Well, I told myself that I should do it and I did. I went to Los Angeles to attend the January 31, 2004 Great

American Pitch Fest produced by Twilight Pictures Inc. of Calgary,Alberta Canada. In anticipation of hearing

“So, what else you got?” I was ready with two completed scripts, three treatments and two concepts for reality TV shows (all of them WGA registered). You will be standing in line with screenwriters, producers, producers who are pitching finished projects, authors of books, and a few average folks with really cool amazing ideas running through their heads and nothing on paper. I was a Pitch Fest virgin and the learning curve was a steep one.

Now let me explain how this works. Pitch Fest has been compared to speed dating where you sit down in a chair across the table from a producer company or literary agent for only five minutes.When the bell rings you have to get up and put yourself in line for another date with another one of the eighty potential script connections. In that five-minute period you have to introduce yourself, pitch your screenplay or TV script in a complete and compelling manner and then follow up with “Can I send you a copy of my script?” It sounds easy and strait forward but it’s not.

I would describe pitching as asking a five star chef to sell you on his signature meal by cooking only a single bite size portion using only a small portion of all the ingredients and expecting that one small bite to give you the flavor of the entire meal. Now if you are pitching a comedy it gets even harder. In a comedy, the plot is like the frame of a picture. It exists to contain the comedy of your picture.The person you are pitching to will ask you to describe the frame and then they try to imagine the funny picture contained inside. Be prepared for “I don’t get it. So, why is this funny?” The lesson is: refine and practice your pitch. In reality your pitch should only be two minutes long to provide enough time for the producer to ask you questions or if they ask,“What else you got?” you still have time for a second pitch.

Both on the day before and the morning of Pitch Fest, you can choose to take advantage of workshops with pitch masters and private sessions with pitch experts to help you refine your technique. Many of the participants started networking right away and practiced their pitches on each other over drinks or coffee. I found this very helpful if even to help calm my nerves.

The networking aspect was great as well. I personally met some interesting folks for interesting conversation, gathering leads, exchanging information and tips, and I met some potential buyers for a few of my projects as well.

I learned that being prepared also means marking your targets and being ready to jump into the shortest lines on your target list. Do your research ahead of time using the event’s decision maker list and qualify the attendees as to who would be the most receptive to your various projects based on genre, length, scope and budget required. This maximizes your number of qualified dates instead of wasting a lot of time in a long line for one producer when you could have seen three other target producers in that same period.

For me, Pitch Fest was worth the trip. I was able to meet with a dozen producers, getting some great responses and a few not so great, but on the whole, very positive. Among the companies that I pitched to were James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment, New Line,Winkler Films, Ostrow & Company, and Atchity Editorial/Entertainment. After the Pitch Fest at the convention center, there was a networking party at the Figueroa Hotel attended by both pitchers and pitchees. I even met a few Harvard Square Screenwriters at Pitch Fest who, like me, felt better for having been there. It is a very cost effective way of meeting with industry decision makers when compared to the cost of pursuing them one at a time. My only regret was that I had to fly back home on Sunday and I missed seeing the New England Patriots win the Super Bowl.

For more information on the Great American Pitch Fest check out www.PitchFest.com or call 1-877-255-2528.