Chapter 6: Pitching and Selling the Project

A written pitch...

• Also called a proposal, prospectus, or pitch on paper (POP)

• In some cases, it includes a detailed business plan, put together by a professional

POP

Pitch on paper

A verbal pitch...

- A face-to-face, in-person meeting where you get a chance to share your idea, project your confidence and confirm your ability to produce it

Commerce is always involved - profits must be the bottom line whether it comes from...

• Advertisers

• A subscription base

• From an expanding range of other revenue streams

Research everything you can about the person or organization to whom you’re pitching...

• Their current programming

• The company history

• What they’ve paid for similar content

• Other details that tell you if this is the right fit for your project

You want your project to be a comfortable fit with the end users...

• Branding

• Programming schedule

• Public image

• Overall vision

• Financial capabilities

Do your research before you go into a pitch meeting. You want to know their...

• Brand

• Logo

• Mission statement

• Demographics of the audience

• Primary advertisers or subscribers

• Budget range

Make a list of the people you know or the people they might know who could connect you to an insider for a pitch meeting, or an investor who might help fund your whole project or at least its initial development. This list might include...

• Family and relatives

• Friends and colleagues

• Fellow and former students and professors

• Actors

• Writers

• Directors

• Producers

• Lawyers

• Agents

• Managers

• Investment brokers and accountants

• Professors

• Other professional and creative people

Our current media climate involves the gamut of delivery systems and the result is an almost unlimited marketplace...

• TV and its many formats

• The Internet

• Video on demand

• DVD

• Cellular technology

• Portable media players

• Video games

As a producer, your job demands ongoing self-education...

• Finding in-depth technical, creative, legal, and fiscal information

• Researching books and online information and articles

• Talking to producers, professors, and international producers and buyers

• Taking advantage of classroom instruction, and attending professional conferences and seminars that focus on television and new media

The studio traditionally retains ownership of the property and can eventually sell it to...

• Cable

• Syndication

• Other markets

Ideas for programming might...

• Start with the studio’s executives

• Come from independent producers or production companies, packaging agencies or other sources

The popular trend is to adapt American and European hit shows that are packaged and sold as formats to fit...

• Local protocol

• Tastes

• Language

• Subtle change

Major Broadcast Networks...

• By selling your idea to a broadcast network, such as NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, or the CW, you are likely to be well paid because your program reaches an audience of many millions

• Networks are under pressure by advertisers to bring in high audience ratings and to adhere to certain constraints and formulas, so each network has a Standards and Practices department with strict guidelines that dictate parameters for a program’s themes and creative risk-taking

Cable Channels...

• Cable channels such as Discovery, The History Channel, A&E, National Geographic, or MTV are also advertiser-supported, yet tend to have lower production budgets with more creative leeway for the producer

• Ratings play an important role, but they are measured in much smaller increments than those of the networks

• Advertisers tend to create their ads around specific niche interests and demographics; they can object, to or withdraw ad sales if they disagree with programming content

• Cable’s creative latitude allows for storylines that incorporate more sex, violence, and adult content than the networks

Premium Cable Channel...

• Creative control is a key benefit to most producers. You’re more likely to have that control from premium cable channels, like HBO and Showtime

• Their budgets tend to be lower than the networks’, they don’t have advertisers to harness them

• Their subscriber base is a loyal one, and their ratings aren’t as big a concern as they are for the networks

• There are few boundaries on adult content or complex themes

Public television is funded by...

• Individual memberships

• Private corporations

• Grants

• City, state, and/or federal funding

Public Television...

• The traditional role of public television has been to air educational and entertaining programming via independent, noncommercial, local, and national public television stations

• A station can acquire programs that have been independently produced, or it can partially or fully fund and develop a project. Budgets are generally medium to low, and each station adheres to specific standards for the programs it broadcasts

• Many producers find that if their project is aired on a local public television station, it can subsequently be picked up by other local or national stations

Many local stations produce their own programming...

• Children’s shows

• Daytime talk shows geared mostly toward women’s interests and social issues

• Home shopping

• Local weather

• How-to shows

• News

• Traffic

• Information

Most local and regional television stations have limited budgets, and depend primarily on pre-produced programming supplied by...

• Network

• Syndicator

• Producers

• Paid-programming infomercials

VOD...

• VOD, or video on demand, is available everywhere

• You can download thousands of choices directly into an Apple TV or Xbox

• Some viewings are free, and others are inexpensive to rent or buy

VOD

Video on demand

DVD...

• Some programs are the first broadcast on a network or cable station or online, are aired a second, maybe a third time, and then go into syndication or reruns

• Now, entire seasons of most hit shows are repackaged and sold in DVD sets

• These rights may be solely for home video, with other rights belonging to airing online or another repurposing of the material

Production companies might be small, local companies, or larger businesses that are listed in...

• The opening and/or closing credits of a television show

• The Internet

• Variety

• The Hollywood Reporter