The Great American PitchFest Interview
Signe Olynyk We sat down recently with Signe Olynyk and Bob Schultz, partners in the Great American and Great Canadian PitchFests, arguably the Rolls Royce of pitch fests. The next pitch fest rolls into the Marriott Burbank Hotel & Convention Center in Los Angeles, June 21 & 22, 2008. About 100 production companies and agencies will be in attendance. And unlike other PitchFests that limit you to 4 or 5 meetings, with the Great American PitchFest, the average is 12-20 meetings, sometimes more! If you’ve got material you’ve honed to perfection (you have honed it to perfection, haven’t you?) and are now ready to approach the industry, there is no better, stronger, faster way to meet a whole room full of industry than the Great American PitchFest. Coverage Ink has been to many pitch fests over the past decade, but we really like the way these guys run their ship. That is why we approached them to be a cosponsor for our Writers on the Storm contest. Like CI, these guys are writers themselves and really do care about bringing quality and opportunity to the emerging writer. Jim Cirile: Hi, guys. Tell us how this ball got rolling. Bob Schultz: It was all Signe’s brainchild. I was at another event, and so was Signe, and she was trying to find volunteers to help with the first Great American PitchFest. She had already done one Great Canadian PitchFest. Signe Olynyk: This whole thing was really borne out of frustration. I went to other pitch fests, and I attended as a participant. JC: So you’re a writer also. SO: Yes, I write and produce. BS: All of us who are involved with putting on the PitchFest are writers. We pride ourselves on being by writers, for writers. SO: We tell people this isn’t ‘our’ PitchFest, it’s everyone’s PitchFest. We were trying to find something that helped writers, producers, and agents connect in a way that we didn’t feel was being done. JC: I’m a long-time veteran of a lot of pitch fests, and I’ve made a lot of good long-time industry contacts from them. Some people you sit with are a waste of time, but others, you really can make a connection. What weren’t you seeing from those other pitch fests that you wanted to bring to the Great American and Great Canadian PitchFests? SO: It seems every pitching event out there has huge problems with their sign up process. Or they charge per pitch. One event charges $99 for a single, fifteen minute meeting. BS: Or the companies are not seriously looking for material. Or they aren’t credible. Writers feel like they’re competing with one another instead of supporting one another. Nickel and diming by the organizers. Disorganization on a massive scale.... SO: Or they limit how many meetings you can have. Or the meetings are only five minutes. Or the organizers promise execs at the parties, but no one ever shows. How long is this article again? BS: Seriously. We hate to complain because the concept of a PitchFest is great. SO: We just felt they weren’t being done very well. And it was unfair to everyone involved. JC: So how is the Great American PitchFest different? SO: With our system, all you have to do is show up and pitch. You don’t have to signup online, or jump through any hoops. We give everyone a booklet that gives a full profile about each company, their credits, what they’re looking for, stars they have relationships with, really specific information. We have about 100 companies hearing pitches, and limit attendance to only 500 writers. This means they get as many meetings as possible. BS: Most participants meet between 12-20 companies. SO: We also give you the name of the person you’re meeting with, their contact information, email address - And we interview each person about opportunities with their companies in terms of internships, jobs, advice they offer for writers. So even if you don’t meet with someone, you can still contact them after and you have all that information. BS: If you check out our web site, all the profiles from previous (Great American / Canadian) PitchFests are up there. SO: What you won’t find online is the contact information. You have to register to get the contact info for the executives. JC: So how do you prevent somebody from taking 45 minutes once they sit down and grab somebody’s ear? SO: Most meetings are generally five minutes. But if an executive wants more time with someone, they can meet as long as the executive wants. BS: We found that our participants, instead of being frustrated because they’re delayed, everyone’s really excited, because it means someone has generated interest, and everyone’s sort of rooting for each other. SO: Plus everyone is sharing their experiences saying, "I just met with that company. What are they like? What are they looking for?" And everyone seems to have a lot of fun. We’ve had a lot of long-term relationships that have developed as a result. JC: That also means a writer is not necessarily limited to only, say, four meetings. SO: And in fact most of our participants get 12 to 20. There are some people who meet with just about every company there. I’m not kidding. Between the luncheon, the party, and all the pitch meetings, they just keep going!. I think a lot of people just stop because they get tired. If you’ve never pitched before, it’s the ideal situation because you just pitch, and pitch, and pitch. And the more you do it, the better you get. It’s the absolute cure for shyness, that’s for sure. Or for people who don't think they can pitch. By the time our event is over, our writers are absolute pro's at pitching. BS: In the beginning, we have a lot of people who are rushing, because they are accustomed to rushing (at other pitch fests). So in the beginning it’s rush, rush, rush, and then , we have people sitting down and saying, "You know what? I’m done, and there’s still half a day left." They’re satisfied to the point of exhaustion. And I feel like that’s why we’ve had a lot of success getting return customers and production companies, too, because they get bang got their buck. The 20 pitch number that we throw around is not one of these extremely rare occasion things. It happens quite frequently. JC: So tell us about some success stories that have come from all of this. SO: We’ve got about 50 success