Pitching and Catching

Nope; not like that.

Today was more Screenwriting Expo goodness. Stuart Beattie was supposed to open the day, but was AWOL due to a scheduling glitch. I used the time to go hear Jeff Kitchen speak again. I saw his presentation on SEQUENCE, PROPOSITION AND PLOT a few years ago, the first time I came to the Expo and found it to be one of the most informative, so was curious to see if he'd updated his examples any. Luckily, he had.

His tools, also covered in his book, WRITING A GREAT MOVIE (yes, I'm aware of the bullshit meter going off), are amazingly useful to look at your story and make it stronger. Essentially, starting at the act level, you work backward through the script to identify cause/effect, to make sure you haven't introduced an action without strong supporting cause.

Then, you move through each act at the sequence level (a sequence is a collection of scenes that make the filmic version of a chapter; a grouping of sequences make up an act), to identify the same cause/effect elements at a more micro level. Once you've done that, you move through each sequence to identify the cause/effect elements at the scene level.

I'm probably not doing it justice in my description, but Jeff takes us through an example with the movie TRAINING DAY--a super-tight script that just rushes from start to finish--and the examples bring it to life masterfully. Jeff still teaches with the TRAINING DAY example, but has added some new material from an original script he's working on. While I don't agree with all his scene choices--they're not all how I would handle the material--it's nice to see an alternative to the produced film.

The downside to all this is--you guessed it--more work. But, ultimately, if you're starting with a strong story, it can make it even tighter, identifying the dross you can cut loose and the holes that need to be filled.

After Jeff's presentation, I came back to the room to prep for my pitches. As mentioned in yesterday's post, I'd signed up for a set of pitch sessions--5-minute speed dating style, where you find the prodco/agent/manager's table, plop your butt down and start selling (the dirty side of writing).

I'd signed up for pitches with MTV Films, Fangoria Films, Strike Entertainment, Fox Atomic and APA Agency. You usually get the lower-on-the-totem pole folks, since the top dogs don't want to waste their Saturday afternoon with a bunch of sweaty-handed writers pitching their story of how grandmother came over in the 30s and set up the first Jewish tailor shop in the Bronx.

My pitches went generally well--all were interested in my thriller, ROADS LESS TRAVELED moreso than my horror script, FINAL PROJECT. And when I say interested, I only mean that that's the genre they were interested in hearing the pitch for. Four of the five asked for my card so they could email me re: follow-up; a good sign, since the alternative is a blank stare and a "thanks for stopping by". The fifth was kind enough to give me more than a blank stare. She looked at me and said bluntly "Doesn't sound like it's got enough originality to it."

Ouch.

Got to have a thick skin on this stuff. Luckily, I was feeling good enough about the first four that I shrugged it off. One man's meat and all that... As I left, I wondered if my energy lag was showing, since I'd just told the same story 4 times before hitting her table and the adrenaline rush was wearing off as my mouth got drier. eh.

Now, headed off for a few minutes at a party downstairs, then off to dinner at a sushi restaurant. Tomorrow, more speakers and three more pitches to folks at ContraFilms, Station3, and Headlong Entertainment. In the AM, I'll think about how today's pitches could have been improved and hopefully do better. "Better" is always preferable to "worse". Pithy, huh?