Sun, 2025-May-25 21:31 (BST)
Today I got a spam-mail from S32 notifying me of their "Female-Driven Pitchfest". "Yeah, right. A new marketing spin on an old product," I scoffed. Why I continued reading, I don't know. But I did and I saw that one of the execs is looking for TV scripts similar to "Sunny in Philly". I had to admit that this is a freakishly good fit for my sitcom pilot. I also had to think that this would be the only time an exec would ever be requesting this type of script.
I think everyone can see where this is going. Long story short, they tricked me out of thirty five dollars with their slick marketing campaign. And I thought I was too smart to fall for that kind of thing.
Well,
Fingers crossed for you.
doug esper
Why do you feel tricked? Did you not get to pitch or something?
CJ - I feel tricked because I know full well that the odds against a sitcom pilot from an un-repped writer are at least a million to one. And yet I allowed myself to be seduced by marketing that implies that the odds are far better than that. There really should be fine print at the bottom of the ad saying, " No-one has actually ever succeeded with one of these pitches".
I do think people have gotten meetings from the pitches. I think at least one writer has optioned/sold a script, as I was brought in to potentially rewrite it LOL
So you're telling me there's a chance.
Lance, I literally laughed-out-loud. Great old pull.
The Blackli$t
$tage32
Nicholl$
Virtual Pitchfe$t
Roses by any other name
About 7 years ago I had an agent from a new company formed by a big (BIG, like, in the running for Bond) UK actor 'optioned' my script for a pilot.
Was written and marketed as 'Ballers - but boxing'.
When I was approached, they told me their buyer was specifically looking for sports based material.
I won't say who they were but globally they were probably the 3rd biggest streaming player 7 years ago.
During a one month period I was told - it's being passed around 'in house'.
They soon pass and the line from the agent was 'they are not looking for sports based material right now'
Maybe they pitched at the wrong end of a studio pivot or managment change - or it was BS and their snake oil hunch, was misplaced.
3rd option - script sucked and they were so embarrassed to tell me how bad it was, that was the best get out.
However, throughout the whole process, I was very flattered and my dopamine levels were high.
Jay.
Footnote:
Not the first or last time this has happened in similar circumstances, but every time I get in the door and subsequently thrown out - I take pride in the fact that I breached their security with no apparent consequences, other than a few, quickly repairable dents in my pride.