Paper trail

By Clive Whittingham

can be avoided by taking a paper format to the funds available from ITV, Talpa, Fox and others as mentioned above, or reduced by using found footage and clips from existing shows to illustrate points.

“It needs to be clear, not too messy. I would suggest you try to keep it basic, simple, not too many words. Make it concrete, relevant and sharp,” van Diepen says.

A pitch deck, laying out the basic steps and recipe for the format, will have to be left behind at the end of the pitch. Babcock says that, in an ideal world, you’ll have two versions of these: a basic outline and a more detailed version.

“In the first, there should be an economy of words on every slide – just give the basic gist of what you want the buyer to know,” she says. “Think about the questions they will have about how it works: what happens in each act? Is there a series arc or is it a standalone show? What’s the end goal? Who are the key players or participants?

“If that person is more interested and wants to take it to a department head, they’ll ask for more granular detail about things like how many weeks of pre-production will be required. You might want a more granular deck available to send to those people and only those who want to engage with you and craft a deal. Remember, most buyers don’t want a lot of words on the page.”

“Make the pitch memorable and fun,” Babcock adds. “If you’re pitching a cooking show, go in there with some food. If you’re pitching a game, take it with you to play. If it’s a fashion show about recycled clothing, go in dressed in a fabulous outfit that is second hand. If you’re doing a relationship show about your ex, bring your ex. Make it memorable, be passionate and be crystal clear about how it works.”

As ever, timing is everything, and a degree of luck is required, but both execs caution against being put off by rejection in an industry of a thousand ‘nos’ for every ‘yes.’

“It must be frustrating to be pitching a gameshow and get the same answer that gameshows are dead or not working well right now, but a genre is never dead,” van Diepen says. “The more people tell you they’re not buying gameshows, the more you have to continue to pitch because you’re about to get a commission for a gameshow – it always goes up and down.”

Babcock concurs, and offers a famous example. “If you have seven channels in your territory, six might not want a gameshow but the seventh wants to do something different so just might,” she says.

“The guys who created Who Wants to be a Millionaire? pitched that show for five years over and over and could not get a bite. They would pitch it, take critique and notes back with them and tweak it, but the basic DNA of the idea they stuck with, waited for commissioners to change and went back and pitched it again. They waited for a change in the marketplace. They never gave up, and we know how that ended for Celador.”

She adds: “A commissioner will try to poke holes in your idea and say they’ve seen it before. You’ve got to stand up for it and say, ‘This is different because…’ or, ‘That problem won’t happen because this solution is baked into the rules.’”

“Know the budget it will require,” Babcock says. “Don’t be unrealistic about how much it costs to make the show you’re pitching. If it’s going to be costly but you stand behind the concept 100%, that’s fine. Nobody is saying make it less expensive, but know its cost and why it deserves that budget. Know your broadcaster. Don’t go to a small channel with lower budgets and pitch something that is right for ITV primetime or TF1 or NBC or Netflix.”

Concluding on an optimistic note, van Diepen says: “Buyers are under immense pressure to get the right content, so don’t assume the power is always with them. It’s an extremely competitive market in all of the territories I acquire for. They’re under just as much pressure to get involved with the right IP as you are to pitch to the right party.”

“ Make the pitch memorable and fun. If you’re pitching a cooking show, go in there with some food. If you’re pitching a game, take it with you to play. If it’s a fashion show about recycled clothing, go in dressed in a fabulous outfit that is second hand. If you’re doing a relationship show about your ex, bring your ex. Hayley Babcock

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