Pitching My Book To Hollywood
by
Jeffrey Taylor
Author of A Gentleman Drunk
June 22-24, 2007
My publisher said, "Your book is good enough to be made into a movie". And, I said, "Uh-huh". And, he said, "You need to go to Hollywood to pitch your book". And, I said, "How do I do that?"
So, he said, "There's this festival called Pitchfest where producers and directors get to meet writers. It's like speed dating with producers". So, I said, "What's speed dating?"
So he said, "You know". And, I said, "No, I don't. I'm 56. I never speed dated. I've been married for 20 years. The last time I dated you picked a girl up in a car and brought her flowers and hoped you could have sex if were nice to her". What the hell is speed dating?"
So he said," You stand in line, wait your turn, a bell rings and you go to a table to meet someone who may or may not be in a good mood, who has heard pitches forever and you have to impress him/her within a minute."
And, I said, "No way. I have to meet a total stranger and impress them within 1 minute. Even if I could not that, what happens next?"
So he says, "If they like you they give you their private e-mail address."
I exclaimed, "No lunch. No dinner. No date. An e-mail address."
He says, "Uh-huh".
All joking aside, I found the Pitchfest to be one of the most fascinating events of my life. I got to meet some really great people from the major studios and found them to be generous, open and forthright with ideas and direction. Hopefully, I will get to the next step, which is to write the screenplay or connect with an experienced screenplay writer who can do my book justice.
All in all, there were 400 writers who wanted to meet 90 companies in the Grand Ballroom at the Sheraton Universal. Given the numbers, I got to meet 17 producers over a 6 hour timeframe. Several of them said they wanted to talk further and, yes, I did get some business cards with their contact information.
Although I spent more time in line waiting for the opportunity to pitch than pitch, I met some wannabes who never lost the opportunity to say, "Don't ever give up".
"To Hollywood magic, May It Shine Forever."