The Pitch

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  • The Pitch

    okay so... they put this reality show on right after Mad Men which makes sense. it's actually kind of interesting. wouldn't it be cool if they did this pitch thing in the movie-making business. actually, they do but we are not privy to it like this.

    amazon studios has two current "pitch" contests for writing assignments. and there are those speed dating pitchfests. but only insiders really get to pitch to major producers.

    anyhoo -- i'm just talking out loud.

  • #2
    Re: The Pitch

    Agreed, that would definitely be interesting. Back in the 90s, Doug Ellin (Entourage) did a short about pitching movie execs:

    The Pitch

    Also I like this little gem:

    Bruckheimer Pitch Meeting
    "Write every day. Don't quit. The rest is all bullshit." - Brian Koppelman

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    • #3
      Re: The Pitch

      Project Greenlight had finalists pitch on camera to land the one slot.
      Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: The Pitch

        Ha, well, would you REALLY want that show?

        I say it because, as someone who works in advertising, all "The Pitch" has done is make our industry look incredibly incompetent, juvenile, and lame. I bet this theoretical show would take the same direction.

        That being said, it's fun to watch.

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        • #5
          Re: The Pitch

          Yeah, "The Pitch" isn't doing the ad business any favors. Especially because the companies choose the wrong one, like, every freaking time.

          I also think it'd be a bad idea to do a filmmaker one - it'd probably end up a season long competition, and do you really want to see a few hundred amateur screenwriters get rejected on national television?
          "I'm tired of these mother@#%&in' snakes on this mother@#%&in' plane!" - Will Smith, Indiana Jones and the Chamber of Secrets

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          • #6
            Re: The Pitch

            Originally posted by Left Hand View Post
            ...do you really want to see a few hundred amateur screenwriters get rejected on national television?
            yes. maybe they'll stop writing their crap ideas and make more room for the rest of us. <<hee, hee!!!>>

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            • #7
              Re: The Pitch

              Originally posted by jboffer View Post
              Ha, well, would you REALLY want that show?

              I say it because, as someone who works in advertising, all "The Pitch" has done is make our industry look incredibly incompetent, juvenile, and lame. I bet this theoretical show would take the same direction.

              That being said, it's fun to watch.
              Yes! The format/process they use also puzzles me. When they have the first sitdown (with both agencies in the same room, something I've never seen happen), no one asks the client any questions. They simply head off to develop whatever the client requested.

              Clients don't always know what they need -- that's why they hire agencies.
              Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: The Pitch

                i'm pretty sure they ask questions, but they can't fit everything on the show. they only have 44 minutes of screen time.

                i never went into advertising, but i loved Bewitched and wanted to be her. she always saved the advertiser's pitch (for Darrin) with her wacky family and their antics.

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                • #9
                  Re: The Pitch

                  Yeah, I've read enough from people involved in the show's process to know the show basically projects an alternate reality. They determine what the narratives are going to be based on the footage available and create that narrative, contradictions be damned. We get a lot less of true creative process and a lot more of these invented story lines. The truly amazing part is how often they're able to create "the villain" every episode with clever editing.

                  It also doesn't help that the creative executions have been terrible (the one-week timeline does no favors), and the clients do consistently pick the worse campaign.

                  What the show fails to capture is the process that creates good work. Maybe that's because there hasn't been any good work/agencies, but still, there is a process to advertising that's magical. The brainstorms where people play off each other. Where one person's joke turns into another person's bad idea turns into another person's insight turns into another person's great idea. But if you're an average viewer, you'd come away from this show thinking all advertising is is just writing taglines on a white board until one sounds cool, then proceed. That's really not how it works.

                  Then again, maybe that is how those agencies work. I wouldn't know.

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                  • #10
                    Re: The Pitch

                    Originally posted by jboffer View Post
                    It also doesn't help that the creative executions have been terrible (the one-week timeline does no favors), and the clients do consistently pick the worse campaign.

