Conflict is the bad guy you can’t forget, the tornado that destroys everything, the shark that eats people, the difficult mission that needs to be accomplished, and the demons that stop us from achieving our full potential… there are literally thousands of different types of conflict out there.
But the main point is this: conflict has to exist within a story; otherwise there is nothing to drive the story forward and to keep the hero moving forward.
Imagine one of your favorite movies or TV shows without conflict. Imagine how dull and lifeless and uninteresting it would be.
So, when you’re putting your pitch together, don’t forget to include the crucial element of conflict that will drive your story forward and make your pitch that much easier to sell to a producer.
Plot
You’d be amazed at how many people have a great idea but don’t have a plot for their story.
Plot is the narrative structure that takes us from the beginning to the middle to the end of the story.
When you’re pitching a story you need to briefly explain how your story starts, how it progresses, and how it ends.
When you’re pitching, you don’t need to go into a huge amount of detail, but you do need to explain the narrative arc and structure of your story.
Character & Emotion
Character and emotion are what makes a story come alive.
The greatest movies and TV shows are all centered around great characters that stir emotions and empathy within us.
If you compare the two movies: Jurassic Park (the original) and Jaws, the essential premise is the same for both movies—man being hunted by beast.
These two movies, however, couldn’t be more different. Jurassic Park is an empty, hollow movie that falls flat because it lacks characters that we can’t relate to or empathize with.
Jaws, on the other hand, is full of interesting characters and the focus isn’t on the shark, it’s on the three men on the fishing boat. We can empathize with their fear and their emotions. This is what raises Jaws up above Jurassic Park.
Note: character is really like the icing on the cake. It’s important but it doesn’t necessarily make the difference between selling your pitch successfully to a producer or not selling it.
If you pitched the ideas for Jaws or Jurassic Park based on plot and conflict alone, you would be pretty much guaranteed a successful response and sale from your pitch—that’s because these movies are so high-concept a good producer would see their value immediately.
The Best Pitches Have A Hook
An important thing to remember is that the best pitches have a hook (this is what separates a high-concept idea from a low-concept idea).
When we talk about high-concept ideas, these are movie or TV ideas that you can pitch in one or two sentences (e.g., Aliens: Jaws in space, Seven: a serial killer kills based on the seven deadly sins, Liar Liar: what happens if you can’t lie anymore?).
Low-concept ideas on the other hand are usually ideas that focus on a character (e.g., Ghandi, The English Patient or other biographical-style movies or character pieces).
This is not to say that a low-concept idea can’t be extremely popular (think The Sopranos or Mad Men)—it’s just a lot harder to pitch and sell a low-concept idea to a producer or studio than a high-concept idea.
If you can easily describe your idea in one or two sentences, then you’ve got a high-concept idea on your hands. And remember this: a short, easy to remember idea will generate a much more powerful and exciting response from a producer.
Pitching a low-concept idea is incredibly difficult. Even if they make awesome movies and garner lots of awards and critical acclaim, a low-concept movie is a tough pitch and a difficult sell.
Speaking as a former producer I would highly recommend that you leave the low-concept ideas on the shelf until after you’ve established yourself and sold one or two successful high-concept ideas first.
Pitching a low-concept idea is a lot easier once you’ve got a couple of credits to your name or are basing your pitch off a piece of work that already exists (e.g., a book, comic or true life story).
*Liz Fairbanks has worked as a reader, development assistant, and talent agent in Los Angeles over the last seven years. Liz loves traveling, reading and yoga. Liz also works as a freelance consultant for Script Mailer (a company that connects screenwriters with agents and producers in Hollywood).