I attended a talk with Tim Courtney about pitching.
-My Loneliness is Killing Me
-Dir. Tim Courtney
-Didn’t go to film school. Built portfolio instead
-Applied for funding with Scottish Film Talent Network and was shortlisted, but not selected
-Spent 3 years applying with different projects and getting rejected
-Eventually got approached about a project that had a writer, but no director
-Creative Scotland are looking for directors who have made short films, have an original vision and have made it into specific festivals
-“Actioning” is assigning an actionable verb to each line of dialogue
-Sat down with actors night before shoot and worked out every line
Pitching
-Logline, synopsis, biographies, writer’s statement, director’s statement, tone, cinematography, moodboards, producer’s statement, production schedule, shooting schedule, project budget, cast, confirmed crew (17 pages)
-Pitch document should match aspect ratio of the film
-Used a pitch document and no powerpoint
-Synopsis shouldn’t be plot, but also story. Explain themes
-Know who you’re pitching to. Creative Scotland like character driven, European films
-In your director’s statement, make it clear why you should be the person to direct it and nobody else can do as good a job, even if you also wrote it
-Reference art outside of cinema
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