Pitch (filmmaking)

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In

development finance to pay for the writing of a screenplay.[1]

The expression is borrowed from "

sales pitch".[2] A pitch is used throughout different stages of production, such as casting and distribution, as well as to urge film producers to further fund a project.[1] Filmmakers who devise a pitch tend to manufacture a production package, which is handed out to each potential investor during the pitch. The package contains the basic information for the filmmaker's project, such as a plot synopsis and budgeting values.[3] Sometimes, filmmakers will produce an independent pitch trailer
as a part of the package to help potential financiers better visualize the project and the filmmaker's vision.

Though pitches are usually made on the basis of a full

animated productions for both film and television are often pitched on the basis of storyboards alone. For example, the animated television show Phineas and Ferb was pitched from a storyboard. Co-founders of the project, Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, needed to convince overseas executives for The Walt Disney Company to greenlight the series, so they drew a storyboard and recorded it as a reel. They then mixed it and dubbed it over with sound effects, voices, and narrative, then sent the recording to the executives, who accepted it.[4]

Television pitches can also be devised by the network or company that produces the program.[5] Certain networks are pitched the idea of including a character in a series in order to boost ratings. Such pitches have been used with "Oliver" in The Brady Bunch and "Luke" on Growing Pains.[6] Networks also try to force their ideas on series' producers through their pitches, though their approach is business-oriented and their ideas are generally not favored by writers and viewers.[7] In 1992, the crew of the animated series Rugrats was approached by Nickelodeon, which pitched the idea of a Rugrats Hanukkah special. Paul Germain, co-creator of the series, responded by suggesting a passover special, which he dubbed a "funny idea."[5] After they closed production for that special, they began considering the Hanukkah special and eventually created it in 1996 as the episode "A Rugrats Chanukah."[5][8]

References

  1. ^ a b Steiff, p. 58
  2. ^ Karg, Van Over, Sutherland, p. 84
  3. ^ Karg, Van Over, Sutherland, p. 86
  4. Buena Vista Home Entertainment
    .
  5. ^ a b c Swartz, Mimi (1998-10-30). "How raising the Rugrats children became as difficult as the real thing". The New Yorker. p. 62.
  6. ^ Alberti, p. 144
  7. ^ Alberti, pp. 145–147
  8. Boston, Massachusetts
    .

Further reading

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