Typed by hand. It may still contain mistakes; the recording is the original.
Announcer: Welcome to Producing Unscripted with Joke and Biagio.
Angry Man: Is this some kind of joke?
Confused Woman: Biagio-WHO???
Announcer: This episode…
Biagio: It’s episode 22 and we’re talking pitch fests. Are pitch fests beneficial? Did you ever really have to pay to pitch an idea? The real value in pitch fests, four rock-solid rules to keep you from wasting your money at a paid pitch pit, what you can do to standout about 99.99 percent of the people who do attend these pitch fests, and the one thing you shouldn’t do when pitching unless you want Joke to say….
Joke: That’s just creepy and stalkery.
Announcer: Music courtesy of Dave Pelman Music, davepelman.com
Biagio: Hey, everybody! She is Joke.
Joke: He is Biagio.
Biagio: We’re married. We make unscripted film and television and want to help you do the same hopefully by teaming up with us. Well, we just got back from real screen 2014, didn’t we, honey?
Joke: We sure did. We got out I think – we got there after the polar vortex snow storm and I think before the next one so we snuck in.
Biagio: Yes, yeah, for those of you who don’t know, Real Screen is the annual, gigantic unscripted TV and film, mostly TV event. It takes place in Washington D.C.
Joke: Reality television and factual like documentaries and stuff like that, entertainment.
Biagio: Yeah, more for TV than film, I would say, wouldn’t you?
Joke: Yeah. I mean, the buyers that are there are definitely TV networks and foreign buyers for the different markets. And the films they do buy are documentary films.
Biagio: Yes. It’s very expensive.
Joke: Yeah, it’s not the cheapest. I think it’s about, you know, around $1,500.00 entrance fee to get you to the four-day conference. And then there’s the travel and the flying-in, and the same thing with the hotel, and the taxi cabs, and the meals, and such.
Biagio: Yeah, and so the reason we mentioned it is depending on how you approach an event like Real Screen, it’s either going to be worth every penny – which it absolutely can be because it’s a fantastic event – or it’s going to be a total waste of money.
It’s the kind of event where you can learn a lot about the business and you can pitch projects.
Joke: Yeah, and I think that there’s one big thing to understand for most of these events, Real Screen in particular, but most of these kind of pitching events is that the people in the industry who are there to give you all these great information or to give you this access to listen to your pitches, they’re there not because of their generous spirit to just give you all this information. It’s a trade for them. They’re there because it allows them to network. It allows them to meet with other people in their business.
And so when we’ve been asked to participate in pitch pits as people listening to pitches, that’s mainly the reason we go; it’s because it gives us an opportunity to network and see our colleagues, and hang-out and do that kind of stuff.
And at Real Screen there’s a percentage of the people who go there who are the third-party approved working producers who really go there and just have one-on-one meetings and go to the parties, and network, and connect. So if you’re starting out and you’re going to one of those places it’s really important to understand what it actually is so you can get the most for your money.
Biagio: Yes, and so now we’ve got us talking about pitch pits because having sat on a few of these panels, and heard a lot of pitches, one of the things that struck us is you get a few minutes to pitch, almost everybody who pitches there pitches horrible, is God awful. You don’t have time to tell a person why their pitch is horrible or God awful. And unfortunately, as people walk away, usually they are not getting a whole lot out of the event. That’s actually why we started this podcast.
And by the way, I want to take two seconds to clear one thing up, we’re not consultants. We don’t charge to hear pitches. We started this podcast to educate people about how to pitch and sell unscripted television. We make it very easy for people to pitch to us. We’re working television producers, if you pitch us a project that we like we’re going to team up on it, go out together and try to sell it.
That’s what we’ve done with other projects including “Ghosts Has Had My Child,” which is aired on Bio and I believe we can say is coming back, including our MTV True Life Project and many other pitches and pilots that we can’t tell you about yet because they’re in the works.
So I just want to make it very clear. We will never ever charge through hear your pitch through the site whatever. That’s not what we are about. That said, some of you aren’t necessarily interested in pitching reality TV, some of you are going to these pitch fests and so we want to give you some concrete tips about how to not waste your money, right Joke?
Joke: Yeah, and let’s start with – for those of you who have not gone, it literally is as simple as sometimes Real Screen, it’s like 30 minutes was so-and-so and you kind of hear from them directly and then if there’s time at the end you can pitch them ideas. But then there’s these speed pitching events or different pitch pits or pitch, you know, whatever they call them. Everyone has a different name for their little pitching events.
Sometimes you get as little as five minutes. And so you have to understand that when people pitch to us in five minutes (1) they usually waste about a minute and a half being really nervous and it’s very hard to figure out what’s happening, and (2) they come not so well-prepared and so we end up asking questions just to try and understand what they’re pitching and then boom, time’s up, the bell rings or some guys comes on the announcement and so if you have one minute left.
And you have to understand, from the people’s perspective hearing these pitches is we don’t have proper time in a minute to explain to you why an idea isn’t going to work at this time. Maybe because of the television landscape, maybe because we already have a show like it in production, for whatever reason, those conversations take much longer than a minute.
