They say “There’s no rest for the wicked”, and I think it’s true because it’s a hectic week up here in Vancouver.

Not only am I doing last minute development work on a show of mine being pitched at RealScreen West this week PLUS doing some last minute consulting on promo material for people taking shows to the Banff Television Festival next week, I’m ALSO in the final throes of pre-production on the next set of webisodes I start shooting next Monday.s

Webisodes are, of course, a great way to promote a show, but almost more importantly than that, preparing to shoot them is a great way to force you to truly understand what your show is about.

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This was a post on an online forum I’m a member of.

Don’t waste your money on these PITCH FESTS! It’s a huge waste of money and time and there’s is no guaranteeing that your show or movie idea would be bought.

I tried to find out what really happened in comparison to what he thought was going to happen. They didn’t get back to me but I think their original post is most telling.

“It’s a huge waste of money and there’s no guaranteeing that your show or movie idea would be bought.”

Of course there’s no guarantee some one is going to buy your show. Paying to attend a PitchFest or any other kind of TV pitch conference isn’t like buying a toaster. It does not come with a guarantee.

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Here is a great article from our good friend Stephanie Palmer of Good In A Room. Check out the discount code (at the end of the article) to her pitching class starting next week.

The Most Popular Pitching Formula in Hollywood (And 3 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Use It)

By Stephanie Palmer

I imagine you’ve heard a pitch like, “It’s Avatar meets Die Hard!” or “It’s The Hangover meets Bridesmaids!”

The most popular pitching formula in Hollywood takes successful movies and smashes them together in form of: “This Meets That.”

This common practice often backfires.  Here’s why:

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I was reading a pitch the other day and the person listed off three things we might see in their show, and then they said etc.

Using the word etc. is the equivalent of saying “we’re going to roll cameras and see what happens.” If we are going to see more than the three things listed that’s fine, but don’t say etc. Explain what we’re going to see or just end it. Don’t sit on the fence! …readmore

I continue to meet people who think they’re going to get rich overnight and that cutting corners in their show development is a reasonable idea. It seems people think this is an easy business to get into; that those of us who work in the biz somehow lucked into our jobs. Well we didn’t.

We busted our asses to get here and we bust our asses everyday to stay here. It’s not an easy business. BUT, the good news it’s attainable for people who have good ideas and are willing to work hard. …readmore

I’m not really a new year’s resolution kinda guy, but I usually use the Christmas break to take the time to review my goals from the previous year and revise them for the upcoming one.

I do this every year as I like to take note of how many of the things I set out to do were accomplished. I’m not surprised by it, but I do find it inspiring. …readmore