NeoRutty's drunk and pitching TV/Movie ideas - Pitch Packages!

Re: NeoRutty's drunk and pitching TV/Movie ideas... which he will then try to sell.

I don't have to be drunk.

Totally making this crap up right now......

A ghost dog cop on ghost planet encounters a talking robot human that is from
the real world of the living. sent to warn him that spiritual warriors are going to destroy ghost planet so there are no more
ghosts on earth causing trouble. The ghost world plans to defend itself from the living world by destroying it with ghost armies.
However the robot human is owned by a sentient female dog that actually run earth and the ghost dog cop falls in love with her
and they vow to work to save both worlds.

Acted entirely by actors in "furries" costumes.

Nick Cage will guest star of course.


Better than Cop Rock or Super Train right?
 
Re: NeoRutty's drunk and pitching TV/Movie ideas... which he will then try to sell.

Well I haven't watched either of those shows... but SOUNDS better, heh.

I drunk wrote an episode of my series last night cuz I had this HILARIOUS idea I didn't want to forget.

Looked at it today and it's not even remotely funny.

Funny how that happens...

I'm not even going to write what it was.. cuz I tried and it's so unfunny I had a hard time explaining the concept.
 
Re: NeoRutty's drunk and pitching TV/Movie ideas... which he will then try to sell.

Even the best probably tossed away plenty the next day.


We must remember the past or be condemned to repeat it............


 
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Re: NeoRutty's drunk and pitching TV/Movie ideas... which he will then try to sell.

Ha, I forgot all about Supertrain! I love how the intro is less than two minutes long but feels more like ten.

NeoRutty, do you ever remember your dreams? I use to keep a pad and pen by the bed and try to write down anything I could remember as soon as I woke up. It would mostly end up being gibberish but every once in awhile, I'd get something that was almost interesting. Almost.
 
Re: NeoRutty's drunk and pitching TV/Movie ideas... which he will then try to sell.

Ha, I forgot all about Supertrain! I love how the intro is less than two minutes long but feels more like ten.

NeoRutty, do you ever remember your dreams? I use to keep a pad and pen by the bed and try to write down anything I could remember as soon as I woke up. It would mostly end up being gibberish but every once in awhile, I'd get something that was almost interesting. Almost.


My dreams almost never make sense, but I've twice dreamt concepts I've outlined.

One was a dark rom-com called "Free Pass" about a woman who gives her fiance a "free pass" card to sleep with one girl after she's caught cheating on him. 20 years into their perfect meeting a girl moves in next door she's convinced he has a connection to, and so tries to get him to use his free pass on someone else, fearing if he uses it on the neighbor girl, she'll lose him forever.

The fact it took so many words to explain the concept is not a good sign it's a solid idea...


The other is something I'm writing with my writing partner called "BLIND" - A fantasy type flick...

I can't really go into that one cuz it's optioned and I've signed NDA's... Some companies don't take NDA's seriously and you can just blab on and on with nobody caring... other times, like with this company, they get really mad.

I once broke an NDA and got threatened with lawsuits and yelled at for 40 mins... I'm more careful now!

Anywho... later this week I should write up that thing on pitching... cuz pitching is fun... and a nightmare... I'm both really good at it, and REALLY AWFUL. It's like stand up comedy... really easy to bomb.
 
Re: NeoRutty's drunk and pitching TV/Movie ideas... which he will then try to sell.

How about a show about a diverse group of people stranded on an island working together and they never get rescued, oh wait,
That's been done... twice. ;)

Ok, two cops that grudgingly get along but through hardship eventually learn to hate each other. Nevah been done before!
 
Re: NeoRutty's drunk and pitching TV/Movie ideas... which he will then try to sell.

Yeah every idea's been done... WAY too many times.

So you gotta make up for it with a better take! Better dialogue... better characters.

I'm not saying I can do that... but it's fun trying!


Speaking of ideas being done too many times.... starting to get builds from "Master of Castles" in...

I'm not really supposed to be showing stuff, but ehhhh... whatever. When I first got into animation I liked it when people were open about the process of making their shows. While I'm not exactly making "Rick and Morty" or "Archer" I'll keep posting steps if it's of any interest to anyone...

Then if this whole thing ends up being a train wreck, you'll get a look at how it all went wrong!

My lead animator took my sketch and built it into a character he can work with... We don't have a huge budget for this, so we have to sacrifice certain design elements for the sake of easy/fast animation...

thumbnail_bronan test.jpg


So now I'll write up MY notes, and send it back.

It's cool when it get's the point in the process where other people start getting creatively involved.
 
Re: NeoRutty's drunk and pitching TV/Movie ideas - First artwork is in!

