Six Tips to Creating a Great Film Pitch, Part 1

I am thrilled to be at Burning Man practicing my film’s new elevator pitch! Since there are no elevators here, it’s my playa pitch.

Have you been working on your film for sometime without creating your pitch? I confess that I have, and last week I nailed it.

Why is nailing your elevator pitch so important?

Because over the course of making your documentary, you will get asked hundreds of times, “What’s your film about?”  And every time you answer that question, you have an opportunity to hone your film’s concept and tone for future viewers. If you can’t connect with your audience now, what makes you think you can in the future?

So…here are six tips to creating a great film elevator pitch.

First, envision your ideal viewer and develop your pitch with that person in mind. In fact, pick someone in your life who represents your film’s target audience. For me, it’s my friend Melissa, who is intelligent, scientific, and secular enough to be slightly jaded. She’s also open-minded.  She represents a big chunk of my intended PBS audience.

Second, recognize what an elevator pitch is NOT. It’s not the first paragraph of your project description for a grant application that drones on about “…a character-driven documentary…blah, blah, blah.” It’s also not a highly-animated pitch for a documentary pitch fest.  It’s a friendly conversation that can be had during an elevator ride.

Third, since elevator rides last 20-40 seconds, keep your elevator pitch to 2-4 lines. That’s it! If your companion is really interested, the conversation will continue.

Fourth, engage your listener by answering their question with a question. For example, let’s say in my case, I’m asked, “What’s your film about?” I would ask, “Well…do you ever feel pessimistic about the state of the world?” Their response creates a bridge from their experience to my film’s take-away message.

Fifth, keep the tone and sentence structure conversational. In the above example, I might follow up to their response with, “Well…my film is about how the future can be much better than most of us have ever imagined possible, even within our lifetime.  It’s called “Visionary,” and I follow the quest of an 83-year-old woman named Barbara Marx Hubbard…She’s considered a futurist and one of the leaders of the consciousness movement, like Deepak Chopra.”

Notice that I threw in “Deepak Chopra” because he’s someone that most people will recognize. Part of being conversational is orienting your viewer with a familiar reference point.

Sixth, memorize your question and follow-up response, and then practice, practice, practice…to the point that these 2-4 lines are always on the tip of your tongue. Your first draft will surely change as you feel into what keeps the conversation a true dialogue rather than a monologue.

This can be the most challenging part for many filmmakers, and it can also be the most rewarding, leading you to connect with this possible future viewer in a profound way.

Stay tuned next week for part 2. I’ll reveal some specific templates for creating a great elevator pitch.