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The Golden Pitch Festival

at The 2010 Screenwriting Expo

Expo dates are Oct 7-10, 2010; The Golden Pitch starts Oct. 8;
All events are at the Hilton Los Angeles Airport 5711 West Century Blvd., Los Angeles CA
 

TICKET SALES OPEN TO PRE-REGISTRANTS ABOUT SEPT 27

Watch for announcements by email and at this page;
invitations to buy tickets are sent in the order in which you registered*


NOTE TO GOLD PASS REGISTRANTS:  

Golden Pitch tickets are limited, and they are first come, first served*.  Emails will be sent to pre-registrants providing the URL at which tickets can be purchased.  
The URL will be sent to registrants in the order in which you purchased your Expo registration.  AAA and Expo Screenplan contest winners will receive notice with the first preregistrants.   

The ticket purchase URL is not published. Only pre-registrants may buy pitch tickets before the Expo.  Gold Pass registrants do not receive free pitch tickets, and will receive notice in the same first come, first served order as Basic Pass registrants.


You must be registered to receive the pitch ticket sales URL; or, you may buy available tickets  at the Expo.

Details On The Companies Taking Pitches Are Available At

To read how the pitch process works, please scroll down this page.

Pitch Session Dates And Times:
Session: Room At the Hilton Los Angeles Airport
Session One: Friday, Oct. 8 (1 PM to 5 PM) Plaza Ballroom
Session Two: Saturday, Oct. 9 (9 AM to Noon) Plaza Ballroom
Session Three: Saturday, Oct. 17 (1 PM to 5 PM) Plaza Ballroom
Session Four: Sunday, Oct. 10 (9 AM to Noon) Plaza Ballroom
Session Four: Sunday, Oct. 10 (1 PM to 5 PM) Plaza Ballroom

Improve Your Chances With The Expo PitchPak DVD Set ($109.95)
The Expo PitchPak is a complete 5-DVD course on pitching your ideas and a perfect preparation for the Golden Pitch Festival. Learn from the experts — 5 DVDs take you from handshake to script request to sale. Click here to order or for complete information.

Pitch Meeting Process

Online Registration
Pitch tickets are sold only on line, and only to pre-registrants, until a few days before the Expo.  Online ticket sales are then halted.  Tickets will again go on sale on site at the Expo.  

All people who register for The 2010 Screenwriting Expo and who provide us with a valid, unblocked email address will receive an e-mail directing them to the Golden Pitch ticket sales page. They/you will then be able to register for pitches if they wish.

The location of advance sales is not posted at this web site, and will not be.  Only Expo registrants who have provided us with a working email address receive notification of the pitch sales URL.

Why Pitch?  Industry Access:
Without an agent or legal representation, screenwriters almost never get the opportunity to bring their ideas to the people who can help their script evolve into a film. Don’t miss this opportunity to pitch directly to an industry executive or literary agent with the power to turn your dream into a reality.

In one room, up to 60 of Hollywood’s A-list producers, development executives, agents, and managers at a time will be looking for new material. In all, 137 companies participated in last year's Expo.  We expect about the same number this year.  No other event will offer writers better access to the people and companies capable of setting your writing career in motion. We’ve provided the venue, all you need to do is bring your best ideas and polished pitches — this is your chance to gain representation, sell your idea and make career-changing contacts.

Who?
Top names in the industry, including studio, network and cable development executives as well as agents and managers. Each of our executives has a studio deal and/or has produced several major motion pictures, television shows or Movies-of-the-Week. Executives seeking features of all budgets, MOWS, as well as hour and half-hour television formats will be hearing pitches. Our literary agents and managers are from the top companies representing elite screenwriting talent and making deals that grace the pages of The Hollywood Reporter and Variety every day.

The Steps In The Pitching Process:

Step 1 Understand What You Are Getting Into -- Here Is A Summary Of Key Steps:

  • You will be required to sign a Release And Waiver.  It will be posted before tickets go on sale. 
  • You must register for the Expo in order to be eligible buy pitch tickets.
  • Registrants will be notified in advance by email and on this web site of the date that tickets will go on sale.
  • The day tickets went on sale, earliest pre-registrants received, by email only, the link to buy in the order that you/they registered.
  • You must sign the release in person at the Expo to pick up your pitch tickets.
  • Arrive at the pitch location at least 15 minutes before your pitch session.  Your ticket is for a particular five-minute period.  If you miss your session, you forfeit the ticket price. 
  • No refunds.   Tickets are sold under the same terms as most event tickets. No refunds are given unless the event is canceled.  