And if it’s a bad idea, you have to understand we don’t want to sit there and be crushing dreams all day and go, “Well, that idea sucks. Thank you very much but leave now.” No one wants to be that bad guy. And so it ends up being very polite and being, “Oh, that’s very interesting. Yeah, it’s not for us right now but thank you so much and good luck.”
And ultimately, I don’t think that’s helpful to those people pitching because (1) they don’t know if it was a bad idea, and (2) they don’t know how to improve their idea or maybe just go look for a whole new idea altogether. So that’s why we think that there are ways to use these times and to make these connections that are super helpful but you have to be prepared.
Biagio: Yes, and having sat through a couple of those was part of the inspiration for us starting this podcast. If it’s reality TV, or unscripted television you’re interested in it’s pretty easy to us. Listen to this podcast and do what we tell you. Go to producingunscripted.com and click on “Pitch Us a Show,” done.
However, if you find yourself going to one of these pitch pits we put together four concrete tips that we think will help you get the most for your money so that you don’t end up like 99.999 percent of, let’s call it what it is, wannabes who go to these pitch fests and walk away with nothing.
So Tip #1. Do understand the marketplace.
Joke: And this goes back to our very first episode, “Please Watch Some Television.” It really is important for you to understand that if you’re trying to sell a product to a Bravo executive, that you understand the Bravo landscape – what shows are working for them, which shows do they keep bringing back, which shows they don’t – because ultimately I don’t think anybody expects you to walk in with the perfect-oh-my-goodness-this-is-the-next-big-great-idea-yes-I’m-buying-it-on-the-spot but if you are able to walk in and clearly show them that you understand the marketplace, that you know your product and you have good concrete reasons of why it fits in their landscape you’ve already impressed people to the point where they’ve never seen.
Biagio: And this isn’t just for unscripted television. This is if you’re going to go to one of these pitch fests and pitch a screenplay, a movie, whatever you don’t want to walk in and pitch something that has zero chance of selling. How do you figure that out?
Well, it’s not real hard to figure it out. Ask yourself who you’re pitching to and ask yourself what they’ve done. Look at what’s popular in the market place, a little bit of Googling will tell you that.
Pitch fests are not the places to sell your wild passion project that you already know is a long shot. Believe it or not, what people take to pitch fests are their wild long shots. They are passion projects and they have no chance of selling, like, that’s why independent film was invented.
Joke: And by the way, if you just have that one passion project that you’re all wild out about and you want to go get a couple of pats on the back that really won’t amount to anything well then sure, yeah, take it to pitch fest. People will say, “It’s not for us but wow that sounds amazing. Good luck with that.” If that’s what makes you feel better and that’s what you paid your money for then that’s fine. And then I understand that sometimes you just need a little bit of positive encouragement. Just know, it’s not actually real.
Biagio: Yes, and like Joke said, if you’re pitching to us, please go back and listen to ProducingUnscripted.com/001 where she basically tells you if you want to sell TV, shocker, you have to watch television.
Alright, moving on to Tip # 2, and this is a big one, Don’t Treat a Pitch Fest like Speed Dating.
What is speed dating? Speed dating is two strangers getting to know each other. And because sometimes you have five minutes at these speech fests, people walk in and they’re going to however many people are there and they treat it like speed dating. In other words, I’m going to spend this time with you getting to know me and me getting to know you.
Well, guess what? At a pitch fest you have the advantage of knowing who you’re pitching to. You know who’s there. Do your research ahead of time and pitch people what’s right for them.
There was nothing more annoying when we would sit on these pitch panels than when someone would come to us and want to pitch us their dramatic feature screenplay. And we’re like, “Guys, we make unscripted television, why are you wasting our time and yours?” And yet people will go and sit down at the table at a pitch fest and have no idea who they’re sitting across from.
If you have five minutes, do you really want two and a half minutes with those people telling you what they’re about? Or do you want to show how smart you are by showing them you know what they’re about because you’ve researched them and now you’re going to tell them how your project is right for them? Or how you think it’s right for them, or how maybe you know it’s a little bit of a long shot for them but they might want to take a chance on it? Just giving it the context that you’ve researched them will make you seem so smart and will make you stand out from, I kid you not, 999 out of 1,000 people who go to these pitch fests.
Joke: And by the way, this doesn’t mean that I need you to sit down and list my resume back off to me just to show me that you’ve done your research, that’s just creepy and stalkery, okay.
What Biagio is saying is that by being prepared and by knowing your project well and having tailored it so it’s exactly to what I’m looking for, you are now showing me that you’ve researched me and that we can get ahead of that.
The problem with most of these pitch things is that they are set-up as speed dating. And speed dating is like a blind date and neither party knows what’s going on. But as what Biagio said, you have a huge advantage and in most of these cases, you know who you’ll be doing this with. You at least have a list of people that you know will be there.
