What would you do if you could get $5,000 for your film in just 4 days?

Write like a maniac and turn in a pitch/application a little bit sleep deprived, but feeling confident? That’s what we did.

Lack of money is the number one thing keeping filmmakers from taking action on getting their films made. Honestly you don’t need money in the early days, and you should get going even without any funding. However, those first $5,000 we won helped us a lot. It forced us to come up with a story and a plan in no time, and it gave us momentum to keep the process going.

Like we talked about last week, momentum is key.

This week I want to talk about the keys to creating a great pitch deck:

• Read the brief
• Make it easy
• Tell one story

Most people aren’t able to communicate their stories effectively in a pitch. They end up putting way too much stuff in, and overcompensating by overcomplicating. But once you understand the keys to creating a great pitch, you’ll be one step closer to raising money for your movie.

The pitch is not about you

In order to make a pitch that raises money, you need to understand who the audience is. You might say: “The pitch is about my movie.” Saying “it’s about me.” That’s the fundamental mistake that leads pitches to go unfunded.

It’s about them.

When you make the pitch about you, you’re setting yourself up to make crucial mistakes in your deck.

Put yourself in the shoes of whoever you’re pitching to. And write a pitch that speaks specifically to that reader.

Let me show you how:

Read the brief

Read the brief. Read the brief. Read the brief.

When you’re applying for a grant they’ll give you a brief of what they’re looking for. It’ll be: answer these questions, fulfill these criteria etc. We creatives tend to get hung up in why our project is so great. We want the reader to understand how amazing our film is.

That’s only half the job.

A pitch or grant application needs to both show your creative vision, and your plan for accomplishing that vision. It’s a hybrid between a pitch and a business plan.

My incredibly complicated process for making this is as follows:

• Read the brief
• Make a list of everything they’re asking for and all the questions they have
• Provide the information, answer the questions

I’m not joking, if you can do this you’re already halfway there.

I was re-reading our Wild Boys application and I literally wrote out their questions and put my answer beneath. It’s not sexy, but it doesn’t need to be.

All you have to do is make sure you’re giving them what they need to make a decision on whether or not to give you money.

Make it easy

The next step to creating a pitch or grant application that funds your film is to make it easy to say yes. Put your self in the shoes of the people who evaluate yours, and maybe 10s, 100s, 1000s other applications.

They’re evaluating a lot of pitches just like yours. It’s very likely they’ll favor your application if you make their job easier.

Remember, they’re your audience. Many filmmakers fall into the trap of trying to look smart or be clever in their pitches. I’m here to tell you to save your five dollar words for your next spelling bee.

Prioritize clarity. Use simple words, easy to read sentences and make sure whoever reads quickly understands what you’re trying to say.

The second thing I like to think about is trying to get ahead of their objections. Think of all the questions or misgivings they might have about your project and beat them to it. Show you’ve already thought ahead and have a plan to soothe their doubts.

This not only shows you know what you’re doing, but it also shows you have the confidence to get it done.

Our Wild Boys application takes advantage of all these steps. The language is simple, and straight to the point. The story is easy to follow, and the business plan sections are laid out in bullet points, making them fast and simple to grasp.

We also show we have resources other than this specific grant. Saying, we’re making this with or without you, but we’d love to have you on board. No one wants to to be the first ones to get on board a project, but by showing we have a variety of resources, we’re meeting this objection head on.

We also back this up with a realistic (or so we thought) timeline, and a plan for how to not only finish the film, but get it out into the world.

Tailoring your pitch or grant application to your audience is the easiest way to get a boost against your competition. By making it easy and enjoyable to read, and showing you are a competent and confident filmmaker, you’re well underway to win over your audience.

Tell one story

And finally, in order for your pitch to be a winner you have to tell one story.

You need to create a pitch where every single element pulls in the same direction and leaves the reader with a cohesive idea of what your film will be like.

Just like cleverness, confusion and complication are your enemies

Your job is to know the story so well you could explain it to both a 5 year old and a 95 year old. A true sign of mastery is being able to simplify a thing down to it’s core components. You have to show you’ve mastered your story.

Assume whoever reads your deck is skimming it at best.

If your story is unclear or your visual references are all over the place, they’re going to be confused, and you’re giving them an opportunity to reject your project.

Here’s my recipe for keeping focused on one story:

• Figure out what your main story is: what’s the one thing you want the person reading your deck to understand?
• Make sure your logline, synopsis, character descriptions etc. all contribute to telling this one story.
• Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself.
• Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself.
• Choose stills that represent your vision, and feel like they could all be from the same movie. (I like using Shotdeck for pulling inspiration when I’m putting together a pitch deck.

A key to why our Wild Boys pitch was successful is how easy it is to grasp the story. It’s focused on our main character, without fluff, and it clearly shows her emotional arc.

Each supporting character’s arc contributes to making the main character’s arc stronger, and touches on the main themes in slightly different ways.

The imagery is high quality, relevant to the story and character, and feels unified and gives a clear idea of the look and feel of the film.

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This level of focus and clarity supports the ideas of giving your audience what they want, in an easily digestible package. If you can do one thing, tell one story, extremely well, it’s worth 10x more than showing off how many cool things you’re going to do with your film.

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