Learning to put myself out there
Mar. 8th, 2020 08:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
breakinglight11I've been taking a class recently on pitching my dramatic writing work in hopes of getting representation and hopefully eventually a job in the industry. It's a brutal thing to break into, but hope springs eternal, and since marketing has always been my weak spot, it seemed like something that could actually help me at this point in my seeking a career.
I've been nervous about it, as situations like this tend to irk my anxieties and fears about all the ambitions I have that may or may not ever come to pass. Bernie has taken the class with me, which has made me braver. And we've actually done really well, impression our instructors with our absorption of the material and giving good feedback for the efforts of our classmates. We've even managed to make friendly connections with some of those classmates, which was something I'd have been afraid I couldn't do. I struggle with figuring out how to talk to people I don't know well, but as I said, Bernie's presence has helped me put myself out there, as he could sort of "tag in" to represent both of us when I was uncomfortable in the early section. Lucky for me, I can make a good engaged expression and have the advantage of charismatic good looks, which I think made me acceptable until I gathered my courage. It also helped that there were genuinely nice people in the class, several of whom I've enjoyed interacting with even outside of the classwork.
It turns out taking this class was well-timed, since Bernie and I got into the next round of a screenwriting competition with the most recent version of the TV pilot version of Mrs. Hawking. That was kind of encouraging, especially since we did a fairly major overhaul of it recently, under the advice of a literary manager we consulted with, to make it a little more cinematic and streaming-service-friendly. But the next stage of the contest was to make a three-minute video pitch for the project as if we were trying to sell an industry professional on the project.
All this past week, Bernie and I slaved over our pitch. We wrote like five drafts, refining it over and over again so that it would give the setting, the major character arcs, the themes, and a sense of the premise as established in the pilot. It was really not easy, especially given how short it had to be, but what we learned in this class was crucial for doing this. I've learned my vibe and manner works pretty well for this, so I shot a video of myself talking, informally but with a really strong grasp of my material. We even cut in some shots from the proof of concept footage, which we wanted specifically for marketing material, in order to illustrate the characters and journeys I was talking about. It might be a bit of a risk, as we get the impression the contest is expecting these videos to emulate the more informal, personal verbal style of pitching. But we thought it was worth taking since it might help us stand out and fire the imaginations of the judges watching it.
The prize for the contest is entrance into a program that introduces you to executives and managers to hone your craft to make yourself more able to enter the industry. And if you sufficiently impress them, they could possibly sign or hire you themselves. Nothing's a guarantee, but I think our writing has what it takes, and my manner and bearing, I'm told, makes me seem appealing to work with. All I lack is connection. If we can get in front of the right people, we might be able to sell them on us. And if we do well in this contest, it might be a shot.
I've been nervous about it, as situations like this tend to irk my anxieties and fears about all the ambitions I have that may or may not ever come to pass. Bernie has taken the class with me, which has made me braver. And we've actually done really well, impression our instructors with our absorption of the material and giving good feedback for the efforts of our classmates. We've even managed to make friendly connections with some of those classmates, which was something I'd have been afraid I couldn't do. I struggle with figuring out how to talk to people I don't know well, but as I said, Bernie's presence has helped me put myself out there, as he could sort of "tag in" to represent both of us when I was uncomfortable in the early section. Lucky for me, I can make a good engaged expression and have the advantage of charismatic good looks, which I think made me acceptable until I gathered my courage. It also helped that there were genuinely nice people in the class, several of whom I've enjoyed interacting with even outside of the classwork.
It turns out taking this class was well-timed, since Bernie and I got into the next round of a screenwriting competition with the most recent version of the TV pilot version of Mrs. Hawking. That was kind of encouraging, especially since we did a fairly major overhaul of it recently, under the advice of a literary manager we consulted with, to make it a little more cinematic and streaming-service-friendly. But the next stage of the contest was to make a three-minute video pitch for the project as if we were trying to sell an industry professional on the project.
All this past week, Bernie and I slaved over our pitch. We wrote like five drafts, refining it over and over again so that it would give the setting, the major character arcs, the themes, and a sense of the premise as established in the pilot. It was really not easy, especially given how short it had to be, but what we learned in this class was crucial for doing this. I've learned my vibe and manner works pretty well for this, so I shot a video of myself talking, informally but with a really strong grasp of my material. We even cut in some shots from the proof of concept footage, which we wanted specifically for marketing material, in order to illustrate the characters and journeys I was talking about. It might be a bit of a risk, as we get the impression the contest is expecting these videos to emulate the more informal, personal verbal style of pitching. But we thought it was worth taking since it might help us stand out and fire the imaginations of the judges watching it.
The prize for the contest is entrance into a program that introduces you to executives and managers to hone your craft to make yourself more able to enter the industry. And if you sufficiently impress them, they could possibly sign or hire you themselves. Nothing's a guarantee, but I think our writing has what it takes, and my manner and bearing, I'm told, makes me seem appealing to work with. All I lack is connection. If we can get in front of the right people, we might be able to sell them on us. And if we do well in this contest, it might be a shot.
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Date: 2020-03-09 09:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-03-10 02:33 pm (UTC)