#1 - Why does this podcast exist?
Episode
41 min
Read time
2 min
Topics
Leadership, Psychology & Behavior, Science & Discovery
AI-Generated Summary
Key Takeaways
- ✓Pitch Structure Components: Effective pitches require five elements: a compelling story hook, clear character orientation, strong visual imagery, personal connection explaining why you specifically tell this story, and ability to pivot based on room feedback during the meeting.
- ✓Industry Access Strategy: Create your own opportunities rather than waiting for invitations. The podcast model provides writers direct access to producers and agents through recorded pitches with script samples, contact information, and performed first three pages by actors.
- ✓Charm vs Competence: Being compelling matters more than being charming in pitch meetings. Executives prioritize writers who deliver quality work within constraints over personable writers with weak stories. Compelling pitches combine recognizable characters, ironic situations, and clear emotional targets for audiences.
- ✓Pitch Practice Method: Study short-form pitches from TED Talks and Shark Tank episodes, identify what makes presenters compelling versus forgettable, break down specific differences in delivery and structure, then apply those patterns to screenplay pitches for producers and development executives.
What It Covers
Angel Dahud Murphy and Leah Saint Marie launch The Pitch podcast to create a platform for screenwriters to pitch stories directly to industry decision-makers, bypassing traditional closed-door barriers to breaking into Hollywood.
Key Questions Answered
- •Pitch Structure Components: Effective pitches require five elements: a compelling story hook, clear character orientation, strong visual imagery, personal connection explaining why you specifically tell this story, and ability to pivot based on room feedback during the meeting.
- •Industry Access Strategy: Create your own opportunities rather than waiting for invitations. The podcast model provides writers direct access to producers and agents through recorded pitches with script samples, contact information, and performed first three pages by actors.
- •Charm vs Competence: Being compelling matters more than being charming in pitch meetings. Executives prioritize writers who deliver quality work within constraints over personable writers with weak stories. Compelling pitches combine recognizable characters, ironic situations, and clear emotional targets for audiences.
- •Pitch Practice Method: Study short-form pitches from TED Talks and Shark Tank episodes, identify what makes presenters compelling versus forgettable, break down specific differences in delivery and structure, then apply those patterns to screenplay pitches for producers and development executives.
Notable Moment
Leah reveals the podcast originated from anger after hearing a Disney screenwriter confirm breaking into Hollywood has never been harder, despite Leah having sold films to Shudder and still facing constant rejections from agents and production companies.
Episode Transcript
Welcome to Pitch, the launch episode. We'd like to thank you firstly for downloading and listening. And secondly, we'd like to explain how this podcast is structured so you know how to find the stuff that most interests you. Should we introduce ourselves? Yeah. We should. My name is Leah Saint Marie. I'm a former investigative journalist turned filmmaker, mainly writing and sometimes directing. And I am Angel Dahud Murphy. I am a filmmaker, writer, director, and actor. I live in Hollywood and started in the entertainment industry as talent and survived and have stuck around, a while now and learned a bunch of other stuff over the past few decades. My focus now is primarily writing and directing. So Pitch is a two part podcast. Normally, we will have a premium episode which will be accessible to our subscribers. And in this premium portion, we will be featuring three writers, their introductions, their story pitches, and their personal connection to the story they're telling. We'll also then perform the the first three pages of their scripts with actors, kind of like a radio play. So anyone who likes a pitch gets to hear the beginning of the script. If you really like their pitch and their pages, the writers also share their contact information for anyone looking to further collaborate or engage their services. For our first premium episode, we're actually sharing that for free. So everyone gets an idea of what we're offering. Now what will traditionally be the second part of our podcast will always be free. In this portion, Lee and I discuss topics that should be interesting to writers, filmmakers, actors, producers, and anyone really who has a curiosity about what it takes to get a movie or TV show show made or to get and maintain a writing career or, really any career in filmmaking. We interview industry insiders and we have spirited discussions about storytelling, writing, and all the things we have experience with as it pertains to the industry. So make sure to check out our first premium episode, again, which is available for free. We both pitch stories we turned into scripts, and you'll get a great idea of what the subscriber episodes will be like for the future. Now for the rest of this episode, we'll be covering a few topics. Yeah. And what are those topics, Leah? Our two topics are why does this podcast exist and why are you listening to it, and what makes a good pitch? Alright. And just how did this podcast come about? How did it come into being? This started because I got good and angry, and I got angry because this industry is built on doors. It feels like every door is closed to us. We have all of these great ideas. We both have friends in the industry who are screenwriters and filmmakers, and it has been just so very difficult for them to quote unquote break into the industry. And …
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podcast
- Shark TankRecommended
“Study short-form pitches from TED Talks and Shark Tank episodes, identify what makes presenters compelling versus forgettable, break down specific differences in delivery and structure, then apply those patterns to screenplay pitches for producers and development executives.”
- TED TalksRecommended
“Study short-form pitches from TED Talks and Shark Tank episodes, identify what makes presenters compelling versus forgettable, break down specific differences in delivery and structure, then apply those patterns to screenplay pitches for producers and development executives.”
“Angel Dahud Murphy and Leah Saint Marie launch The Pitch podcast to create a platform for screenwriters to pitch stories directly to industry decision-makers, bypassing traditional closed-door barriers to breaking into Hollywood.”
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