18:

                Just a heads up, because not everybody tracks these things (or cares), but today VPF has some darn good pricing:

                5 pitches for $50 + 2 free
                10 for $90 + 3 free
                25 for $189 + 3 free

                I sure don't have the cash, but some of you may.

                (Part of my problem is our dollar's so low, even the 5+2 pitches will cost me nearly $70.)
                Last edited by catcon; 07-01-2018, 01:49 PM.

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                • #38
                  Re: VPF Virtual Pitch Fest anyone?

                  Pitch Fest enthusiasts beware:

                  https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...edium=referral

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                  • #39
                    Re: VPF Virtual Pitch Fest anyone?

                    Exactly.

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                    • #40
                      Re: VPF Virtual Pitch Fest anyone?

                      On-line and physical pitchfests and...
                      ...writing festivals, competitions, workshops, websites, extension classes, seminars, script analysts, coaches and a Writers Store in Burbank (which offers software, books and a “do-it-yourself MFA”), not to mention rapacious producers and hungry managers, all making money from putative scribes often oblivious to Hollywood reality...
                      That says it all.

                      I'm glad I'm mostly too poor for any and all of it.

                      Without sounding like I'm sucking up to them, I will say that there's value in DDPro, obviously. As the best writer's discussion board I know of (along with its great, searchable archive), and also a useful and fairly cheap side for $29.95 a year for extensive, searchable business information, I have been a member (when I've had the cash).

                      For the script-posting side of things, I'll stick with ScriptRevolution.com. You know, if we all joined (it's free), and joined only it (and saved our money from all the other script posting sites), maybe we can make it the go-to place for execs looking for scripts!
                      _____________________________________________

                      PS. In the interests of transparency, just last week I did pool together my limited funds for the InkTip preferred weekly newsletter at $60 for four months. That's over 15 newsletters; they had one recently that had 19 individual leads. I do find it most useful of all of the monetized pitch sites merely because I have so much material to pitch (50 screenplays, 8.5 years). If you only have 1-2 scripts, you'll probably have far different results. Anyway, I can match well over half the leads they post, although I do restrict my responses to known-quantities or leads for budgets of over $1M. That would be somewhat more than half of them, I suppose. Still, I often have 10 to 20 active submissions at any one time (17 right now). These are to producers who are looking for very specific types of material - as opposed to merely (supposedly) being "open" to taking pitches on almost anything under the Sun.

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                      • #41
                        Re: VPF Virtual Pitch Fest anyone?

                        SO funny this was my old post from 4 years ago! Just an fyi, I got a ton of free pitches (don't think they do this anymore), and I got a lot of reads. I found a manager on VPF, and worked with a legit producer for a bit found on VPF. I got most reads from producers and not manager or agents. What I do like is that you are actually guaranteeing that your query is actually read, which is nice as they always respond. This was a lot more productive than placing in contests for me, but not sure I would shell out a ton of money for it.

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                        • #42
                          Re: VPF Virtual Pitch Fest anyone?

                          Just a heads up, because not everybody tracks these things (or cares), but today VPF has some good pricing:

                          5 pitches for $50 + 2 free
                          10 for $90 + 3 free
                          25 for $189 + 4 free

                          Not bad deals, for those with some discretionary income, though I sure don't. That, and the fact my low Cdn dollar makes even the 5 pitches a lofty $68.50 USD. When we were at par about 4 years ago it was another thing altogether, when I'd spring for them once or twice a year.

                          But read the various VPF threads for cautions. The main ones, from my p.o.v. (and extensive experience in year's past), is to not blow them all at once, and to research their "Pro" list both on their stated "needs" and genres, and on who's actually going to review the pitch. The list does include some distinctly "no unsolicited" folks (eg. Alcon) that I've never been able to get anything through to without getting the nasty "legal" letter in response.

                          Buy the pitches now, then use them over the weeks or months to come.

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                          • #43
                            Re: VPF Virtual Pitch Fest anyone?

                            Has anyone ever signed off that site or gotten any reads?

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                            • #44
                              Re: VPF Virtual Pitch Fest anyone?

                              Yes, I got around 6 or 7 reads off a script two years ago.



                              Though noone bit, a few nice people gave reasons/feedback - mostly concerning the iffy commercial market for the subject. So I'd try it again.



                              Can't remember the exact scorecard but it was something like 6/15 requests and maybe three feedback.

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                              • #45
                                Re: VPF Virtual Pitch Fest anyone?

                                Originally posted by AK7576 View Post
                                Yes, I got around 6 or 7 reads off a script two years ago.



                                Though noone bit, a few nice people gave reasons/feedback - mostly concerning the iffy commercial market for the subject. So I'd try it again.



                                Can't remember the exact scorecard but it was something like 6/15 requests and maybe three feedback.

                                Cool. Thanks for the info.

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