First Pitch Next Week - HELP!! Please!!

Relax.

No one is going to eat you.

Be pleasant, be real, be succinct.

You have a logline, great. Start with that. Your 'pitch' should take about ninety seconds to deliver.

How do you do that? Write out your synopis in one page.

Now, look at that page, and pick NINE LINES - nine sentences that are key to the story. Shouldn't take ten seconds to state each sentence. And yes, that breaks down to 2-3 for the first act setup, 3-4 for the second act - and two or three to wrap it up.

That will leave you with a few minutes to answer their questions.

Also - be prepared to be HALTED in the middle of the pitch. "Wait a minute, who do you see in this role?"

Yeah, they'll ask things like that. "Who do you see as the lead? The villain?" Don't say "Oh it HAS to be Brad Pitt!" Have two or three actors in mind, "Someone LIKE Brad Pitt, maybe a bit younger like XXX"

"Does it HAVE to be shot in San Antonio? Could it be done in Las Cruces?" Or something similar. You should know your story well enough, to answer those questions. "What if the lead is older/younger... would that work?"

If they ask questions, that's a good thing.

Have your one sheet handy. That's the one page synopsis you have on hand. Be READY to leave behind, but ONLY IF THEY ASK.

Have fun.

You'll do fine.

You've probably already finished your pitch, but in case it got rescheduled I figured I'd chime in.

WriteKnight had a lot of great suggestions and the only thing I'd add is bring your passion. If you are passionate about your story, they will be able to feel it and it's contagious. Oh and it doesn't matter what you wear. You could be in pajamas and bunny slippers... if you are crazy passionate about your story, that's what's important.

And if the exec falls asleep during your pitch, just assume they had a long day (or night) and don't assume it's your pitch. Not saying that it's happened to me, but I have heard of it happening before.

Best of luck!