…spoiler alert, putting your script on Craigslist isn’t a good thing.
Hey everyone, Welcome back to another episode of Breakin’ In!
As you can see (and as you’ll soon hear) we’ve changed our whole episode numbering. Now that we’re out on iTunes, it just makes WAY more sense. So from here on out we will actually be in order. Yay us!
Also wanted to throw this out there… as you know I pick music that usually flows with the topic that we’re chatting about that particular week… We started thinking that it might be a really good idea to open it up to YOU, the listeners. Do you have a wicked awesome band that you want to promote? Of course it would be subject to our approval, but we’d love to support the little guy, who’s out there trying to break into the music world. Who knows, right? That’s what the show is all about, right?
So go ahead and email us at breakingingthebiz@gmail.com and we’ll chat about having your band’s music on the show!
Anyway… on to the show, till next week…
or download it here:
Breakin' In! 
I’m so glad you talked more about the pitch fest, and your opinion of them!
When I used to go to monthly screenwriting meetings in Chicago I was always amazed at how many people who hadn’t completed a screenplay were talking about how they were going to the next pitchfest. I always thought it was extremely rude of them to waste so many industry professionals’ time, and could even backfire.
And to this day not a single one of them (as far as I know) has sold a screenplay. (Yes, okay, somebody optioned one… for $200.)
The rule of thumb (with a few exceptions) seemed to be, if you had the money and time to fly to a pitchfest, it was probably because you hadn’t spent the money and time learning how to, and actually writing, a screenplay!
Manny’s experience of getting only two screenplays of the twenty he requested would seem to be proof that this rule of thumb, alas, still applies.
Though I’ve never been to a pitchfest, some of the most fun (and helpful) times I’ve had were at weekend events in downtown Chicago (or Northwestern University in Evanston) where an organization flew in several notable writers (and one great agent I remember) for panel discussions where we LISTENED and LEARNED, then socialized (mostly with our fellow writers) afterwards. And nobody tried to pitch their screenplay!
At the end of the podcast I had a flashback to a long-ago elementary school assembly in the gym, with me and my fellow little kids singing:
It’s a small world after all
It’s a small world after all
It’s a small, small world…
A gem of a show. You answered my question about pitchfests regarding their effectiveness and better yet, how potentially harmful they could be. Thanks, I’ll save my money to schmooze when I get into town and stay with my top down strategy. Maybe you guys can give us your thoughts on script posting services such as InkTip and the recently launched Black List website. Do people in the industry bother to scan these websites?
Hey Glenn!
Glad we could help…totally can talk about those sites. We’ll try to remember to chat about it on the next show!
Thanks for listening!