Dexter's Condo - Miami Fla...

While in vacation in Florida last month, my family and I - being avid DEXTER fans, decided to find the location where they filmed the opening of the show - and the establishing shots of his condo. Using Google and Google maps - it was no problem at all. We typed the address into our trusty GPS and in no time, we were travelling down I-95 towards Miami.

We found the condo - in a working class neighborhood. Typical of where a Police blood splatter analyst might live. As we drove up to the condo, I peeked through the bushes ...


And yes - there it was - DEXTER's Condo!


The plan was to scoot onto the property - grab a few snapshots on the lawn and then beat it out of there.


See? All we had to do was go through that little walkway and we'd be in! (That's me and my son Michael preparing to visit Dexter.)

Why ain't this thing uploading more pictures? Anyhow - if you look over my left shoulder in the lower picture, you'll see a little white sign. It says, "RESIDENTS AND GUESTS ONLY. ALL OTHERS WILL BE DETAINED FOR POLICE".

My guess is that the condo's residents have had enough of sight-seers and want their privacy. They don't care if I only want to take my picture on their lawn. They have people to deal with people like me... So we grabbed our snaps through the bushes, took a couple in the parking lot and went down to South Beach with all the other tourists.

So what does any of this have to do with pitching? Simple...

YOU'RE ON THEIR TURF!

When you're pitching, in an office or at a market, you're in someone else's territory. If you're new - or even if you're an old pro, and they're gracious enough to see you - don't waste their time. Or yours.

Be prepared. Be polite. Respect the rules. Say what you have to say - and get out. Make it short and sweet. By the time they say, "Well, its really great that you've brought this to us...", or "Ahem... Well, I have to get along to my next meeting. Thanks for coming in..." You've overstayed your welcome.

Be concise. Rehearse your pitch - or if you haven't rehearsed it, know exactly what you're going to say, so you're prepared going in. Again, you only get one chance to make a good first impression - and I only get one chance to show my vacation pictures. So there...

KidScreen Summit

The KidScreen Summit - the big children's and family programming conference and market will take place February 10th through 12th at the Hilton in NYC. You can check out their site here.

To quote from their material: "In 2009 the conference welcomed 1,400+ delegates from over 40 countries... Top decision and deal-makers in the kids business attend KidScreen." Obviously, this is where you'd go to pitch your show.

If you're going to attend KidScreen (or even if you're not) and would like to have your pitch reviewed and/or polished, please don't hesitate to contact me. I offer fast turn around and reasonable rates.

I can be reached directly at "steve dot schnier at rogers dot com".
A word to the wise - it's better not to wait until the last minute.

Dressing For Success

We're going to digress a bit from the pitch bibles themselves. It's time for a change of pace. Let's discuss how you present yourself during the pitch, shall we?

"Why?" you ask? You're a creative genius! You're there to present the most fabulous idea that broadcaster or production company has ever seen. Right? Well, its more than that. It's a job interview. They're checking you out to see if they'd actually like to work with you - because if your pitch is as good as you say it is - this could be a very long relationship. And no one likes to work with jerks, losers, etc.

Here's a short story - Many years ago, I had a pretty good business doing logos and simple animation for TV commercials. The largest live-action production house in the country had a deal with the local optical house to do the animation. They in turn, subcontracted everything to me. Sweet, to say the least.

I'd show up every Monday morning, get the assignment, turn the art around and into camera by Thursday morning. Friday was the client screening. Clockwork - and a sweet deal. I had all the major accounts. My reel was state of the art for those pre-historic, pre-compter days.

But the thing was - I could never crack the agencies themselves. I always had to get the work "third-hand". I could never get the assignment directly - not for lack of trying. I was constantly making the rounds to the agencies with my reel. They knew me. They knew the work. They knew that I was reliable. But I never got a single direct agency job.

Then one day, one of the top guys - at the very top agency, told me a secret. He said that I wasn't substantial. I didn't convey the feeling of stability that would make a corporation comfortable in awarding me a job.