Artwork continues to come in on my drunken Friday idea....

promo 2.png


Still meaning to put together that post on pitching! Just been stupid busy, and my drunken stoned nights have been less creative and more just binge-watching Parks and Rec.

I've also gone after a minor youtube celeb to be part of this series... and there's a spark of interest.

Should it happen, I'll post about it! However, I just remembered I have a thread for my companies animation, so I'll likely post there and save this thread for truly bad drunken ideas... as was the original intent.
 
Re: NeoRutty's drunk and pitching TV/Movie ideas - First artwork is in!

Well it's the point of the thread afterall...


So here's the sitch... it's Sunday, so I've had a bucket of margaritas. I make them myself, btw, here's the recipe:

1/2 a can of frozen lime juice concentrate
4 shots of tequila
2 shots of triple sec
dump a bunch more tequila in for kicks.
Fill half the blender with ice and hit go.

Now pour that into a giant snake mug (like Craig Ferguson used) and get to drunken town

hqdefault.jpg

That's what I drink out of... my wife found me one...

I don't know where this post was going cuz I got caught up in 30 minutes of looking up pictures of this mug and seeing if you can still buy them (LOT of crappy knock offs out there... worse than the knock off I got)

Anyway, Rick and Morty just finished downloading so I'm gonna watch that instead of whatever I was going to do here.

Cheers.
 
Re: NeoRutty's drunk and pitching TV/Movie ideas... which he will then try to sell.

@NeoRutty, I don't know about everyone else but as someone who has written stories and synopsis for many years I would be really interested in finding out exactly HOW you pitch an idea to a tv channel.

What form does a 'pitch' take; written synopsis?, story-boarded?, live-presentation?
And who do you submit ideas to; production company execs? broadcasters? financiers? theatrical agents?


FINALLY, my post on pitches.

I have some down time at work right now, so figured I'd procrastinate from doing things I SHOULD do on down time, and instead post on the RPF.

So as far as pitches go, I'll use the question to streamline my thoughts...


What form does a 'pitch' take; written synopsis?, story-boarded?, live-presentation?

Every pitch is different, but all have the same basic info, just different ways of presenting it.

For example!

SERIES PITCH PACKAGES (Toy Hunters Example)

When I do my own, or help out on another, I always like to have a pitch package that includes:

- Series logline

One or two line description of the series.

- Series synopsis


Paragraph explaining the series characters/themes

- Main Character bios with Character designs

ToyHunters_team_lineup-names.jpg

Toy Hunters.jpg

Pretty obvious

- 6 Episode Springboards

Brief episode descriptions

- Sample script

Usually the pilot...

- A One Sheet poster with the characters


ToyHunters_poster_final.jpg

Like you would see in a magazine promoting...

I would put these all in one PDF.

At this point it can then be mailed to studios looking for content, or if you go to a pitch festival, you can hand them out.

For "Toy Hunters" we had enough interest that the company that optioned it gave my money to put together a Trailer, which we are currently working on. We'll then bring that trailer to a pitch venue like "kidscreen" and show it on an iPad... or if someone takes a printed pitch package or responds to an emailed PDF package and contacts us, we can email them the trailer.

Toy Hunters2.jpg

Powerglove.png

In most cases, if you want to do a pitch like this, it's gonna come out of your own pocket... I was lucky in this case because I managed to get it optioned by a production company who paid for it themselves. However, they get a cut if sold.

And the way I got them to buy the option is I pitched everything above, but without the artwork. They paid for the artwork and the printing etc.

IMG_0159.JPG

Next! Pitching short films!






IMG_0159.JPG


ToyHunters_team_lineup-names.jpg


Toy Hunters.jpg


ToyHunters_poster_final.jpg


Toy Hunters2.jpg


Powerglove.png
 
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I'm day drunk! So thought of this thread!

here's a weird update...

So tomorrow I fly to Miami for an IN PERSON for a requested (by them) pitch session with Netflix... I can't believe I got in a room with these guys!

So any of you out there ever curious how this kind of thing goes, STAY TUNED!


Super excited... life comes at you pretty fast.
 
I know the question is old-- but in my experience the form of a pitch changes a lot depending on the format, the audience, and how long you have, and who you're pitching to. When I pitched a TV show to Netflix it was a long process. I had one-pade simple concept pitch that I threw to a production company to gauge interest. When they were in, I expanded it to 10 pages.

Once they were locked in, it became a verbal 30 minute pitch, and leave behind 20 page booklet full of pretty images that we took to a studio. Once the the studio bought it, they had their notes, and their preferred way of pitching to Networks. We ended up with a version for going to broadcast, and a version for Netflix and Amazon and Hulu.

The movie I'm doing now I got after a 3 page treatment. The last one I did required a 15 page step by step outline before they went ahead with things. It truly varies.

