The Pitch and the Script

Sunday, Oct 29, 10am-4pm

Open to all

Limited to 12 participants

Hybrid Workshop

This one-day workshop will concentrate on the “pitch” for a feature film, documentary or TV series.

The oral pitch is an important part of developing and setting up a film or television project with a producer, studio or network. The pitch is useful both as a selling and personal creative tool. A short pitch, in which the story of the project is told concisely, is not meant only to be a selling tool to a producer.  A pitch crystallizes the story and character elements of the script, and creating it can help the creator see which parts of the story are working well and which require work.

Participants should prepare a five-to-eight-minute oral pitch of a narrative film, television series or documentary they would like to workshop with the class. After delivering the pitch in front of the class, it will be open to discussion with myself and others in the class.

Participants who have already written (or partially written) a script based on the pitch are invited to submit ten pages of the script that can be shared with the class for further discussion.

There will also be time in the class to answer questions about general aspects of the craft and technique of scriptwriting, as well as the business aspect of scriptwriting, getting a script produced and finding creative employment in the film and TV industry.

Sharing is crucial in scriptwriting. Everyone from top professionals to serious beginners shares their material with producers, co-creators, mentors, executives, friends. It’s in the sharing that the script often becomes alive and grows. This workshop is essentially a sharing experience. Nobody is right or wrong, but the comments from myself and others can hopefully contribute to the further development of the participants’ projects.

Gerald Wexler’s writing credits include the feature Margaret’s Museum, featuring Helena Bonham Carter (Genie Best Screenplay, Grand Prize, San Sebastian, Best Canadian Film, Vancouver, etc.); writer/producer of the Tony and Ridley Scott series The Hunger, featuring David Bowie; multiple award winning episodes of the Nickleodeon series, Are You Afraid of the Dark; CBC mini-series St. Urbain’s Horseman; Manuel, Le Fils Emprunté (5 Best film awards at International Festivals, Competition, Berlin) and numerous other TV series and films, in Canada and the US.