FREE Screenwriting Classes June 23-24, Sheraton Universal

Bob Schultz · May 30, 2007

Hello!

This year's Great American Pitchfest promises to be our best one yet. It will feature:

80-100 companies hearing pitches.
Breakfast, lunch, and cocktails with Execs.
REAL decision makers who can change your career.

And this year: FREE screenwriting classes.

Yes, free. Nada. Zip. Zilch. These classes are a gift to the screenwriting community in the interest of developing more great writers and to further the screenwriting craft.

On Saturday, June 23, you are invited to attend FREE classes with speakers such as:

Pilar Alessandra (Script Consultant, On The Page)
David Freedman (Agent, Hollywood View)
Michael Hauge (Author, Selling Your Screenplay in 60 Seconds)
Karl Iglesias (Author, 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters)
Viki King (Author, How to Write A Movie in 21 Days)
Ellen Sandler (Emmy Nominee & Co-Exec Producer, Everybody Loves Raymond)
Dr. Linda Seger (Author, Making Good Scripts Great)
Blake Snyder (Screenwriter & Author, Save The Cat)
Kathie Fong Yoneda (Former Exec with Disney & Author, The Script Selling Game)
And more!

Then on Sunday, June 24, bring your scripts, and TV and movie ideas to the fourth Great American Pitchfest, where you will have the chance to pitch to as many as 100 companies! Take meetings with the execs, companies, and creative talent who brought you Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Brokeback Mountain, “House MD,” “The X-Files,” “The Simpsons,” Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, “The Amazing Race,” “ER,” The Ring, Lethal Weapon, Real Women Have Curves, “Everybody Loves Raymond,” Shrek, Anchorman, Sweet Home Alabama, Friday the 13th, The Godfather, Alien, and more!

In celebration of the Writers Store’s 25th anniversary, all friends of Absolute Write are entitled to a $10 gift certificate if they sign up for The Great American Pitchfest by June 10th at www.pitchfest.com. As an added bonus, registration for the Great American Pitchfest guarantees seating in the Storylink All-Stars free classes. Seating for the Storylink All-Stars is first-come, first-served for all non-Great American Pitchfest participants.

Register now for $250 (Regular Rate $350) at www.pitchfest.com , or attend the classes for free. But don’t miss this opportunity to learn from the best, or to meet with some of the most successful companies in the businesses.

Every year, participants of the Great American Pitchfest sell their screenplays, get hired for writing assignments, or sign with agents or managers. We have dozens of success stories. You could be next! Make this your year for screenwriting success - be your own protagonist!

For more details, visit www.pitchfest.com
or call 1-877-255-2528 for more info.

Sincerely,

Bob Schultz
Executive Director
The Great American Pitchfest
The Great Canadian Pitchfest
www.pitchfest.com

Rainy Night · May 30, 2007

Bob Schultz said:
As an added bonus, registration for the Great American Pitchfest guarantees seating in the Storylink All-Stars free classes. Seating for the Storylink All-Stars is first-come, first-served for all non-Great American Pitchfest participants.

I heard about this a couple of weeks ago and thought about making the pilgrimage from Phoenix to LA until I read the above line... this is a fairly well attended event so unless you want to shell out the $$$ you risk not getting into the *free* classes.

Nothing against the organizers of either of these worthy events, just buyer beware, you get what you pay for, even if it's free.

Bob Schultz · May 30, 2007

It's True...

... we are limited by the number of seats in the room. I am one of the organizers of the event, and I wish we could afford to rent the Hollywood Bowl to maximize the number of people who can attend.

I understand not wanting to take the chance, but I also want to assure you, Rainy Night (and all others) that the Great American Pitchfest is a tremendous opportunity to network, find representation, or even sell a script.

I'm happy to stick around and answer questions for all who have them. Let 'er rip here, or feel free to email me directly: bob (at) pitchfest (dot) com.

Thanks for your interest, Rainy Night! If we don't see you this year, maybe at GAPF5. At the very least, Keep On Writing!

Rainy Night · May 30, 2007

Thanks to responding to my concerns and I in no way want to discourage people from attending, I would if I had the $$$, I just wanted to point out the above so people who wanted to attend could plan accordingly.

Good luck and continued success and maybe I will see you at #5.

jonpiper · May 30, 2007

Bob, will I have any problem getting into the event to take advantage of the free classes, if I don't pay to register? I have nothing to pitch yet, just want to mingle and see what it's all about even if the classes are full.

Thanks

Bob Schultz · May 30, 2007

Hi Jon!

If you're just looking to mingle, network, get the lay of the land, you are more than welcome! We aren't expecting much in the way of a trade show or anything, but we encourage everyone to come on out, try to get into the free classes if you want, chat up other writers, and so on. Writing can be very isolating, and the chance to meet others is one of the most valuable fringe benefits of an event like ours.

In past years, writing partnerships have been established, writers groups, too, and some friendships.

Please come on out and mingle! Hang out in the hotel bar. Many writers do, to the surprise of practically nobody!

Thanks for your question, and I look forward to seeing you there!

NikeeGoddess · May 30, 2007

Bob - have you ever considered giving travelers a break? i know they do it for NYC events. $250 or $350 is not too much to ask for locals but to fly to LA and book a hotel costs the rest of us 3 times as much money.

aside from the expense:
the networking is great but you can't be a shy wallflower. the pitching is a great way to learn that you either have it or you don't... or you can lie to yourself (and others) and continue to write. but i don't think it accomplishes more than that. no one takes scripts. they listen to as many as 100 pitches/day and some of those representatives are low level readers or interns who stepped in because the bigwigs had something better to do that day.

and those free classes - i hope you have one on pitching b/c i've met so many writers who have no idea how to pitch... and i've met quite a few professionals with conflicting styles of pitching that many get confused.

