ABOUT PITCHING:

You can have the best idea in the world for a movie or a TV-series, but it really doesn’t matter if nobody is
interested in reading your script.

Pitching is a great tool to get others interested in an idea or a project. That is actually the whole idea behind
presenting at M:brane in Malmö.

When you are on the stage at M:brane you will have 5 minutes (10 min if it is work-in-progress) to present
your project and another 5 min for Q&A.

I look forward to helping you to make the best possible pitch for your project. You will get two half-hour
Skype sessions with me, where we will work together, so you are ready to pitch your project in front of
investors and co-producers in Malmö.

As a warm-up to our first session, I have written some suggestions below on how to pitch your idea in five
minutes.

The following suggestions are mostly based on pitching a feature film or a TV-series. But hopefully they can
inspire you to make a first draft of your pitch, even if your project is a little different, so we have something
to work with when we have our first skype-meeting.

THE CONTENT IN A PITCH:

Don't try to cram the whole story or universe down into a five-minute pitch. Pitching is not about explaining
everything. Your job is to communicate your idea in such a way, that the investor wants to know more, thus
getting a meeting. So, try to include only those elements that best convey the idea.

If you can make the audience fell something, your chances to get interest in the project has just doubled.

You may have some beautiful images, designs or interesting locations, which is all fine. It will help your
project to stand out. But don’t spend a lot of time on explaining the look. Use it instead as a natural
backdrop for you slides.

Because your best bet to get an emotional response from your audience is through your characters.

You should typically concentrate on the protagonist if it is a movie or the main team if it is a series. Because
there is rarely room to delve into all the other secondary characters in just five minutes.

Ask yourself the following questions and see if you can get it into your pitch:

- How can you introduce the protagonist, so your audience feel and identify with him/her/them?

- How is your protagonist's or team’s situation at the beginning of the movie before the story starts?

- What happens to your protagonist that initiates the story?

- What new opportunities or obstacles does it provide?

- How does this turn his/her everyday life upside down?

- What specific desires or fears grow out of this new situation? In other words, what is the goal, which
we should hope the main character/team reaches at the end?
 - Which obstacles must the hero overcome to reach the goal? Again, don't try to tell EVERYTHING.
Typically, 3 of the biggest obstacles, that the protagonist meets are enough. Use those obstacles that
develop the protagonist the most.

- What does the protagonist/team learn from this journey? How do he/her/they grow?

- It's a matter of taste whether you want to reveal the ending or not! Is your story so exciting that the
investors are sitting on the edge of the chairs to hear the ending? Then it is tempting to let them pay
you to write it down. Conversely, the end can mean so much to the character of the story that it
seems empty not to tell it. Here you must feel for yourself.

- Who are you making this project for? Who is your target group? And why do you think it will appeal
to them?

You may not have all of the above ready at this stage. But the approach illustrates how you can - and should
- cut to the bone of the idea.

THE COCKTAIL PITCH FORMULA:

When I pitch, I often use the following formula as a skeleton for a presentation.

I call it the “The Cocktail Pitch Formula”, because when you are mingling at an industry cocktail party and
meet a potential investor, you have about 5 minutes to pitch your project, before the investor is distracted
by someone else.

It goes like this:

Opening (How I came up with this...)

What if a... (main character)

And everyday... (normal world)

But then... (Point of attack)...

So now he/she/they must/wants... (project)

or else... (bad consequence if it doesn't happens)...

But, but, but... (3 Beats/Obstacles)

Until finally... (Climax/moment of truth)

I call this ... (Project name) and it is a … (feature/series/cross-media) that is aimed at… (target group), who
will love it because... (what’s the appeal)

PREPARING THE PITCH:

Practice!
Once you have your pitch in place, practice again and again. Try it on anyone who wants to listen to you –
including me off course. The reactions will tell you if there are weak or unclear points that need to be
corrected in your pitch.
Check the time!
You only have 5 minutes. So, check with a stopwatch that your pitch is not too long. And do it a couple of
times. It is very stressful if your run out of time and the moderator starts waving at you, while you are
standing on the podium and are pitching your heart out.

PRESENTING THE PITCH:

Think positive!
It's natural to be a little nervous. Everybody is nervous. The butterflies in your stomach helps you to give a
great presentation. Keep in mind that it is your idea that needs to be judged, not how nervous you are.
There has never been an investor who said no to a great project because the one who presented it was
nervous.

Don't read from the page!

You may want to rely on notes when pitching. But don't read it out! Your pitch becomes stiff and impersonal.
Instead, know your pitch so well that you can tell it naturally and personally.

One trick is to only write headlines and key words in your notes. Then you are not tempted to read up but
are "forced" to pitch in your own words.

Show your passion!

This is probably the most important point. The whole idea of pitching an idea, instead of submitting it as a
document, is that it allows you to show how you feel about your idea. You cannot expect others to get
excited about your story if you are not yourself. Show why it's important to you to tell it!

Keep in mind that enthusiasm is infecting!

And remember to enjoy the journey!

Looking forward to meeting you soon!

All the best

Thomas Borch Nielsen