Going to pitch festivals is a great answer to how to sell a movie script. When you author was in film school, he often joked around with his friends about the fact that “we don’t have degrees in film, we have degrees in going to lunch.” This is absolutely 100% true, especially when you are trying to learn how to sell a movie script – this industry is all about getting to know people and making them comfortable, and what better way is there to do that than over food? Since you most likely don’t know a celebrity that you can ask out to lunch, here are a couple of other places where you can start to learn how to sell a movie script.
One great place to start to learn how to sell a movie script, and one that is often overlooked (which your author finds kind of curious, to be honest) are pitch festivals (which are often called “pitch fests” in industry parlance.) The way these events work are very simple: someone is sitting behind a table, and in front of them is a line of people. Each person is given five minutes to pitch their idea (or two, depending on how well prepared they are), and then, when your time is up, the next person in line does the exact same thing – this is clearly a great place to learn how to sell a movie script.
The benefit to using this strategy is twofold: you not only have direct face-to-face access with producers, which is hard enough to come by in and of itself, but you also are catching them in a receptive mood: they want to be there, and they want to hear new ideas, which, as anyone who has been in this industry for more than a few minutes can tell you, is not the default emotional setting of a producer.Here are a couple of tips to keep in mind when you are actually giving your pitch and learning how to sell a movie script:
1. Make sure your pitch has a strong hook – this is the most important part of the whole thing. If the crux of your pitch isn’t strong, the previous two steps you just took won’t matter much at all.
2. Begin by covering the title and genre of the movie
3. Don’t waste a lot of time on introductions – just be friendly and keep it to about a sentence or two. Try and treat them like an old friend that you haven’t seen in a little while, if at all possible.
4. Wrap up your pitch by answering any questions that they may have about your screenplay, and do your best to anticipate these in advance and prepare for them, especially if this is not your first time pitching this particular idea.
The best thing you can for yourself in this situation is practice!
