My Pitch Deck Hot Take

I think they’re a waste of time

I’m back from Venice and was revisiting my to-do-list which includes two separate pitches / treatments for projects I’m developing. Both are original ideas, one is a big action comedy thing I pitched to a producer that we’re going to try to develop a script for together, the other is a science fiction idea based on a short story I’d written, which a producer friend read and liked and thought could become a movie. The sci-fi thing we’re hoping we can put together a good enough treatment for that we can send it to some potentially interested actors, and see if there’s a way to kind of package it up a bit, and then sell it as an idea. Why do we think we can do that? It’s a thriller, it’s fun, it’s genre, and it’s a genre I have worked in previously.

The action comedy thing is something that my manager and I have sort of agreed most likely needs to be a really solid spec (rather than a pitch), because it’s decidedly not something I have worked on before, which makes it that much harder to try to sell on the promise of “trust me, I can definitely do this kind of thing that you dear Studio Executive have never seen from me.” So, strategically it seems like it would make more sense to fully spec it out, rather than try to succeed in what would probably be an uphill battle to get someone’s interest.

But… I’m definitely not going to be making a pitch deck for either, and here’s why.

I have never sold anything with a pitch deck.

I have a play that I wanted to adapt into a TV Series which I created a deck for. Nobody ever bought it.

I have an original spec I created a deck for. Nobody ever bought it.

I had a pilot I wrote and did a deck for. Nobody ever bought it.

I had a pilot I co-wrote and we hired an incredible designer to do a deck for. And nobody ever bought it.

Now… this isn’t to say that a pitch deck can’t be useful. I have been helping produce a documentary feature and we made a deck for that, which has been really valuable as something to show to potential investors and film funds. I have a feature film I’d like to go direct, and I made a deck for that to show how I’m thinking about the film visually. When I went and directed a short film I put a lookbook together that I could send to potential team members to give them a sense of the project’s look and feel.

But, if you’re trying to sell your work as a writer, I’d recommend avoiding them altogether. I know that this is a little bit sacrilege to say this, as I know A LOT of people spend A LOT of time talking about and making look books for things. But… here’s my thought process about why that’s perhaps not the best use of time.

Pitch decks are extremely time consuming

If you’re going to make a pitch deck for something, it needs to be extremely good, and the only way to do that is with a LOT OF TIME. That’s time that you could be instead writing, and if you’re trying to be a professional writer, and not a professional graphic designer, I think that time is probably better used not getting good at design software.

Pitch decks are limiting

The secret to a compelling pitch is making sure executives are able to picture the movie (or TV show) in their mind’s eye. And the ideal way to do that is to leave yourself some wiggle room. Nobody is ever going to picture the same thing, because everyone has their own taste, and everyone is going to picture their own perfect version of the thing. The minute you start putting together actual images, nobody gets to picture their perfect project anymore. Now they’re picturing the images you pulled and put together. And they might not like those images as much as the ones they’re imagining. People are always looking for a reason to say “No” and the reason doesn’t have to be particularly justifiable. So with every image you compile, you’re providing yet another potential reason for someone to say No. Which you shouldn’t do! Keep yourself from getting pinned down. Donald Glover sold Atlanta by telling FX what they wanted to hear —

“I was Trojan-horsing FX. If I told them what I really wanted to do, it wouldn’t have gotten made.” Stephen Glover, Glover’s thirty-year-old brother and his closest collaborator on the show, said, “Donald promised, ‘Earn and Al work together to make it in the rough music industry. Al got famous for shooting someone and now he’s trying to deal with fame, and I’ll have a new song for him every week. Darius will be the funny one, and the gang’s going to be all together.’ That was the Trojan horse.” — From a New Yorker profile of Glover

So why show something that could potentially NOT be what they want to see?

Pitch decks are too long

There’s something about sending someone a PDF that’s one to three pages long that just feels extremely manageable to people. When you send a PDF that’s 15-30 pages long… that starts to feel… less manageable. And so what often is going to happen is that lookbook is going to be skimmed through on someone’s phone without anyone really absorbing what’s there in the first place. If you can grab someone’s attention with a compelling 1-3 page document outlining an idea for a project, that’s really all you need to do.

Pitch decks don’t stand on their own

The whole point of the thing you’re trying to sell is the writing. If you have an original spec — then that’s the thing that people are going to need to read, first and foremost, not the deck. It doesn’t really matter how good the deck is if the screenplay (or pilot) isn’t compelling. And if you don’t have an original script, but instead are pitching an idea, then the real work of the pitch will be done in a meeting, and verbally, not via the deck. So… if you’re going to pitch a show (or movie) and share a deck before or afterwards, then all you’re really doing is providing people something that they can look back at and reference. And leaving something behind for people to reference is… not a good idea! See above about leaving things to the imagination. Sometimes less information is more! So, in either instance, an original spec script or a pitch, you’re stuck with something that is at best supplemental material, and at worst, another thing for people to reference to try to find a reason to say no.

Pitch decks are the director’s job

The look and the tone and the style and the casting and the approach? Those are the job of the director. Leave the directing to the directors!

Do not, under any circumstances, make a pitch deck for an Open Writing Assignment!

Just don’t do it. The odds are never in your favor on these kinds of gigs. It’s not worth it. We are writers. Write. Don’t waste your time!

There are certain instance in which, yes, pitch decks do make sense…

• If you are also planning to direct the project. If you’re directing something, then yes, of course, you want to do everything you can to convey the look and feel of the film you’re trying to set up. Of course a pitch deck makes sense in this scenario!

• If you are a producer on the project and are approaching financiers / grantors / funders of any kind. If you are planning to submit to any grants / groups / funds, a lot of them do ask for and allow lookbooks as part of the submission process. If you’re approaching independent financiers, they may in fact want this sort of thing! In this kind of scenario, you are looking for anything that can elevate the material and project you are submitting, and a look book is a great way to make something seem professional, like it’s moving along, and like it’s an inevitability that it gets finished (something every funder is looking for).

• If you are doing it for fun. I get it. Sometimes it’s fun to put together pretty pictures.

What do you guys think? Am I a crazy person for making this argument? Has a pitch deck ever actually moved the needle on something you were putting together? I have more experience in selling features than I do selling television, maybe it’s more useful if you’re trying to sell a show???

Let me know in the comments below!