The first thing you need to do is to determine the type of story you would like to pitch. By this I mean, what genre does your idea fall into?
Is it a comedy, horror, romance, drama, action, thriller or sci-fi story? Or, is it something completely different like a reality TV show?
Whatever the genre, it’s important to know this because it will ultimately determine how (and who) to pitch your idea to.
Write Your Pitch
This is a fundamental part of the process when it comes to constructing your pitch and turning it into a great idea. You need to work on creating a pitch that is appealing and attractive. How do you do this?
Having worked as a producer for many years now, the most successful clients that I’ve worked with have all been able to create pitches that are exciting and interesting.
The key to creating an interesting pitch is to develop a solid logline or paragraph that will deliver the basic premise about your idea and hook the reader into wanting to know more.
Timing
Like anything in life, timing is crucial to becoming successful and making the most of a situation. The same is true when it comes to pitching a movie or TV show.
What I mean by timing is this? There are certain times when horror movies or romance movies or dramas are more popular in Hollywood.
If you know what is popular, and can pitch a story in a popular genre, then you can take advantage of timing and increase the odds of getting a greenlight on your pitch.
In order to know what is hot and trending, try checking out current theater programs and movies/TV shows in development. You can do this by using trade publications and even IMDB (which is a great place for Hollywood related information).
Target Your Pitch
Just like a sniper needs to hit his target, you too need to pitch your idea to the right producer or studio. You can find out the names of companies and producers to approach via your own research.
(Alternatively, Hollywood Pitcher can connect you with over 4050 producers, production companies and studios—all at the click of a button).
Create a Treatment
Now, you’ve sent out your pitch for your idea and you’ve started to get some serious interest back from producers and production companies. That’s great news!
Now for the next step. You will need to have a treatment of your idea that goes into more detail describing exactly what happens in your story (each character, plot-point and dramatic turn).
A treatment is usually a couple of pages long, and it’s important to make sure that you take the time to write a good solid treatment that really generates interest in your story idea.
Making the Sale
When it comes time to sell your idea, you will need the services of an agent or entertainment lawyer to negotiate the contract and payment.
Don’t worry about this point too much until you’re actually in the process of making a sale.
Now, here’s what’s useful to know. An agent will usually take around 10% commission for selling an idea for a client. However, an entertainment lawyer is incredibly experienced when it comes to negotiating contracts, and they’ll take a smaller fee than the agent too.
This is something to consider.
There are advantages, however, to using an agent. For instance, an agent can help guide your career and act as a caretaker and adviser and negotiator on your behalf.
But as mentioned before, there’s no need to worry too much about this stage until you’re at a point where you’re about to sell your idea.
Maintain Connections
Networking is always important. Once you’ve sold your idea, I highly recommend that you keep good relations with executives and producers that you deal with.
This will make it even easier to sell another idea at some point in the future to the same people, or to people in their extended network.
Katy Thomas has worked as a producer for the past seven years in Hollywood. A cinephile since she was a child, Katy loves reading, writing and all things movies. She is one of the co-founders of Hollywood Pitcher, a company that can help you connect your movie/TV idea to over 4050 producers and studios.