Workshop: A Tale In Two Minutes—How To Pitch Your Film Idea

November 2, 2018. 10AM to 3PM. Northwest Film Center. $20-$60.

Visit https://nwfilm.org/classes/a-tale-in-two-minutes-how-to-pitch-your-film-idea/

Pitching is part writing, part strategy, part performance … but above all, it’s storytelling. So your pitch simply boils down to telling a good tale, right? If only it were so easy.  Whether you’re proposing a feature, documentary, commercial or other creative project, you need an engaging, suspenseful and tight pitch of 60-120 seconds at the ready.  Like filmmaking, pitching involves knowing your audience (prospective buyer), but it also involves a whole lot more. How the heck can you describe a feature length film in ninety seconds? What do you reveal and what do you not?  How do you avoid getting mired in detail or lost along the way? How do you get your audience excited enough to actually buy your story? We’ll explore all this and more in a high energy, informal, safe and welcoming environment. The material is helpful not just for in-person pitching, but for proposal writing and other forms of marketing.

Topics include:

  • The art & science of storytelling (where Aristotle meets neuroscience)
  • Finding the essential elements of your story
  • Creating an effective log line
  • Writing and structuring your pitch
  • Memorizing vs. telling
  • Engaging your audience
  • Prepping for the unexpected
  • Tools for overcoming performance anxiety
  • And much more

Register one of two ways. Pitching Participants ($60, limited to 12) will be actively guided in working on one or two of their film ideas, receive expert feedback from instructors and may compete for prizes during PITCH FOR THE PRIZE. Observers ($20, limited to 15) will attend the lectures and watch the in-class pitching practices and critiques.

No previous experience is required.  All levels of filmmaking experience are welcome.

Instructors: DAVID POULSHOCK & NANCY FROESCHLE

David Poulshock’s Red Door Films produces corporate films, web videos, documentaries and features, including Wee Sing, the groundbreaking pubic television series.  Nancy Froeschle is a Nicholl Fellowships Winner who has written produced thrillers, dramatic shorts and serialized pilots including Riders and Lake Crescent.

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