Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds

by Michael Hauge

  Pitch your book proposal using anecdotes that create empathy between the publisher or agent and the book’s potential audience. Get your buyer to root for your readers’ success, and convince that buyer that there are thousands of those potential readers out there, just waiting for their lives to be changed.

  Regardless of what you’re pitching, buyers — and readers — want to be drawn into the world you’ve created. We want to know who we’re rooting for, what those characters want, and what makes their desires seem impossible. We want to know why you think this will appeal to lots of people. And we want to feel your passion for your project.

  Marketing Other People’s Stories

  I assume most of you reading this book are writers. But what if you’re a producer or director or agent or manager or development executive or reader, trying to get someone to read something authored by someone else? Do all the principles outlined in this book apply to you as well?

  You know they do. Otherwise I wouldn’t ask the question.

  If you’re on the phone hoping to make an eventual sale — if you represent a writer, or if you own the film rights to a book or screenplay — the telephone pitch is exactly the same as it would be if you’d written the story yourself. But instead of beginning, “Let me tell you how I came up with this idea,” open with, “I think the best way to tell you about this project is to tell you what I love about it.” And then tell your buyer exactly that.

  You actually have a big advantage pitching something not your own — you can hype it. If a writer says her script is hilarious, and will make a fortune, the buyer immediately assumes it’s not, and it won’t. You know this is true, because if you’re reading this part of the book, you are a buyer of some kind, and it’s exactly what you think when you hear a writer say those words.

  But if you tell someone else a book or screenplay is hilarious, they’ll probably believe you. At least they’ll believe that you think it is. And because you like the project enough to invest your time, your reputation and perhaps your money to get it published or produced, the buyer figures it’s got a better shot than the average book or screenplay.

  Don’t say a story you represent is brilliant or commercial or great if you don’t truly believe it is. Just say what you honestly think of it. If you’re just bullshitting for the sake of a client, tell the client he needs to keep rewriting, and work with him until you do love it. Then take it out.

  If you start hyping stuff dishonestly, it’s going to be harder and harder to get buyers to read the stuff that really is great, when it finally comes along.

  Pitching to Your Boss

  If you’re pitching your boss instead of a buyer, I recommend you use the 60-second pitch, whether you like the story or not. Here’s why:

  Let’s say you’re participating in the dreaded Monday Morning Meeting. This is the weekly ritual at most agencies or studios or publishing houses where everyone talks about the stuff they read that weekend, and suggest which projects are worth considering for representation or production or publication.

  When the turn rolls around to you, you’ve got to sound interesting, even though 12 other stories have already been discussed, and everyone’s eyes are starting to glaze over. The 60-second pitch is invaluable in this situation.

  People in power — especially the heads of agencies and production companies — never have time to spare. Neither do publishers and book agents. They all want to hear only what they need to know to make a decision, and then move on. If you can avoid trying to tell the story, and can keep each “pitch” to less than a minute, I guarantee you’ll be the rising star of the company.

  Come to the meeting prepared. Work from notes, not from memory. And never, ever read your presentation aloud.

  Begin with what you love about the story, or what real life situation or previous movie you believe might have led the writer to create it. Convey the most important of the list of ten elements, especially the antecedents. End with the log line, and then stop briefly, allowing anyone to jump in with questions.

  Then weigh in with your opinions. This way your boss knows she heard a strong, objective presentation of the best the story has to offer. If, after giving a strong pitch, you say you thought it was poorly written, or the characters were one-dimensional, or the story was too familiar, or you don’t think it’s right for the company, you aren’t preventing your boss, or anyone else, from suggesting that it might still be worth considering.

  The reason I suggest pitching everything as if it’s your own is to give your associates as clear an idea as you can of the potential of the story. If you open by saying the script was crapola, and you then go on to say it was about this guy who blah, blah, blah, you’ve reduced your effectiveness. Your boss can’t express any interest at all without contradicting you, which will make at least one of you look bad. She won’t even be sure she heard what she needed in order to make a decision, since everything you said was colored by your dislike of the material.

  If your rejection of a story is based on some subjective reaction you have to religious themes or period pieces or horror stories or romance novels, then the company might end up passing on something with commercial potential. And if you open by gushing about how great the story is, and it’s of no interest to anyone else at the table, you look like you don’t fit in. Either way, your job promotion just got pushed further into the future.

  There’s one additional reason to pitch everything with objectivity and passion. It’s more enjoyable for everyone. Stories well told — even in 60 seconds — are fun to hear. And fun to present. So your short, well-designed pitch will make everyone feel good. And make you look good.

  The following templates are designed to give you a very clear understanding of how the principles of the telephone pitch can be applied to a variety of situations. You should be able to put the details of your story into one of these models, and use it as a foundation for creating your own powerful pitch.

  But I beg you; please use these as a starting point. Don’t just plug in your story, print it out, and call that your pitch.