stories-actually it’s probably higher than that, because these are just the ones we know of. We really rely on our executive and our participants to tell us. We’ve got over 50 confirmed success stories, where participants have sold their screenplays, had an option, or they’ve signed with agents or managers, or have been hired for writing assignments. BS: My first internship, my first writing assignment for actual money, all came from the Great American/Great Canadian PitchFests. I started as a volunteer. SO: Most of the volunteers we have become a big part of our team, because they see that this is real. Lorene Lacey, same thing-she found an agent as a result. JC: A lot of times companies will send the lowest guy on the totem pole-the plant guy, for instance-to see if there’s anything out there, but these people aren’t really decision makers. I know that frustrates some writers. But on the flip side, eventually those guys will work their way up, and this is a chance to get in on the ground floor. SO: We get a mix. We get studio execs who attend. Some of our best support has come from one of the execs at Fox. BS: Also Imagine Entertainment has been wonderful to work with. I don't think they do any other PitchFest's. We also get a lot of actors and their production companies, so we get someone who’s one person removed from the celebrity. We get great people - sometimes the development person. Sometimes the VP of Fox. The thing that writers have to remember though is that some of the junior development people are the absolute best ways to get your foot in the door. Most of them are really ‘hungry’ and looking for that one script that is going to make them standout and help move their careers along. It's easier to get a meeting with Spielberg's assistant than with Spielberg. And you can believe that Spielberg's assistant is working really hard to prove themselves and build their career. Those are the people we want at the Great American PitchFest. The people who are seriously looking and have the ability to do something with the great writers and material that they find at our event. SO: I work really hard at making sure the people we have are credible and actively looking for writers and new material. I also produce, so I’m a very good networker. I go to a lot of markets and film festivals-NATPE, MIPCOM, Cannes, Sundance, Austin Film Festival, the AFM...and I meet real people and real companies who are getting things made. And I work really hard at establishing relationships with them. They also see that what we’re doing with this event is sincere, and is in the best interests of helping to connect writers to producers and agents. BS: We also work with industry partners like the Writer’s Store and Storylink to offer free classes on pitching and writing. This helps writers to develop their craft and their pitching skills. We’ve built a reputation with the agents and execs so they know that a large percentage of the pitches and scripts they find through our event are not going to waste their time. I feel like we do a really good job of getting decision makers at those tables who can actually make decisions. Writers who attend our event are pitching to serious people who can make a difference to their careers. SO: And I think we’re the only pitch fest that does this-we ask the writers who attend to tell us who they want to meet with, and we invite those companies. So if you want the producers of "Children of Men" to attend, we go after them. We can’t promise, but we do our best to have them there. And they’re pretty receptive to being there when we tell them that people have specifically requested them. JC: Thanks so much for your time, guys, and for putting on a top-flight event. Do you have any parting advice for writers who are going to attend the PitchFest? Other than being a good writer. BS: You can never be too prepared. Although you said aside from being a good writer, that’s critical. But just as critical is selling yourself. You need to know your story. I know a lot of people are nervous. They feel like they’re putting on a performance when they’re doing their pitch. But when you only have five minutes, it’s more about having a good conversation and being yourself. SO: Building a relationship. BS: Yeah. Writers need to know their story well, be comfortable talking about their story, be able to answer questions and have fun. When you’re facing someone who could change your career forever, it’s hard to just kick back and relax, but all things being equal, if the executive has the opportunity to go with a project where they have a good rapport with the writer, they’re going (to do that instead of someone they’re uncomfortable with.) So just be yourself and have a good time. If you have five minutes with somebody, and after 15 seconds they say pass, that doesn’t mean the relationship has to end. If you have a good rapport, somewhere down the line you could just pick up the phone and call this guy because you’ve established a good relationship earlier. SO: People like to work with people they like. I’m about supporting writers. I say go to every event you can, (yes, even our competitors), because you never know when you might meet someone who can help advance your career. It’s all about relationships. BS: And I say buy as many tickets as possible for our event. SO: (laughs) I know I’m totally biased, but our event really is the best one out there. We’ve made it that way. I’ve sat on both sides of the table. I know the frustrations I felt when I went to pitch fests as a producer, and you have to fight to get your parking covered or get some coffee or water, or they don’t tell you the right room to go to. It’s communication and organization, and those are things we’re really good at. We really try to make this rewarding for everyone. BS: Our event ‘sold out’ last year, and ticket sales for this year are already going. The event is still eight months away. I think we’re doing something right. JIM CIRILE is a multi-produced, WGA-member writer/artist/musician and columnist for Creative Screenwriting magazine. He is also the founder of Coverage, Ink, which seeks to provide affordable agency and studio-style coverage to all screenwriters, and the Writers On The Storm Screenplay Competition. |