                    What the show fails to capture is the process that creates good work. Maybe that's because there hasn't been any good work/agencies, but still, there is a process to advertising that's magical. The brainstorms where people play off each other. Where one person's joke turns into another person's bad idea turns into another person's insight turns into another person's great idea. But if you're an average viewer, you'd come away from this show thinking all advertising is is just writing taglines on a white board until one sounds cool, then proceed. That's really not how it works.

                    Then again, maybe that is how those agencies work. I wouldn't know.
                    They seem to edit out most of the individual team concepting sessions and only show when the teams present to the CD.

                    The one week deadline is definitely a factor. You need a lot of that time to come up with a creative brief to use internally. We had a couple of those last minute invitations to pitch but we would clear all other work -- reassign it to someone who was light that week, get extensions, whatever. We'd work on that one pitch the entire week. The work we've seen on this show consistently looks like slapdash ideas.

                    If the creatives are still servicing their other accounts that week, they probably haven't put more than a couple hours into these clients. And it shows. And though I have not checked, I have a feeling all these wins may not be full agency of record wins.

                    My last CD (who was a pain in the butt yet the best I'd ever worked with for putting on a pitch show) would always walk in with three separate campaigns and everyone in creative who worked on them. We looked like an army. He'd always save the best idea for last. And he always did his best to get the clients to come to our offices for the pitch. Home turf advantage. It was definitely a head game.

                    Last edited by sc111; 05-31-2012, 06:30 PM.
                    Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: The Pitch

                      Originally posted by sc111 View Post
                      Yes! The format/process they use also puzzles me. When they have the first sitdown (with both agencies in the same room, something I've never seen happen), no one asks the client any questions. They simply head off to develop whatever the client requested.

                      Clients don't always know what they need -- that's why they hire agencies.
                      They don't ask questions in the meeting because they don't want the other agency, sitting right there in the room with them, to know the answers.

                      THAT, to me, is where the problem lies.

                      Imagine getting an assignment with a competing writer sitting next to you. You have a cool idea, but rather than test the waters or ask questions to litmus test your angle, you hold back because you don't want the other writer to catch on to you.
                      "I'm tired of these mother@#%&in' snakes on this mother@#%&in' plane!" - Will Smith, Indiana Jones and the Chamber of Secrets

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: The Pitch

                        Originally posted by Left Hand View Post
                        They don't ask questions in the meeting because they don't want the other agency, sitting right there in the room with them, to know the answers.

                        THAT, to me, is where the problem lies.

                        Imagine getting an assignment with a competing writer sitting next to you. You have a cool idea, but rather than test the waters or ask questions to litmus test your angle, you hold back because you don't want the other writer to catch on to you.
                        That occured to me but then I'm thinking - yeah - you deny your opposition that info but you don't have it yourself either. I'd rather litmus test my angle right there because if it's going to bomb later, I'd rather know sooner. It's a real time saver.

                        Then, if the client is lukewarm to it they will usually reveal something they wouldn't likely reveal during that meeting. otherwise. So you get them to say, "Oh, that wouldn't work because __. " Now you have an insight that may spawn ideas.

                        Anyway -- it's fun to watch but I agree this show is making agencies look bad.
                        Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: The Pitch

                          The episode that bothered me the most was the Waste Management pitch. You had one agency, run by what seemed like genuinely good guys, who came up with a GREAT campaign. In my opinion, anyway. "Trash Can"... I loved it, I loved the grassroots, inspirational vibe.

                          Then, you had another agency, run by what seemed to be a sweatshop of douchebags and egomaniacs infighting the whole time, treating the guy with a family like **** for seeing them... and they win off the abysmal "Waste into wow" idea? REALLY?
                          "I'm tired of these mother@#%&in' snakes on this mother@#%&in' plane!" - Will Smith, Indiana Jones and the Chamber of Secrets

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                          • #14
                            Re: The Pitch

                            Yeah, the Waste Management episode was by far the most depressing. Everyone in my agency I watched it with loved "Trash Can." Even my coworker who used to work at the agency that won wished they hadn't.

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                            • #15
                              Re: The Pitch

                              I agree on that one. By far the best idea of all the episodes.

                              Last week -- the singing CD -- argggh!
                              Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

                              Comment

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