  First of all, if everyone who reads this book does that — and I fully expect those people to number in the millions — then a lot of publishers, filmmakers and agents are going to hear the same pitch over and over again.

  More important, a fill-in-the-blank approach won’t make the pitch your own. It’ll have none of your personality or passion, and it won’t allow for the changes you must make to convey the emotional power of your particular story.

  When I coach writers and filmmakers on their pitches, I always employ the principles I’ve presented in this book. But I begin by asking lots of questions about the story, so I have a real sense of where the idea came from, and where the client’s passion lies. What was it about the story that prompted my client to commit at least a year of his or her life to getting it onto the page or up on the screen?

  You must follow the same process for yourself. Get a clear sense of why the story just has to be published or produced, and insert those qualities into the templates below in a way that reflects your own voice, your own story and your own passion.

  And a word of warning: If you just jumped ahead to this chapter for an easy shortcut to a good pitch, it’s not going to work. It’s not even going to make sense unless you’ve read through the whole process first.

  As you will see, the elements of the templates can be interchanged quite easily. I’ve simply combined a variety of lead-ins, segues and story elements to provide lots of possibilities. So if you like, combine the opening from one template with the antecedent reference of another, add the love story description or thematic statement from two more, and create your own pitch that way. As long as it gets buyers emotionally involved, gives them a clear sense of what they’re going to read, convinces them of your project’s commercial potential, and conveys your passion, it’ll be great.

  These templates assume you’ve already established rapport with the buyer, and are now ready
to begin the revelation part of your pitch.

  The Genre Film Template

  I think the best way for me to begin is to tell you how I came up with this idea. I’ve always been a huge fan of [genre of your film or novel], especially ones like [antecedent #1] and [antecedent #2], or even [antecedent #3], where [the thing that these antecedents have in common with your story, which sets them apart from others in the genre]. But in most of those stories, [the plot element that’s true for the antecedents, but not for your story].

  So I started thinking, “What if [the thing that sets your story apart from your antecedents, and makes it unique]?” And that’s certainly true of [hero’s name], the hero of my [screenplay or novel], [title]. He’s a [age]-year old [occupation] who’s [setup, source of empathy]. But when [opportunity], he decides/has to [new situation]. So he sets out to [outer motivation] by [plan to accomplish his goal].

  The only problem is [outer conflict, or complication that makes the obvious conflict even greater], so now he has to [only remaining way to accomplish the goal, which seems impossible]. So [title] is a story about [log line].

  The Personal Experience/FictionalStory Template

  Before I get into the story, I should tell you that when I was [age] I [your situation at that time]. And then I [personal experience that connects you to your idea]. So I started thinking, “What if [basic premise of your story]?” And that’s just what happens in [title]. [Hero’s name] is [qualities for empathy], until [situation that links your hero to your “What if …?”] So now [hero’s name] must [outer motivation] before [outer conflict or ticking clock]. And the only way she can do that is by overcoming her fear of [inner conflict] and [plan that evolves, which seems impossible to accomplish]. So this is ultimately a story about [log line], which explores [deeper issues], and says that [universal theme].

  The Combined Personal Experience/Fictional Story and Genre Template

  Let me begin by saying I’ve always been a huge fan of [genre of your film or novel], especially ones like [antecedent #1] and [antecedent #2], or even [antecedent #3], where [the thing that these antecedents have in common with your story, which sets them apart from others in the genre]. Well, when I was [age] I [your situation at that time]. And then I [personal experience that connects you to your idea].

  So I started thinking, “What if [thing that unites your antecedents with your personal experience, to make your story unique]?” And that’s how I came up with the idea for [title]. My hero is a [age]-year old [occupation] who’s [setup, source of empathy]. But when [opportunity], he decides/has to [new situation]. So he sets out to [outer motivation] by [plan to accomplish his goal].

  The only problem is [outer conflict, or complication that makes the obvious conflict even greater], so now he has to [only remaining way to accomplish the goal, which makes it seem impossible]. So this is a story about [log line].

  The Real Situation/Fictional Story Template

  I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but [real situation you became aware of]. So I wanted to explore what would happen if a [description of your hero] who [setup/empathy] was all of a sudden [opportunity]. So now she’s determined/forced to [outer motivation] so she can [why the hero thinks this goal will lead to self worth].

  The problem is, she is unaware that [outer conflict], which will force her to face her fear of [emotional fear] in order to ultimately [hero’s arc or transformation] and be able to [finish line/visible representation of outer motivation].

  The Love Story Template

  [Use any of the openings above up to the point in your story where your love interest is introduced. Then say:] So my story is about [hero’s name], a [role/empathy/setup] who wants to [outer motivation other than the love story]. But then my hero falls in love with a [romance character’s occupation], who is [quality that links the romance character to the original outer motivation]. So now my hero has to overcome [conflict that makes the original goal difficult], while [conflict that intertwines the love story with the original outer motivation, making it now seem impossible to win everything]. So [title] is a romantic [genre you’ve added the love story to] like [antecedent #1] or [antecedent #2], about a [description of hero] who has to [outer motivation] and win the love of [description of romance character].

