http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/428

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/10273

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11729

While my friend Kaveh and I were working on our characters and premise, people were always asking what the show was about. I would get really excited and begin telling them all about our duo. I just thought I was telling them about our characters but what I didn’t realize at the time was that I was actually pitching them our show! As we fleshed out the premise of the short, I began including that in my storytelling, and because I was just telling it to people for fun, I never got in my own head about what were the right and wrong things to say and it all felt very natural.

I was two days til the meeting when we finished fine-tuning the characters and the story, we began working in the part we hadn’t really been thinking about yet -or maybe didn’t want to think about yet- what to actually say when we got in the room. We at first figured since we were both going to be in the room that we should take a cue from the Art of the Pitch panel I posted about a while back and do a back and forth dual pitch. We spent a night honing that “scripted pitch” by taking a late night walk through the neighborhood.

We talked it out, refining the story and the cues where we’d switch off. It really helped figure out what the important beats were and the best way to present them aloud. It also helped us refine the script and add in some better sounding dialogue. This process was very similar to the word vomit method we employed earlier while working on the story and characters, where essentially I rambled on and on which aided Kaveh in sketching out the character concepts. This method of just talking it out was what worked best for us.

The night before the meeting we met up to finish our presentation materials and work on the pitch. I had my friend Nora come over so we practice pitching to someone. We went into what we’d rehearsed the night before, it was a rough start but we got through it. Our feedback was what I’d feared might be the case: it felt too scripted and not as natural as when I casually told it to friends. I could tell this was the problem because anytime I would say a line differently than the way we’d rehearsed, whether it sounded fine or not, I’d get tripped up. This led to backtracking, unnecessary umms, and noticeable pauses etc… Kaveh then said it might be best if I just pitch it in the room the way I tell it to people I know. Essentially, just wing it. This was a daunting thought/realization.

So I accepted the challenge and put it out of my mind. I practiced the pitch once in the shower the next morning and headed out to Burbank. Kaveh and I met up in the morning to print out our pitch package and the poster image (seen below). Then headed to Burbank, getting there an hour or so before the meeting and just hung out at a nearby park shooting the shit, not thinking about the meeting or the pitch at all (we actually just told scar stories a la Lethal Weapon). When the time came, we headed over to Nickelodeon.

We met with Whitney, who is the one that was kind enough to hook us up with the pitch meeting, and her friend who would be pitching first, then we’d have the floor for the remainder of the 1/2 hour pitch slot. It wasn’t until we headed to the conference room and waited at the bottom of the stairs that I got REALLY NERVOUS. But Kaveh’s cool demeanor (even if only on the surface- as we both are equally neurotic and anxious) reassured me that it’d be ok. Then it was our turn–

We ascended the stair sand met the people we’d be pitching to, and the casual, friendly environment they established helped relax me even more. Pitching second helped too because it gave me time to adjust to the room and regain composure. Then it was our turn and that was my cue. We laid out our sketches and every ounce of nervousness melted away and I went into auto-pilot mode. I first introduced our characters and their dynamic and segued into the story of the short. It was my best telling of our tale yet, I hit all the key points, did some fun voices, was very animated and talked with my hands (which I do a lot – that must be my Italian side) and most of all, tried to make it exciting as possible. The combination of excitement and nervousness must have had me sounding like a motormouth, because one of the first comments was that they hoped I didn’t talk fast thinking the pitch had to be a minute too. I assured them that wasn’t the case and that I was just really excited about our story and characters.

I still wasn’t quite sure how it went until they said they wished they were taping my pitch because it would be hard to retell it with such enthusiasm and excitement. They asked if I would tape myself doing it again and send it in. Then they went on about how they loved the characters and their design. This really relaxed us and we then really eased up and have a great conversation about what style of animation we had in mind, which we instantly answered 2D traditional hand drawn like the stuff we grew up on (Ren and Stimpy, Doug, Rugrats, Rocco’s Modern Life) and we said perhaps for the fun actiony parts we could do 3D cell shading like Futurama. I think we impressed them both with our well developed characters and story, amazing character designs, and our knowledge of animation in general. They threw out a couple of ideas of things to add to the short or for future episodes, which was a great sign as it showed the idea and characters had episodic potential (we already had planned a number of episode ideas to have in out pockets if need be). We handed out our pitch packages at the end, which caused them to quickly ask if the sketches were in there too (which they weren’t even though we’d discussed putting them in the night before- we got tired and opted not to – DAMN! Remember: always go with your gut!). So they had us make them copies to leave behind and we left on a good note.

Now it’s a waiting game. The day we pitched was originally the deadline, but due to high volume, it was extended until the 13th. So we’ll see where it goes from here. But at least we know we did the best we could. So I guess the biggest tips I can offer are develop strong characters, the stories will come from that. Then when you have the story, get to know it front to back, top to bottom. That way you will inherently know everything you need to when the time comes to pitch. And be educated on the technical aspect as much as possible, but most of all, when you do the pitch, be excited about the characters/story and make your goal to exude so much excitement that it becomes contagious and leave them wanting more!

*Oh and one random note, it’s helps to have a theme song. I don’t mean for what you’re pitching, but for yourselves. Our theme song throughout this whole process was “Slow Ride” by Foghat

 
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One of the greatest most frustrating things that’s part of being a writer (aside from plain old writer’s block) is waking up in the middle of the night with a great idea and losing it to what I’ve lazily dubbed Sleepy Logic.
 

Sleepy Logic is that dazed reasoning you have in the middle of the night that tells you “No need to get up and write that down. That idea is so good there’s NO WAY you’ll forget it in the morning.” CUT TO: You, frustrated, sitting on the edge of the bed, the only thing that you actually you do remember is that you woke up with a great idea. and that great idea was… ???
 

This is why I cannot stress the importance of a) keeping a pen* and pad or smartphone with a notepad app on the nightstand AND b) even if you’re thoroughly convinced you’ll remember it, just write the idea down anyway. Also, always try your best to write legibly, because as Seinfeld taught us, it’s even more frustrating to have what could be a golden nugget of an idea in illegible chicken scratch (especially after much pondering over it’s meaning, only to later find the idea was only good to your Sleepy Logic-ed brain).
 

So even if your idea seems too good to forget, or later turns out to be so bad you must have been delirious, you’ll sleep a lot better and wake up less stressed if you just write it down.
 

* These LED Tip pens are great to help see what you’re writing without needing to get up to turn on the lights or wake your significant other with the lamp light.