And if you do your research on all of them maybe you won’t get to be in front of all of them but at least you’ll know once you sit in from of them, “Okay, they’re the ones running Spike. I’m not going to pitch my Housewives show here. I’m going to focus on male-oriented format.” You know what I mean? You don’t have to stalk the people, you just have to know what they might be interested in so that you can tailor your pitch to that so you make a good impression.
Biagio: Alright, Tip # 3, when you go to a pitch fest, Define Success Differently.
Look, I hate to break it to you. You’re probably not going to sell your idea at a pitch fest or in one of these pitch pits, okay? Because the chance of you walking in with a perfect project especially when you don’t know the industry insiders or have people telling you exactly what they’re looking for, it’s slim.
But if you walk up to a table and if you prove that you’re smart and likeable, you prove you understand the marketplace by at least pitching something that’s in the ballpark and you show you took the time to research who you’re pitching to, again, you’re going to be head and shoulders above all the hopeless wannabes who clog up these fests.
And when people see a smart, talented, creative person sitting across from them who’s taken the time to at least pitch something that could be in their wheel house, they take notice. Believe me, it’s very rare that it happens, most of the time people just sound clueless.
So if you walk in, make a real connection with the person sitting across the table from you, that’s success. If you manage to get that business card, and believe me, most of the time they’ll tell you, “Oh, I don’t have any business cards,” they have business cards they don’t want to give them out. You manage to get that business card, you manage to make a real connection with someone which so few people do, that pitch fest or that convention has been worth it.
Joke: Yeah, I mean, again, unless you walk in with like the next great cast and you’re, “By the way, they’re my family,” you’re most likely not going to sell a show at a pitch fest. So by getting that straightened, by understanding that the goal is to get to that business card, is to make that connection that will help you focus and do your homework so that when you get there you’re as prepared as possible.
Biagio: Which brings us to Tip # 4, Pay for Knowledge not Access.
Going hand-in-hand with step 3 since you’re now defining success differently, the surefire way to not waste your money at these events, make it your goal to come away with real usable knowledge. If you can use these limited minutes that you have access to industry professionals at these events to really learn more about the industry, whatever industry you’re pitching to, and sharpen your sense of what sells then you’ve invested on yourself and your future.
If on the other hand, you’re one of these people that just wants to machine gun pitches and hit as many people as possible regardless if they’re right for them or not, I believe you will walk away disappointed.
Joke: Yeah, I’m not disagreeing with Biagio.
Biagio: Oh-oh, oh-oh, I sense some controversy coming.
Joke: No, no, no, I’m agreeing but I’m putting in a little different perspective. Obviously we are paying for access. When we started out, we paid to go to these things for the access. But what Biagio is saying, if you’re going solely for the access you’ve now wasted your money.
Lots of these events also have seminars, right? And a lot of times the people who are taking the pitches either them or their colleagues are hosting some of these seminars ahead of time. So if you don’t go to these seminars and really listen to them and really listen to that knowledge because there they might tell you exactly what they’re looking for, they even might tell you exactly what kind of producer they’re looking for, what kind of things they’re hoping to hear and then you show up at little speed dating pitch fest and you just didn’t go to the seminar, didn’t get the knowledge, didn’t get the memo and completely blow it, you’ve not completely blown your access. So don’t go solely for the access, there’s a lot of knowledge to be gotten at these places.
Every single time we go to Real Screen we learn so much about what not works or currently looking and the shifting trends. And we’re dealing with them on a daily basis and yet still, a lot of times at these events the networks will rebrand or will say, “Hey, will make a big announcement, this is what we’re looking for next,” and if you’re not paying attention then you’re missing the boat. So it’s not that access doesn’t matter, obviously it does and it gives you an opportunity to meet with these people. But if you’re thinking about this as solely access, you’re wasting your money. There’s too much knowledge to be had there that will make you look good once it gets time for you to pitch. And if you don’t take advantage of that you just look like a fool.
Biagio: So there you go, if you’re thinking about going to some kind of pitch fest and you’re thinking about spending money at all, keep these four tips in mind and make sure you’re not wasting your money.
And of course, as we said in the beginning of this podcast, the reason we started this podcast is if you’re interested in making unscripted television – again, I can’t speak for other productions companies – but here at Joke Productions we make it very easy to pitch to us: just listen to this podcast and do what we tell. And if you’re a new listener, or you’re getting ready to pitch us an idea, please above all else, at least listen to episodes 1 through 8. Very easy to find, producingunscripted.com/001 gives, you guessed it, episode 1, producingunscripted.com/002 is episode 2.
If you listen to at least eight episodes, which will take you less than two hours, you’ll be ready to pitch us just about anything. And of course, if you’re an over-achiever listen to all of them. It won’t take you that long and you’ll know exactly what me and Joke are looking for.
So that wraps it up for this episode, thanks so much for tuning in. we hope that you find these tips useful. And above all, I hope we get to work together some day, don’t you, Joke?
Joke: Absolutely, looking forward to it.
Biagio: So bring us some stuff, and until next time…
Joke: A happy creating!
Announcer: Producing Unscripted with Joke and Biagio.