I was 29 years old. I owned my first house. I had a cool sports car. And I dressed in ratty jeans and a T-shirt, year round. I was proud of that. I didn't own a suit. I didn't own a sports jacket or even a pair of good pants. Just a vast collection of ratty jeans and T-Shirts. And they were judging me on that.

Frankly, my heart wasn't in doing commercial logos anymore - so I quit the biz and started pitching shows. But I learned something from that incident - you have to look like the kind of person they (meaning the person on the other side of the desk) would have faith in dealing with.

So I started to dress better. I bought my first suit. I got nicer jeans. Sports jackets, ties...

When I was a producer at Nelvana, I always wore a tie. I had dozens of them - ties with funny pictures on them - bad taste of another kind - but I was aware of it, and the impression that I was trying to convey.

Back to the present - and what does this mean to you?

There are a billion other people out there, with ideas that they're trying to pitch. You need every edge, every advantage that you can muster - so why not look your best? Why not take a shower, put on a nice shirt, clean pants and polished shoes - before you go to that pitch? What have you got to lose?

What? You don't own any Armani or Boss? You don't need to spend a lot to look like a million bucks. Walk around the malls. Check out the store windows for the current looks and buy what you can afford. (I was recently in a meeting. The executive asked if he could hang up my coat for me. Don't ya know it - but he checked out the label inside.)

The key items are SHINED SHOES and a crisply pressed shirt. You can pair them with old jeans and it will look great. Your duds don't have to be new - just clean and crisp.

Here's another hint - try a vintage look. Clean retro clothes are a great alternate solution. Every city has vintage clothing stores. If you're lucky enough to be in Toronto - check out OFF THE CUFF Menswear at 5 Broadway Avenue. Two blocks North of Eglinton Ave., just East off of Yonge St. (Tell them that I sent you.)

If you haven't got a clue as to how to put an outfit together, here are a couple of books that I'd recommend: Off The Cuff by Carson Kressley and Esquire Magazine's The Handbook of Style. Buy them, borrow or steal them (or just flip through them at the bookstore).

Or, if you want to be more of an individual - check out The Sartorialist - and read the comments.

Now, if you're a successful producer - with a track record of having pitched and sold a few TV shows - then feel free to ignore this and do your own thing.

Happy New Year Everybody!

Well, I'm back from sunny, glorious Florida - fit and rested after a much needed vacation.
We won't mention the hellish drive back and the 3 hour detour through the snowy backroads of rural Pennsylvania...

On the fun side, the family and I did visit Dexter's apartment while in Miami. As soon as I get the bugs in my computer fixed, I'll post some pictures and explain how all this relates to pitching TV shows.

Hang in there!

Before You Close That Distribution Deal...!

Jerome Courshon over on the Linked In Animation and Film Jobs discussion site has started this topic.

Here's what he has to say: Too many producers & directors don’t know what questions need asking, when talking to distributors. Don’t make that mistake and “fall in love” during courtship... make sure your distributor will be the right one! Then it links to his site that has the usual ins and out - he's selling a course. Here's the link.

Fair enough as far as it goes. But really, it doesn't go far enough, so here's what I've added. Please feel free to suggest a few from your own experiences.

You'll probably be too excited about the deal and will sign your life away - but just in case you're not, here are a few things to check out:

Do your homework:

Does your distributor have a history of optioning projects and then shelving them? Do they have any similar projects on the go? Might your option fee be their way of eliminating competition?

Does your distributor provide accurate annual sales reports?

Does this distributor believe in paying ROYALTIES???
It doesn't matter what your contract says. Unless you have the $$$ and the stones to enforce it in court - they can rob you blind. So ask around - check with other people who have dealt with them - do they pay royalties?

Here's another one:

Does your distributor "get" your project? Do they understand what it's about?

Lemme explain: I don't like baseball.. Not that I don't really like it - I just don't get it. Sure, I understand the rules and how the games played. I even understand some of the subtleties of strategy, but the passion for the game eludes me.

