Pitching Your Cartoon: Be Memorable
Your pitch isn’t the only one an animation executive will see during the week (sometimes during the day). Do your best to be remembered. The easiest way to stand out among the ocean of pitches is to be enthusiastic. Get animated!
You’re pitching a cartoon after all.
Your passion is contagious. If you’re pitching a comedy, you’d better make the execs laugh. If you get them chuckling, they’ll believe their target audience will do the same.
If it’s an action show, knock their argyle socks off with an amazing concept and kick-butt visuals!
You’ve got the first five minutes to get his or her attention. You need to own the room. Bring your concept to life. You do that by not reading from a paper, but by passionately telling them a story.
Even if they already have a concept in development that’s like yours, your enthusiasm could make all the difference. Who would you rather spend the next 3-5 years working with? Someone who’s passionate about his or her creation, or soggy tuna melt who can kinda draw?
I’ve said this before, but I can’t stress this enough: Make your audience feel something. Preferably something positive. The earlier in the pitch you can elicit an emotional response, the better. That is your primary goal.
You don’t want the buyer to merely like your idea. You want them to LOVE it like Elmyra loves fluffy animals.
How NOT to stand out:
File this under “You left the house looking like that?” You’d think this was obvious, but if you feel the need to wear a costume, like a clown with a pink afro, just know that you’ll be the topic of office jokes for weeks to come.
Sadly, no one will remember your show idea. They’ll remember your costume though.
Lesson: Don’t let your outfit outshine your idea.
Even if your pitch meeting doesn’t go as smoothly as planned, do yourself a favor and pitch with passion. That’s a surefire way to be remembered. And the more memorable your pitch is, the more likely you’ll be called back.
