By Ken Rotcop
If you’ve ever wanted to make a movie, or you’re planning to make a movie, one thing’s for certain, you need to be able to pitch your idea to people. In fact more than any other skill, the ability to pitch well will determine whether your script gets read or you get to meet the producer that can greenlight your project. Unfortunately most people don’t know how to pitch and those do don’t usually do it well and that’s what Ken Rotcop’s excellent book sets out to change.
Nicely laid out as a series of 31 questions that obviously Ken hears a lot, The Perfect Pitch sets out to answer those questions and does so in an engaging and friendly style covering everything from what makes a good pitch to pitching an idea not a script, using props or gimmicks in the pitch meeting, not getting intimidated and much more. There are also sections on getting an agent, entering competitions, pitches that actually sold and my absolute favourite chapter called “Overheard At The Workshop” which is a collection of absolutely true stories that Ken Rotcop has heard and written down while the folks attending his Pitchmart workshops are chit-chatting before the class. they range from scary to infuriating to laugh-out-loud hilarious and are worth the price of the book on their own.
This book isn’t really a step-by-step how to of pitching, it’s a guide to the do’s and don’ts of pitching and, recognising that the movie business is a real business, it is very focused on making the sale. Some of it is common sense stuff like ‘don’t turn up late’ but on the whole it’s chock-full of little nuggets that, if put into practice, will make your pitch stand out from the rest.
The chapter layout is a bit haphazard, leaping from topic to topic as MR. Rotcop sees fit but the beauty of that is that you can easily read it cover to cover in a couple of hours or you can open it up at any point and just start reading.
In the end, it doesn’t matter how good your writing is, if you can’t pitch it properly then no-one will read it and your genius will go unrecognised. Ken Rotcop is an acknowledged master of the pitch, and with more than 80 projects from his Pitchmart workshop having been optioned, this book is a must-have for anyone involved in writing, reading or buying scripts.
The Perfect Pitch is published by Michael Wiese Productions and is available from Play.com, Blackwell and all good bookstores.