It's kind of like tailoring your resume to better fit potential employers.
 
I know the question is old-- but in my experience the form of a pitch changes a lot depending on the format, the audience, and how long you have, and who you're pitching to. When I pitched a TV show to Netflix it was a long process. I had one-pade simple concept pitch that I threw to a production company to gauge interest. When they were in, I expanded it to 10 pages.

Once they were locked in, it became a verbal 30 minute pitch, and leave behind 20 page booklet full of pretty images that we took to a studio. Once the the studio bought it, they had their notes, and their preferred way of pitching to Networks. We ended up with a version for going to broadcast, and a version for Netflix and Amazon and Hulu.

The movie I'm doing now I got after a 3 page treatment. The last one I did required a 15 page step by step outline before they went ahead with things. It truly varies.

It's kind of like tailoring your resume to better fit potential employers.


Yeah my producer went to them with a pitch package 6 months ago and we heard nothing. Pretty much considered it a wash and had another studio jump in with a letter of intent to produce should we get the rest of our funding.

As we were putting our proposal together Netflix jumped in saying they're very interested.

I'll know more in a day or so when I meet with my producer and get the low down how we're handing the in person. I'm pretty decent pitching in a room, so I'm not worried on that end, but I'm VERY aware how fast this can fall apart.

BUT... regardless... it'll be fun to pitch to them, and I have a week at "Kidscreen" (kid show pitch fest) that I'm staying in Miami for to hang out with some other creators I haven't seen in years.

Should be fun.

Shmoozing at parties is one of the main industry perks.

Interested in hearing more about your project as it goes on... feel free to jump in this thread if it doesn't screw with your NDA's....

You don't even have to be drunk! (I'm currently sobered up, but looking to change that real quick as I just got home)
 
I am soooooo wrapped up with NDAs...

I’m doing a pilot for a childhood hero and his compny soon. A very RPF-known director. I’m dying to share/brag but contracts take forever.

Good luck with your project!
 
Resurrecting this thread for updates! And maybe a follow along...

So I got a little side tracked and didn't really get into what happened with Netflix and our pitch in Miami. It was an interesting meeting, where my Producer and co-creator were high-fiving eachother after. They figured they sold the show. I thought they were crazy.

"You two can NOT read a room"

The lady we met with was one of the tops, and she immediately went after how it felt like Stranger Things. Well we had the show put together before anyone even heard of Stranger Things, but we had kids on bikes, and that was enough, heh.

So I'm taking a break from that show to retool it to be LESS Stranger Things - crazy cuz that's what got us in the room in the first place.

But since I try to give an idea or share experiences how I sell pitches/get work... here's what's happened in just the last couple of days...

So years ago I made a short series called "City in Crisis"... it was mostly played on youtube, but we got on Adult Swim as well... Which caught the attention of a producer in LA. She contacted me to pitch her shows and I sold her our He-Man/Game of Thrones parody, "Master of Castles"...

Master of Castles turned out to be a nightmare production that while it didn't turn out exactly as I wanted (mostly due to money and having to hire all junior animators) it got done, and did it's run on the platform VRV.

Well a couple of days ago they uploaded the pilot to youtube.


Yesterday I got contacted by a company making a show for Adult Swim to write for them. So I now have to collect samples from all these little shows I've worked on over the years and see if I can land a gig writing 22 minute adult comedy scripts.

THANK. GOD.

I've been trying to get on a 22 minute show for YEARS.

The nice thing is, they contacted me... I just have to not screw it up.

This is why you work on everything and anything offered to you. I have a screenwriter wannabe friend who is constantly on me for taking crap jobs for little to no money... But that's what you gotta do to get work. Just do your best and hope it attracts the next thing.

While all this is going on I'm starting work on a new children's show pitch I'll start putting up here... and kinda be transparent (where I can) about how the pitching goes and what works, didn't.

I can say now I called up and pitched it to a producer I've worked with in the past. He immediately shot it down, but he always does that, heh. Still working on it.
 
NeoRutty man, that “Master of Castles” is amazing. I can’t believe that’s not an Adult Swim show. I watch a lot...and I mean A LOT...of Adult Swim stuff, and that would fit in perfectly.

I’ve got no idea what VRV is, but I’m going to check it out on my days off this coming week.

***EDIT***
Never mind, I just watched them all. Loved it. Just great.
 
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NeoRutty man, that “Master of Castles” is amazing. I can’t believe that’s not an Adult Swim show. I watch a lot...and I mean A LOT...of Adult Swim stuff, and that would fit in perfectly.

I’ve got no idea what VRV is, but I’m going to check it out on my days off this coming week.

Same here, lots of Adult Swim viewing.
Agreed.
Good n bloody too! LOL
 
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