Bob Schultz · May 30, 2007

Hi NikeeGoddess!

I agree about not being a wallflower, though I don't necessarily agree that nobody takes scripts. I personally had scripts accepted at this event before I came on board as an Executive Director. I also found my first representation, and my first option directly from the GAPF and GCPF, and got my first writing assignment (for pay!) from a contact I made at the GAPF. I continue to get some coverage work and other writing work from contacts cultivated from the GAPF and GCPF.

Do you have to cultivate relationships you make there? Yes. But to say that nobody ever takes scripts is (delightfully!) untrue. If the exec is interested, at worst he'll tell you to send it to him through email, or through your agent or lawyer so that everything is above board.

The expense for out-of-towners is a tough nut to crack. We really can't afford to reduce the price, though we do fight with the hotel to get reduced prices (with varied degree of success). Curiously, a very large majority of our customers are from out of town. They figure that they need to make these contacts, and it's easiest if they're all in the same place at the same time, I suppose.

The free classes are one effective way to attract locals, we figured. Anyone coming from out of town would be likely to buy a pass to the GAPF, so they'd be guaranteed seating, and the locals could come spur of the moment. I don't mean to imply out-of-towners are unwelcome! All are welcome, but maybe we didn't consider fully the plight of out-of-towners who want only the free classes. You can still book one-on-one consultations through our website, and if you change your mind while there, you can buy a Pitchfest Pass on site, and immediately be guaranteed seating in all remaining classes.

We also make every effort to assure that companies send execs who can actually make decisions. I hear your frustrations with other pitching events. I've shared them. I, and everyone involved with putting on the GAPF, are all writers first. We simply create a Pitching Event that we would want to attend ourselves, and the pieces fall right into place.

Lastly, we do, indeed offer classes on pitching. Four of them in fact! Full class descriptions can be found at http://www.pitchfest.com/class_descriptions.shtml.

Thanks for your input, Nikee! I hope I addressed your concerns. If we can't see you in June, please think about GAPF5 next year. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. And feel free to post here or email me directly with any more questions.

- Bob.

NikeeGoddess · May 30, 2007

I hear your frustrations with other pitching events.

you're assuming i'm talking out of frustration. and assuming that it's other pitch fests that i'm talking about. i'm not on both accounts. i have had some success but i had to stick around town for a couple of days after the event.

and you can say you assure that only real decision makers attend but i know that it's impossible for you to do so. sorry to spit on your announcement but i'm speaking from the truth of my own experience as well. i'm much more objective than you could ever be.

and without seeing your financial statements there is nothing you could say that would make me think you couldn't reduce the price. even so, i believe there is great value in attending and making contacts it's still quite expensive for out of towners. many have to drop atleast $1000 to attend. if you can't multi-task while you're out there then the value goes down.

Bob Schultz · May 31, 2007

I'm sorry you didn't have a great experience with us, Nikee. I hope one day you'll give us another chance.

Joe Calabrese · May 31, 2007

Hey Bob and welcome.

Thanks for the heads up on the event. Although there's tons of wannabee writers who couldn't pitch there way out of a paper bag and/or have stories so lame that it is a waste of time for those hearing it, there have been success stories and that gives us all hope. Keep it up.

I do agree with Nikee in the respect of giving out-of-towners a break.

How about doing one in NYC and soon?

Just a thought to pitch to ya.

I've always had the idea of seeing a Great ALL AMERICAN Pitchfest, by setting up various video conferencing kiosks across the country in various cities (NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, etc...) and link in to the the hotel in L.A so people can pitch. Or for those with video on their computer can log in and pitch in the comfort of their home-- for a nominal fee per pitch -- of course.

I would be glad to help out in planning/organizing either a NYC event or talk about the logistics of doing a nation wide video feed.

Joe

Plot Device · May 31, 2007

Joe Calabrese said:
I've always had the idea of seeing a Great ALL AMERICAN Pitchfest, by setting up various video conferencing kiosks across the country in various cities (NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, etc...) and link in to the the hotel in L.A so people can pitch. Or for those with video on their computer can log in and pitch in the comfort of their home-- for a nominal fee per pitch -- of course.

This would not only be helpful to the writers, but also to the execs who are hearing pitches. By having a dual festival simultaneously in both NY and LA, and linking them via video conferencing, you can have twice as many execs, and it will even further enhance/enable the selective preferences of some execs who only want to entertain pitches from specific genres. So a West Coast guy who wants to pitch a horror script can focus on those exces from both coasts who are willing to entertain horror pitches. Ditto for the guy with a comedy script. I think everyone would win with such a scenario.

Plot Device · May 31, 2007

Joe Calabrese said:
I would be glad to help out in planning/organizing either a NYC event or talk about the logistics of doing a nation wide video feed.

Joe

And, Bob, Joe is NOT blowing smoke out of his butt here. He really will do it. And he'll do it in spades.

Bob Schultz · May 31, 2007

Hi Joe!

Sorry to have been away from the forum all day. We have been throwing around the idea of some kind of Video Conferencing for a long time, but lacked the expertise. I'd love to discuss this with you more. Could you email me directly?

bob (a) pitchfest (dot) com.

Anyone else is welcome to email questions as well. I'll continue to check in here periodically as well.

FREE Screenwriting Classes June 23-24, Sheraton Universal

Bob Schultz

Rainy Night

INFJ

Bob Schultz

Rainy Night

INFJ

jonpiper

Bob Schultz

NikeeGoddess

Bob Schultz

NikeeGoddess

Bob Schultz

Joe Calabrese

Plot Device

A woman said to write like a man.

Plot Device

A woman said to write like a man.

Bob Schultz