Pitch Material Overload

If you’re sending Television Executives everything you’ve written about your show, you’re not sending pitch materials, you’re sending a reason for them not to pay attention to your messages in the future.

I’ve written about this before, but let’s revisit…

If you do not have your show boiled down to a One Sheet and/or a 2 – 3 minute Sizzle Reel, you should not be pitching your show.

Every show can be condensed into one piece of paper. And every show can be condensed into 2 minutes of video.

How? By not including everything.

Here’s what you need:

Logline.

Introduce tone and concept.

Introduce characters and location (location only if necessary).

Introduce what the viewer is going to see in an episode and season.

Succinctly review the show with another version of your Logline.

Contact info.

And you’re out!

I recently received a pitch from someone and I was shocked at what they sent. The subject line had no hook. The email was equally uninspiring. And then there were more than 10 links to different pieces of video and promo pieces scattered across the web.

This is not how to sell a show. It is not how to incite excitement in an Exec. It IS a great way to ensure that whomever you are sending this to is going to ignore further communications from you.

Your material needs to be slick. It needs to be compelling. Every sentence needs to make them want to read the next.

Every paragraph must build on the last and push them forward to the next. Even though it is only one page long, it needs to feel like a page-turner; a great book you just can’t put down. And why can’t you put those books down? Because they are written in a way that makes you want to find out what happens next.

Writing a One Sheet isn’t only about cutting your 30 page Treatment down to a single solitary piece of paper. It is about creating a compelling story that makes the reader want to know more. It is a one page essay that makes the reader wish it was longer. It was a magical piece of paper that makes a Development Executive pick up his phone and dial yours.

Your Pitch Materials are supposed to make them want to see more, not tell them everything there is to know. And if you’re sending them everything you’ve got they have no reason to call you.