Regular scriptchat members have often heard me sing my pimp praises for the Great American Pitchfest. Not only do I have deep love for its creative team, Signe Olynyk and Bob Schultz, but also for the event itself. In my personal experience of pitching, it is indeed one of the most well run events and opportunities a screenwriter has to access producers, agents and managers.
This year's Great American PitchFest is a two-day event on June 26 & 27, and will be held at the Burbank Marriott Hotel & Convention Center. The Saturday is a full day of free classes, and anyone who wishes to attend is welcome. Also on Saturday, is the opportunity to have private consultation sessions with industry professionals. On the Sunday, they have their legendary pitchfest with over 100 production companies, agents, managers, and studio execs hearing pitches. The cost for the pitchfest is $250, but it includes all your pitches and most writers meet with an average of 20 companies. CLICK HERE for a list participating companies. They also have a cocktail party immediately following (included in your ticket) and some of the best relationships are formed during this party.
I’ve been to the event several times and still maintain relationships with most of the industry people I met there. Whether you buy a ticket to the pitchfest or not, its a great opportunity to network and meet other writers. If you live in the LA area, make sure you check out the free classes on the Saturday - they're all excellent, and there's no catch whatsoever. Just visit www.pitchfest.com for details.
This year, for the first time ever at Great American Pitchfest, we're working on bringing a special Screenwriter Karaoke event by our own Merrel Davis!!!!! You can't imagine how thrilled we were to introduce Merrel and Xandy Sussan to Pitchfest peeps. What a fun night it will be. Cash bar even... can you say #TEQUILAtime!? We'll keep you posted with deets. Fingers crossed we can work it all out. You know us, we'll give it the #scriptchat #treefort try to make it a reality.
This year, for the first time ever at Great American Pitchfest, we're working on bringing a special Screenwriter Karaoke event by our own Merrel Davis!!!!! You can't imagine how thrilled we were to introduce Merrel and Xandy Sussan to Pitchfest peeps. What a fun night it will be. Cash bar even... can you say #TEQUILAtime!? We'll keep you posted with deets. Fingers crossed we can work it all out. You know us, we'll give it the #scriptchat #treefort try to make it a reality.
I probably won't be able to answer all your questions about the event, but if you have any, please either email info@pitchfest.com for answers or leave them in the comment section below, and I’ll try to find the answer for you.
The tickets always sell out, so I urge you to buy yours before they’re gone. Tickets are available for $250 on the website.
But no matter what, make sure you mark it in your calendars to come on out for the free classes – they’re all excellent. I’ll indeed be pitching this year, and Zac Sanford will be on the exec side of the table, hearing pitches as well. We hope to see you there!
*note: the opinions presented in this post are solely those of the contributor and may or may not represent the views of all scriptchat participants*
Check out Comedian and Screen Writer
ReplyDeleteHal Rudnick. Great Stuff
Zac and Jeanne are now teaching a class at GAPF!! Social Media: The Writer's Water Cooler
ReplyDeleteCome on by, Saturday 9AM
http://www.pitchfest.com/gapf/schedule.shtml