Review of the Hollywood Pitch Festival

Hello fellow filmmakers and writers!

Here is my review of the Hollywood Pitch Festival put on by FADE IN MAGAZINE.

I attended this pitch fest in 2016. I won't go into the details of what the pitch fest is, because I assume you're reading this because you've already looked into it. Here's just my honest personal experience and you can take away whatever you think applies to you.

Overall, it was a good experience to attend. It's a legitimate event, with many big name industry companies. I was able to pitch almost 20 companies, and I felt I got what was promised--an opportunity to pitch to legit gatekeepers. Although, yes they are all mostly low level assistants, but I did meet two who were actually a higher level junior executive type. Out of the 20 or so pitches, I had about 9 requests for my scripts. Some gave me their email and said send it. Others took down my email and said they would contact me (which they never did). Half of those were big name management companies or prod companies like Scott Rudin Productions. I had a great time at the event, met many other writers who were great to talk to and just be around so many others like yourself. I definitely got a feel for the pitch by the end of the event. Just for this alone, it's worth going at least once. I also ran into the woman who was the owner of this event. She seemed to be genuine and was running around making sure everything was going smoothly. She seemed to really care about the writers and how things were going for everyone.

However, the end result of the pitch fest is this. Nothing came to fruition. All the requests amounted to no responses after I sent my script out to respective emails. In cases where the assistants took down my email, and said they would email me to ask for me to send the script. Guess what? Never got an email. Only two came back and had some sort of response. Scott Rudin's company came back the next week with a "pass". Another company with a deal at Universal came back and asked for a release sheet to be signed before sending the script. Then no more communication after than. The typical hollywood ignore. This simply made me realize that my scripts were not there yet. They just weren't good enough. I don't regret going to this event, because it let me know that I need to work on my writing. And the experience itself was rewarding.

The major problem I see is that almost all the writers, including myself who attended this event were not quite ready with their material. I mean, I met one guy who didn't even have scripts written, he was just trying to pitch ideas he had. When I asked him what he's going to do when they ask for the script, he said he didn't know. He said he would just try to write it in 2-3weeks. Are you serious?! This guy was living on a pipe dream. But what a fool, sorry to say.

My advice to anyone who's interested in going, if five hundred bucks is nothing to you, then go ahead and do it for the experience. But most likely, you're writing is not at that level yet. I would invest that money instead in a script consultant, a good one, to consult your script and give you feedback. This is invaluable. Many writers, myself included, just think that their shit don't stink. We all think our ideas and scripts are so great, but in reality, your script really has to be a home run to hit at this pitch fest. But even with that, I don't think it's a good strategy. Here's why:

Each of the producers, or assistants who request scripts, they will be flooded in the coming weeks after the fest with scripts. Your script could get lost in the flood. It might not even get read. Better to enter contests, or maybe even one of these Stage32 online pitches. (I'll write a review for that soon)

To sum things up-- the pitch fest is a legit event with big name companies and agencies. The event is fun, and gives you experience at pitching. It does give you a chance to get your script to the right people, but most often than not, your script is not ready, and therefore, you waste this opportunity. Are there successes? Sure, I've heard the stories, but these are very very very rare, and I cannot verify what I heard really happened or not. But of course the chance is there. Just like the chance of you winning the lottery.

I've done it once, and it was great. But I don't think I'll be attending anymore pitch fests in the future. I'm going to work on my craft, pay for consultants, which from my experience has been amazing and really helped push my writing to the next level, and submit to the top screenwriting contests. Good luck to you all, and happy writing!

PS You can now watch my latest feature LAS VEGAS STORY on Amazon Prime!

-Byron