Attract – “to cause to approach or adhere; such as to pull to or draw toward oneself or itself; to invoke interest.” Our Fiscal Sponsor Carole Dean of From the Heart Productions www.fromtheheartproductions.com always talks to us about developing the pitch. https://fromtheheartproductions.com/the-passionate-pitch/.
Have Unwavering Faith in Yourself
“The key to selling your film to others is your faith. You need to have unwavering faith in yourself, in your film, and faith in your ability to pitch your film.
I have many filmmakers call me for questions and when we’re talking, I often say, “pitch me your film.” They say well I’m not good at pitching, but I will read you what I have, or I will try to give it to you.
This is not what it takes to fund your film. People must hear your enthusiasm, your confidence. You need to learn how to sell your film with your pitch. Don’t miss a good opportunity to pitch your film for any reason.
You want to have total faith in you and your film. If you do not have faith in yourself and in your film, people will feel unsure about you.“
The pitch is very hard for me. I think I have written it a 1,000 times. I have studied how to write it and what to write. But when asked to pitch, I freeze. Or when asked, “What is your story about?” I freeze, or I say something totally dumb. I know the story inside and out. I have been writing it for over twelve years. I should know how to explain it. Even with written notes to memorize, I still get flustered. But, if I gave my pitch the same attention I give to my skating programs, I would have it nailed down and perfected.
With my skating program, I learn every note, the beat, the words and the feel of the music. I do it over and over again until I become one with it. Then because it is such a part of me, I am not afraid to perform it. So perhaps this has been my issue with the pitch. I am not one with it because I honestly don’t trust what I wrote about it. I second guess myself all the time. It is both ridiculous and exhausting. Pitching without confidence is asking for failure. Going out there and saying, “I did my best,” I think people use that line as an excuse to not do better than our best. It’s like a crutch. It is something we can fall back on because truly, we are not ready to stand in front of people and when we screw it up, we say, “Oh, I did my best!” I guess that is supposed to make up for the fact that we were not prepared. The truth hurts. But still desperately needed.
So, I know what I need to do to get prepared. How about you?
THE MEMOIRS OF SUMMER RAY 