Once you finish your script and are ready to start shopping it around town, the idea of pitching all your ideas and themes can feel extremely daunting. Often times you’re trying to get producers and execs to even give your script a read, and even if they do what if they don’t fully conceptualize your vision completely the way you’ve lived with it up in your creative noggin.
That’s why we love to utilize a pitch deck.
Filmmaker Leah McKendrick was kind enough to share her very own pitch deck for her hilarious, honest, and personal comedy Scrambled as an example below—an invaluable resource to see how a successful filmmaker got her project off the ground running. But before we check that out, let’s crack some eggs and break down some basics on how to build one of your very own below.
How to Build a Pitch Deck
So, you wanna build a pitch deck. That’s cool, but where to begin? The idea of a pitch deck is daunting—we’re not all graphic designers, after all. But don’t think of it as a chore, they can be a lot of fun and help render things in a way you might not have but to action before constructing.
Let’s breakdown what software you can use, where to source photos, and the basics of where to get started and include.
Softwares to Build Your Deck
Image Sourcing Sites
- Film Grab
- Internet Archive
- Shot Deck
- Frame Set
- myreference.space
- Public Domain Review
- Basic stock sites too (Getty, Adobe stock, flickr, Google search, etc.)
What to Include (simply suggestions—the deck is your oyster)
- Basic themes
- Synopsis and logline
- Stills from films that are referential or similar
- Color palette for look your going for
- Any key words or concepts to highlight
- Charts or graphs? If it works, it works
- News headlines or articles pertinent to your story
- Perhaps a prominent quote or literary excerpt
The list, as they say, can go on. Pitch decks are a free flowing creative process and the fun part about them is you can make them your own.
We dearly hope this starter kit was helpful. As promised, check out Leah McKendrick’s graciously shared pitch deck for Scrambled below:
Author: Grant Vance
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
