Pitch Deck Basics
What is a pitch deck and how will it help you sell your film?
Pitch decks are created at any stage in the process. Producers and screenwriters create a pitch deck specific to investors, sales agents, and distributors with the goal to get their film financed or distributed.
Even if you’re pitching to different executives with different goals, the main components of each pitch deck remain the same. You will need a title page, a logline, character pages, synopsis, film comps, and an estimated budget.
A pitch deck is used to sell your script.
It should reflect the genre and mood of your film. If you’re pitching a comedy, have your pitch deck feel light-hearted and energetic! If you’re pitching a war drama, match the look and energy of the film. This is the first thing that potential investors and distributors will look at and you need to make sure it counts. The main elements of a pitch deck are about the story and its characters, but depending on who you are pitching to you should also include marketable elements, attached cast, director or writer, and distribution strategy.
Marketable Elements
These are anything in your script that would drive an audience to go out to a movie theater and watch your film. Marketable elements include genre, the uniqueness of the story or characters, any specific locations or historical events, casting potential or even directors or writers on board. If I see a trailer with a title card “from the producers of” and I recognize the films, I’m immediately excited.
Film Comparisons
Film comps are the most important element in a pitch deck. This takes time and a lot of research. When you’re explaining your idea to someone and you say “it’s like Thelma and Louise”, this is a film comp. When you’re pitching to investors especially, they want to know that what they’re putting their money into will be successful. By showing examples of other films that are similar to yours, you’re proving to them that your idea has been profitable and is worth investing in. It’s important when you’re choosing your film comps that they are in the same genre, budget range, language, and within the last 5-10 years. The industry is changing constantly and genres go in and out of popularity. Remember when vampires and zombies were everywhere?
Many films are going straight to VOD, which makes finding financial comparables difficult. Using resources like Box Office Mojo shows a film’s domestic and international theatrical gross profits. Since films going to Netflix are bought at a fixed price, it’s often difficult to show the financial success of these titles. Within the next few years, we will see the way we prepare film comps to evolve with the VOD model, whether that’s including clicks, views or length of time in the top 10.
A pitch deck is where the creative and business side of the industry come together. A great pitch deck will make your film look attractive to investors and distributors, overall making this part of the process so much easier.
Take a look at The Ultimate Guide to Film Pitch Decks on The Cutaway for examples.