My brother-in-law on the other hand is a baseball fanatic. He visits all the historic parks. He's made the pilgrammidge to Cooperstown. My nephew plays on a rep team. They live and breathe baseball.

Who would you rather have represent your baseball show and pitch it to buyers? The guy who gets it or the guy (who despite his best intentions) doesn't? Talk to your prospective distributors carefully - DO THEY GET IT?

IS IT A GOOD DEAL? Sometimes distributors simply offer crappy deals. I recently got up from a boardroom table, thanked everyone for their time and walked away from a deal. Why? It was a crappy deal. It stunk on ice and only a fool would have taken it. Know when to walk away.

T'is Better To Give...

It's the season of giving - so let's talk about it.

We've all been to events; trade shows, conventions, etc., where as we walk past booths or tables, we stop and pick up free pens and stuff. Right? Everyone does it. We have drawers full of free stuff.

Likewise, when I'm at Sheridan College's Industry Day each year in April - the kids keep foisting demo reels and art samples on me. To be honest, I'm not in a position to hire anyone, so I rarely if ever take a sample. Better that you guys give them out to people who might actually hire you.

But in the pitching process, people often give out things - to entice the person on the other side of the table to take on their projects. If you go into the office of a Broadcast Executive or even a Develpment "executive" - they're filled with really neat treasures. Art, scale models - they invariably wear a cool "crew jacket" - or they did, back in the day.

A few years ago when I was pitching my "Egypt Side Road" movie in Toronto and L.A. - aside from the amazing book that I had made up for the pitches (see the earlier post) - I gave out sample animation cels. Here's a look...


They were gorgeous. 11" X 17" matted on acid free paper. Hand painted with amazing detail that doesn't reproduce here. And they weren't cheap - but because I was trying to promote my movie, I had quite a few made up. And as I quickly discovered - they disappeared fast. (I have a few left that might wind up on eBay at some point. Hint Hint...)

The point is - people started grabbing them because they were way-cool and free. I was getting calls and notes - requests for these great pieces of art - and people were chatting me up. But these people weren't interested in my movie - they were grabbing the art. I remember shipping a couple of these off to some sleaze-ball executives in L.A. - with the packing and insurance... Yeesh.

On another project - I pitched a live action show, where the lead characters drove around in a really amazing custom car. We would have built it full size for the show - but I made an incredibly detailed scale model for the pitch.

When I unveiled it - the Broadcast Exec gasped said, "I want that model." I looked at her across the table and said, "Buy my show - and I'll give you the model." She didn't blink.

I knew that if I didn't hand over the model car - there was no way she'd buy my show. And even if I did - there was still no guarantee that she'd buy my show. I handed it over. She didn't buy my show - and I'm down, one really, really cool model car.

Now days, I go in to pitch with very simple pitches - usually printed on plain paper, very simply bound.

So the point is - if your pitch needs some kind of gimmick to sell it, maybe it's not worth pitching. A truly great idea stands on its own.

You Never Can Tell...

In my experience, you never can tell what is going to happen in a pitch.

I mean, you've done your homework and hopefully the pitch is honed to the point where you have it down perfectly. You've rehearsed it. You have every base covered. You can anticipate every single one of their questions - and...

They hit you with the curveball that you're not expecting. There's always that one last question...

I had a meeting yesterday with a major web carrier about my new show. We'd met before. They not only like my show - they LOVE IT! So here's the curve: Their sales force will have to sell it - and although the numbers are right, they've never seen projected audience numbers as high as I'm forcasting them.

I was ready. I produced my data - the sources are accurate - but they've never seen a show like this. It's an entirely new model. They didn't know what to do with it. They didn't want to let it get away, but they can't justify the cost of the entire series.

So I suggested a pilot. We're going to do 4 episodes - and see what our numbers tell us. This is the ideal way to do a show. No focus groups. No guesswork. We're just going out and doing it.

Which is exactly what happened with Freaky Stories - we did our low budget pilot, that blew everything else away. The following week, we were greenlit for our series...