  The True Story Template

  One of the reasons I’ve been so eager to tell you about my story is that I was a huge fan of [antecedent the buyer produced, published or represented], because I love stories where [quality their antecedent shares with your story]. Well imagine what would happen if a [setup that creates empathy with your hero] discovered that [opportunity], and now the only hope of [outer motivation] is if he can [seemingly impossible plan to achieve that goal]. And while [specific steps to plan], he [major setback that makes it seem like all is lost].

  Now what if I told you that this actually happened, in [year of true story], when [real person] had to [real accomplishment], and [what real person did, which you haven’t mentioned already]. And now I have the rights to that story, and that’s what my [screenplay/novel] is about.

  Two Sample Template Pitches

  To illustrate how these templates can be put to use, here is a possible pitch for Bob Fisher and Steve Faber’s screenplay Wedding Crashers.

  Notice that I’ve used elements of the Genre Film Template and the Real Situation/Fictional Story Template and then added the love story template. I also modified some of the individual elements of those templates, so my pitch would best fit this particular story. But this should give you an idea of how filling in appropriate blanks can give you a good starting point for designing your own 60-second pitch.

  I think the best way for me to begin is to tell you how I came up with this idea. I’ve always been a huge fan of Romantic Comedies, especially ones like Hitch or Working Girl or even There’s Something About Mary, where the hero has to lie about who he truly is to get what he wants.

  Then one day I read about these guys who would crash big weddings where they didn’t even know the bride or groom, just to get free food and booze, and to pick up women. So I started thinking, “What if two commitment—phobic party animals who were master bullshit artists found out that the daughter of some rich, highly protected government official was getting married?” And that’s how I came up with Wedding Crashers, a story about two womanizers who want to crash the biggest, most exclusive wedding imaginable.

  But then each of them falls in love with one of the bride’s sisters. So now they must maintain their fictional identities as big business moguls while overcoming a gay, psychotic brother, a nymphomaniac mother, an obnoxious fiancée, a protective father and their fears of commitment and responsibility, all the while keeping the women they love from learning the truth.

  Here’s a second example, this one for Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg’s screenplay Big, which uses the combined Personal Experience/Fictional Story and Genre Template, then adds elements of the Love Story template:

  Let me begin by saying I’ve always been a huge fan of fantasy comedies, especially ones like Liar Liar and The Nutty Professor, or even Bruce Almighty, where a character makes some kind of wish, or declaration, or just longs for some impossible thing, thinking it’s the answer to all his problems, and it turns out to be a curse to overcome.

  Well, when I was in junior high, I was very short for my age. And I always wished I could be big like the cool kids.

  So I started thinking, “What if a kid actually got that wish, and it gave him the body of a 30-year-old man?” And that’s how I came up with the idea for Big.

  My hero is Josh, a 12-year-old boy who’s so short he can’t even get on the cool rides at a carnival. But when he puts a coin in a fortune-telling machine and wishes he was big, he wakes up the next day and discovers he’s got the body of a 30-year-old man. No one except his best friend believes what happened — they think Josh is missing — so he decides to move to New York City and pretend he really is 30 until he can find the fortune telling machine
and wish himself back to his normal, 12-year-old body.

  To survive in New York, he gets a job with a toy company, where he’s brilliant, because he actually still plays with toys. But then my hero falls in love with a co-worker at the toy company, who is going to help him design a toy of his own. So now my hero has to overcome all the problems of being an adult when he only has the intelligence and experience of a 12-year-old, while ultimately having to choose whether to stay a grownup and give up his childhood, or to make another wish and go back to who he was, and give up the woman he loves.

  Again, notice that I didn’t follow the two templates exactly — Big is less about winning the romance character’s love than sustaining the relationship in spite of his secret. You will always have to use your own judgment in this way, and mold the templates to fit the needs of your stories.

  Out of curiosity, I contacted Bob Fisher, one of the writers of Wedding Crashers, to see if in fact the deal for the movie was made because of a pitch. It was.

  It actually came out of a half-hour pitch meeting, but Bob said he and Steve Faber began the pitch with the hook, saying, “It’s easy to meet women at weddings, so these guys think, ‘Why just go to the two weddings a year you get invited to?’ So they decide to crash weddings.” In other words, they opened their pitch by revealing how they came up with the idea.

  Bob also said they were able to get that meeting — and meetings at all the studios — because a lot of people read and loved a spec screenplay of theirs which had already been optioned. They were able to get that spec screenplay read because they had been very successful television writers. And they launched their television career by persuading lots of people to read their spec TV scripts.