So you thought writing the screenplay was the hard part?  I've got sad news for you.  The hardest thing about screenwriting is getting someone to actually read your script.

By someone, I don't mean your mom or your girlfriend.  I mean someone 'in the industry', a producer or an agent, or someone who could hook you up with a producer or an agent, or at least give you an informed opinion about whether or not your script sucks.   (I know, I know, your girlfriend loved it...)

If you've tried to get your script to someone who will read it, you know what I mean.  Producers for the most part won't read anything that doesn't come to them through an agent.  Most Guild-signatory agencies won't consider new writers.  It's a classic Catch-22 - you can't get your script read because you've never sold anything and don't have an agent, and you can't sell anything or get an agent because no one will read your script. 

Producers and agents will always say that they are on the constant lookout for new talent.  I never believed them - until recently.

Until the advent of the Pitch Fest. 

This innovative new type of event gathers up a bunch of producers and agents in a large room, and invites unproduced and unagented screenwriters to come pitch their scripts to them.

(What is a pitch?  A pitch is a meeting in which the screenwriter gives a sales pitch for his screenplay.  If you want to be a screenwriter, this is a necessary skill.  And you don't ever get too big and too successful to need to pitch, so you might as well learn now. )

There are a number of screenwriting seminars now, and more and more of them are incorporating pitch fests.   This is a good thing. 

Do script sales ever come from pitch fests?  Yes, a few.  A very few.  (The paucity of sales should not be surprising, since it's a fact that most unagented scripts, just like most unpublished novels, simply aren't sellable.)

The two major pitch fests are held annually, one in Los Angeles and one in New York City, sponsored by Creative Screenwriting Magazine.   There are other pitchfests, but research them carefully to make sure they're going to have the participants to make it worth your time and money.

Because yes, it costs money.  If you live in Los Angeles or New York, you won't have the travel and lodging costs, but the pitches themselves cost money.  Recent pitchfests cost $25 a pitch, or $100 for a 'five pack' of pitches.

Before you start bellyaching about the cost, consider what a deal it is.  Prior to the advent of the pitchfest, virtually the only way an unagented screenwriter could get a script read by an agent or producer was to enter a screenwriting contest.  Make that enter and WIN, or at least finish in the top five.  The entry fees for the major contests are $30-$40 and more, and that's buying you a one in hundreds or thousands chance for your script to get someone's attention.  It might be a great script, but the year you enter there are four or five scripts that the readers consider better, and there you are. 

So you can take your $100 and invest in three screenwriting contests, with the potential of getting no access at all out of it.  Or you could invest your $100 in a pitch fest and you are guaranteed that FIVE producers and agents, and these are the producers and agents of your choice from the list, are going to listen to your pitch.

See what a bargain it is? 

How does it work?  You register, you pay, you choose your pitchees.  This can be done online at the Expo's website now, a month or so prior to the fest.  The list will tell you who the participants are and what they're looking for, both format and genre.  You have time, so research the participants and pick carefully.  If what you have is a feature, don't pitch to the television producers.  The earlier you make out your schedule, the more likely that you'll get the producers and agents you want - the major players go fast.  Don't schedule your pitches back to back.

And now the day has arrived:

Pitch Fest Day