Film Courage: What makes an executive hire a writer?
Carole Kirschner, Entertainment Career Coach, Speaker & Author: Well there's a couple of
different things that they would hire them for if somebody is pitching a show I mean my expertise is
primarily television but a lot of this applies to Motion Pictures also to features if someone
is pitching it and they nail the pitch they're going to want to be in business with them if
there's somebody who if an executive is in charge of finding writers to be on a television show
if you have a meeting with that person they want to know that you're not a psycho they
want to they will have read you and they will think this is a terrific writer now let me see
if I can get along with them let me see if the showrunner I'm thinking of for the show they
would be right for would get along with them those are the reasons why somebody would hire
that's why an executive would hire a writer one of the most important elements of a pitch
well it's interesting because pitching is an art it's not a science and I have an online course
called how to pitch a TV show that sells and we talk all about this but the important elements are
the characters that's super important how the characters are going to grow and change over the
pilot and then over the series people think that the pilot story is the most important thing and
it's not because you're not just selling a pilot you're selling a series so it is
What The Hook is that's super important why are people going to watch it why are they watch it now
why will it stand out from 500 plus other scripted television shows you gotta have a strong hook
then it's tell me about the world also it's really important in a pitch and you talk
about this earlier in another video is having a personal story that ties you to that project it's
not like you just said oh wouldn't it be funny if there was a roller coaster and it was haunted
you have to and I'm a terrible I'm not a writer which is why I just gave that terrible example
but you have to connect with it somehow when I was home alone one night I was sure that a
ghost was there and I was terrified and I thought what if somebody is terrified of
that and terrified on a roller coaster too find a way to make an emotional connection with them and
find that emotional connection in the project and use that to connect with the buyer if you
tell an authentic emotional story they will be hooked in so it's the hook it's what I call your
inspiration story why you why this project it is talking about the characters why they're unique
why we haven't seen them before it's about the world what does that world look like you
want to paint it you want us to feel it tell us why we want to be immersed into it for 40 hours
super important what is the engine of the show if it's a TV show why does this have legs past
just the pilot and season arcs are really important and knowing what that is and then
you have something that I call a coda which is a concluding remark where you go back to your hook
and then you say why people will watch it why it's timely why it's Universal why now
how long is a pitch to an executive what should a writer think about in preparation great question
some people think it goes on forever it doesn't if you're pitching television a
comedy pitch should be 12 to 15 minutes long a one hour drama or one hour show it should be 20
to 25 minutes no longer unless your Shawn Ryan who just sold agent The Night Agent
20 to 25 minutes and on Zoom should be shorter you should rehearse your pitch you should time
your pitch you should come in on those times and the again the pilot story is only a very
small portion of that 10 to 15 10 to 12 minutes or 20 to 25 minutes and and record yourself giving
the pitch absolutely and I know somebody who's a terrific pitcher and what she said is and this is
what I believe you write out the pitch word for word then you transcribe it into bullet points
and then you practice using the bullet points some people read their pitch
if you're a good performer you can read your pitch but make it sound conversational a good pitch is
conversational for sure so write it practice it record yourself so that you can hear the
pacing in it so you've got that right so you can time it I had a mentee in my CBS program who was
fantastic in my program you have to introduce yourself 16 times because they're 16 weeks and
people got to the point the writers got to the point where it sounded totally rehearsed
but Bradley had a way to make it sound like it was the first time every time and the way he
did it is he would say something and then he'd pause for a beat as if he was actually thinking
about what the next thing was he was going to say and he had some funny parts to a story and
he would chuckle a little bit not like that laugh out loud but just kind of chuckle so that they
could chuckle with him and his introductions always sounded like they were off the cuff you
want this to sound like it's off the cuff but it backwards and forwards so with he's he's telling
a little bit about himself and then the pitch well Bradley wasn't pitching that that was just
it's a 16-week program and every week I bring in different speakers and the writers have to just
introduce themselves to each of the speakers I'm sorry if that was confusing no no that's
I find that interesting okay so they're kind of practicing that that because we all don't
really want to talk about ourselves sometimes so it's like Hi I'm so and so and this is my
deal and is that it so you're comfortable kind of owning who you are yes I teach them I mean that's
one of the things I teach is your entertainment industry brand and you need to know how to talk
about yourself in a way that is engaging and gets people leaning forward and wanting to know more
so I teach that to the mentees in the Paramount writers mentoring program and over 16 weeks they
hone it and hone it and hone it so that by the end of the 16 weeks they can talk about themselves
like that and Bradley was just a champ at it what are some common mistakes that you see in pitches
oh I love that question because there's so many mistakes that people make sadly it's sad when
you make this mistake is not being prepared is going in and thinking I can wing it now here's the
truth there's some stand-up comics there's some improv people that really can but unless you're
that person you can't you should be they're not prepared enough the other is going beat by beat
by beat of the pilot story there's a sad story that I like to tell from when I was an executive
a very well established comedy writer came in and pitched to us and he was talking about the
pilot story and he was going beat by beat by beat and my colleague fell asleep it was horrifying
and he said to my boss the writer said to my boss he fell asleep and my boss said no no
he's just resting his eyes so he can hear you better but that's something you don't want to
do go beat by it's it's overview you want to give the big picture not every single scene
what's the difference between telling versus selling I have a mantra that I believe in so
strongly it's tell don't sell if you're desperate if you're there just to sell the project chances
are really good you won't you should be there to do is to tell an engaging exciting funny or moving
story and what I tell people is pretend that you're talking to a five-year-old your whole vibe
should be once upon a time not well this is about this but once upon a time in a forest there was
that's how you're telling and selling is oh man I gotta tell you this is the best
thing you ever heard of and it's going to be great and it's a terrible idea so add
an element of performance absolutely okay but even if you're not a natural born performer
and I do talk about this in my class if your material well enough and you're comfortable
enough you'll be able to talk about it as if you were talking to a friend and you don't need to do
just you're yourself but it's like you're talking to friends and you're
comfortable and it's upbeat and it's engaging that's all you need to be.