Film Courage: Why is Hollywood so difficult to pitch?
Peter Desberg, Writer/Professor/Psychologist: The biggest thing is it’s expensive to do a project so the risks are gargantuan. We joke about trying to pitch to somebody who has the power to say maybe and it’s just we find it hard enough to sell a book. When you’re talking about even a small film, much less of a big film, just one mistake and your career is pretty much defined and it’s not upward.
Jeffrey Davis, Writer/Professor: Until you’re established. I will say the upside of this is yes, it’s been hard. I don’t think that’s changed from my Dad’s time or that generation. The thing that was great during the studio system which predates my father is that it was like you were hired and you were guaranteed work, you were under contract. Everybody is freelance now and I’m talking about people above the line, the unions are always going to work, people in post-production (like my brother who owns his own company), they’re always going to work. I think the good news is that I mentioned Apple earlier. Apple, Hulu, Netflix, when they come out of this problem which they inevitably will (Amazon), they’re providing new markets and new places and you still have to have someone go in with you. I think the trick is to go in with somebody that they want to be in business with and that’s true in any business.
Peter: There’s also the idea that everybody that you’re pitching to for the most part considers themselves…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
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BIO:
Peter Desberg is professor emeritus at California State University, Dominguez Hills, and recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award and Outstanding Professor Award. He is also a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in the area of stage fright and performance anxiety. The author of 23 books, he has been quoted by such publications as The Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today and The New York Times, and has consulted for companies including Apple, Boeing and Toyota in the areas of pitching and persuasion, corporate presentations, and using storytelling and humor in business presentations.
Jeffrey Davis is a professor of screenwriting at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, and served from 2009–2019 as the department chair. Davis has also written and produced trade shows for Dick Clark Productions and counted among his advertising clients Dell Computers, Toyota of America and Honda. His has more than 30 credits to his name, including Night Court, Remington Steele, and documentaries for A&E, Discovery, and The History Channel. As a consultant, his areas have also included writing, pitching, and employing storytelling and humor in business presentations.
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