Last month, I volunteered to help run the pitching sessions at the Screenwriters World Conference 2012 in NYC. This was my first pitching event, and if these events are new to you, too, then the following is basically how this one worked.

Over 100 screenwriters came to pitch their work to film & TV execs and talent managers hoping to get a request to send in their script to be read. Since most top production and management companies will only read your work if you are referred to them by a trusted source, a pitching event is a chance to bypass the usual rules and get your ideas directly to those who can help get them produced.

The screenwriters pitched their projects to the reps one after the other, trying to connect with as many reps as they could over a period of four hours. It was without question an endurance challenge for those pitching, for those hearing pitches and even for us volunteers trying to keep it all running smoothly. In the end, I heard stories of varying amounts of success from both sides of the table, but no one I spoke to said their day hadn’t been well spent. Hail Mary passes were thrown that day and I hope some of them were caught and new careers were born.

Hats off to everyone who participated in the event, and as a volunteer, I learned a ton about pitching and it was definitely a cool way to spend a Saturday.

(addendum to the newsletter excerpt)

In a nutshell, what I learned about pitching:
For those who are planning to pitch someday, the key seemed to be preparation, mostly to achieve a very concise and very clear pitch. More than any other concern, those hearing pitches struggled most with pitches where they couldn’t detect the genre and were confused by story and character details. Keep the pitch short and very clear, focusing on your best hook or two, and then be prepared for follow up questions. A strong hook minus any confusing details seems to be a great way to start building your pitch.

And please “Like” our Facebook page, there’s lots more “Vivienne Again” news coming soon.

Last week, we wrapped on Vivienne Again (short film).  It was a 3-day shoot in a funeral home in the middle of Manhattan. We shot 22+ scenes on the RED camera working with 9 actors, 5 extras, a crew that numbered in the thousands (yet still, we needed more hands). We shot interiors, exteriors (including fire escapes), used a jib and a dolly, incorporated stunts and makeup FX, fought rain and one buzzkill of a neighbor (I’m still shaking my fist at you, old dude!)… and through it all, we kicked ass!

The cast and crew I worked with last weekend were extraordinary.  A HUGE thank you goes out to everyone who worked so hard to shoot this film — it took all of us to pull this off and I’m very grateful.

Next up, we’re going into post-production on the film and building a full website to showcase cast and crew bios, lots of pix and a screening schedule.  Until then, please keep checking our Facebook page for updates – we have productions stills up now – and watch out for a trailer we’re aiming to cut soon.  Rock on, film friends!

Please check out the page and “Like” it to stay in the loop. Our Facebook page will be the main source for the latest updates on the film and a full website with in-depth information will be coming soon.

Thanks for your support and I can’t wait to share more news about the film.

I received so many great responses that I decided to share them here. Thanks to everyone who chimed in!

Lists number of votes received if more than one:

And if someone had asked me the same question, I would have said The Others, The Sixth Sense, Poltergeist, The Shining and, of course, Ghostbusters (who ya gonna call?).

If you have other suggestions, please add them to the comments. Thanks!

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* Suggested by a couple of clowns. Yeah, you know who are you!

I met Rodney and actor Daryl Ray Carliles in Union Square ready to run around town and help Rodney shoot… well, actually, I had no idea what he was looking to shoot, but NYC at night with a camera sounded too fun to pass up.

When I arrived, I learned that Rodney wanted to shoot a 1-minute minisode for DOMINION, his upcoming webseries. The only problem was, while he had a script and an actor, he was short an actress. Yep, you see where this is heading – he asked this writer, soon-to-be director, to work on the other side of the camera.

My first thought was, “no way!” My second thought: Am I really such a wuss? My third thought: Damn, I wish I’d brought makeup.

In all of a minute, I decided to be brave and put the success of the shoot ahead of my fear of being on camera. I let down my hair, literally and figuratively, and took Rodney’s direction plus Daryl’s encouragement and went for it.

It ended up being a great night. We shot in Union Square Park, and then on a subway platform and in a subway car. It was all shot guerilla-style, just the three of us and a camera, and it was huge amounts of fun.

What I thought would be a lesson in acting turned out to be a lesson in what it means to be a filmmaker. Filmmaking is for the spontaneous and courageous, and when I was asked to leave my comfort zone for the benefit of the shoot, I’m proud I can look back and see that when I had to choose whether to step in front of that camera or not, my hunger for movie-making crushed my fear.

And now, without further ado, my acting debut:

(You can also download it for free on iTunes: Dominion series: Minisode 2.1: The Rise of the Shimmer Men, pt 1)

I want to achieve these goals so badly that saying them out loud to friends and family, basically, putting my butt on the line, is the way I’ve decided to keep myself honest and push through the inevitable scary days and insecure moments to come.

I plan to share my experience as a writer taking an improv class (yikes!), a writer directing her first short film (double yikes!) and a writer tackling a comedy feature film script (I can actually envision this one but it’s still terrifying). To keep friends, family and colleagues in the loop, I’ve just added an email signup to this site for a monthly newsletter that will get rolling in the new year. I’ll include a round-up of projects I’m working on, classes I’m taking (and feedback on those classes), new blog posts I’ve written and events that are worth keeping on the radar.

But I don’t want to get so self-focused that I lose track of how I’ve gathered up the courage to set these crazy goals and pronounce them to the world. I’m taking this leap because in the last year I have developed a network of the some of the most exciting up-and-coming filmmakers and artists – people who are as supportive of others as they are talented themselves. I want to spread the word about their projects and events as well. Therefore, in each monthly newsletter, and on a new page coming to this site, I will highlight the work of one of my newsletter subscribers, giving everyone a chance to discover someone new or catch up with the latest work from someone they already admire.

I don’t know yet how I’ll make these selections. Perhaps a dart board or being open to bribes of chocolate and liquor but I’ll work to feature a variety of artists and film professionals, people I already know and love, and people I have yet to discover myself.

If this sounds like your kind of thing, please sign up for my newsletter and join me for another year in this filmmaking adventure.

Cheers to a joyous, successful and prosperous(!) 2011!!

By extending my reach in the film industry, into ventures beyond my Final Draft docs, I got on the radar of two of the freshest voices supporting indie film today, the ever-awesome hosts of Film Courage.

Not surprisingly, the piece I wrote for them, “Filmmaking is for Screenwriters Too,” is about new opportunities screenwriters can find if they embrace the film industry at large and work collaboratively with the film community we so enthusiastically joined.

Please take a moment to read the piece and I’d love it if you’d leave a comment at their site.

Thanks so much, Dave and Karen, for this great opportunity to connect with your audience. Film courage indeed!

Jon felt there were lessons about community-building on Twitter that could be learned from our experience and that his own audience of filmmakers could benefit. He invited me to guest blog on his site and I of course jumped at the opportunity. You can find my piece “Building a Dedicated (and Rocking) Twitter Community“ on Jon’s site.

Please give it a read and leave your comments. Thanks!