Step 2   Register for the Expo
If you want to give a pitch at the Golden Pitch Festival, your first step is to register for The Screenwriting Expo. 

Step 3 — Look For Your Email.  If you pre-registered before Oct. 29 and you are reading this after Oct. 30 and you have not received an email notification of the pitch ticket purchase URL, your email filter may have blocked the arrival of the email.  Contac tCustomer Service by email or phone (323- 957-1405. 

If you are not registered, you will NOT be given the URL to buy pitch tickets in advance.   On-site registrants may buy tickets only on site.

As this page is written, Golden Pitch tickets are scheduled to go on sale Oct. 29 or 30, 2010.  The precise on-sale date is announced by email and on the home page of this web site.  We will send (or sent, depending on when you are reading this page) to you in an advance email, and also post on the web site, a notification of the date on which pitch tickets will go on sale.  On the date tickets go on sale, follow the link to view available tickets and buy tickets.

 Individual tickets (to pitch for 5 minutes to one development executive/ production company) will be sold for $25. You may also purchase 5 tickets or more tickets at a 20% discount.  For example, five tickets will cost $100. 

No refunds will be given for purchased unused pitch tickets.

Step 4 At the Expo, Sign the Release And Waiver And Pick Up Tickets.
The ticket pickup location will be in the Expo registration area.  If you decline to sign the Release And Waiver, you will not be allowed to pitch.  You may sell your tickets to another registrant (who must sign the release), but otherwise, your tickets will be forfeited if you decline to sign.    

Step 5 — Go to Your Pitch Meetings.
The tickets that you purchase will have the name of the production company you will be meeting with as well as the time of your session. You must be in line for your session at least 15 minutes before your scheduled time.  The pitch meetings will be held in Room (to be announced) at the Hilton Los Angeles Airport.   If you miss your session, no refunds will be given for your unused pitch ticket.

Step 4 — Pitch Your Script.
Each pitch will last up to 5 minutes. At the 5-minute mark a bell will ring and you will have 10 seconds to leave the table. You need to move quickly so the writer with the next appointment can sit down and begin his or her pitch. If you finish your meeting with a production company before the 5 minutes are up, please leave the table as soon as possible. This will open up an opportunity for the a writer in the “Standby” line to speak to that company.

Step 5 — Follow Up:  Understand What A "Polite Pass" Is

After you pitch your story or screenplay, the agent, producer or production company may or may not request to see a copy of your script. If the company does request your script, proper protocol is to mail a copy a few days after the event with a polite cover letter reminding the agent, producer or company of your meeting and the request.  If your script was not requested, it is bad form to send it.  DO NOT follow up with a phone call unless asked to.

The "Polite Pass":   A "polite pass" is a diplomatic way of saying "No, thank you" without stating an outright rejection. The "polite pass" has emerged as a common response because none of us likes rejection, some people respond quite badly to rejection, and no one likes having to reject your work.   If an agent, producer, or company does not ask for your script in the pitch, you should consider that as a"polite pass."  If the company does ask for your script, and you send it, and you do not hear back, that is also a "polite pass."  DO NOT respond to a polite pass with follow up communications unless invited to do so.

Failure to accept a "polite pass" for what it is marks you as an amateur or a potentially difficult person.  For your own sake, please accept each "polite pass" for what it is. 

Disclaimer
The Screenwriting Expo secures agreements to appear from each producer prior to announcing the producer's commitment to the Pitch Meetings. Unfortunately, for any number of reasons, one or more producers may be unable to appear or may not arrive at their scheduled time. The Screenwriting Expo will have back-up producers available to hear pitches in the event that any executives are unable to meet their contractual obligation. In the event that a producer does not appear, a make-up pitch will be arranged with one of our back-up producers. Make-up pitches are available in lieu of refunds. The Screenwriting Expo cannot be responsible if a producer does not meet his or her contractual obligation.

Related Pages:

Prepare to Pitch

Registration

Pitch Rules

Expo Pitchpak.


* NOTE: Management reserves the right to offer first access to pitch tickets to up no more than to 40 special registrants.  In addiion, 10 contest winners will be invited to buy tickets at the same time as eariest registrants.  Other than these exceptions, tickckets are sold solely on a first-come, first-served basis.