Pitching is about telling the story, out loud to others as many times as you can. The act of saying the story out loud as a pitch will help you understand what is working, what doesn’t work, and what gets a reaction. The story does not have to include comedy at this phase. There are plenty of opportunities to punch up the story. A “Goldilocks” is a written down form of the story. If you are writing a new comedy pilot, first pitch the show’s story by setting up the world and the main characters, then pitch the pilot episode’s story. A new comedy pilot pitch to a network should also include a deck of photos, characters, and visual elements to help establish this world that you are creating and inspire how you are going to make this a series. Spec writers can focus on the episode’s story since it is set in a known world. Be animated during your pitch. You are telling a story, act it out a bit.

Elements of a Story

Story is generally about two people: one with a goal and the other with opposition to the other. There are five keywords to help develop a story.

• Goals – Something that a character wants to do. Need goals to create a story. Clear goals work the best.
• Stakes – To build empathy with the characters, you need to have stakes. Think about how high the stakes can go. Raise the stakes.
• Conflict – Establish conflict between your characters. A story is a conflict between the two main characters and the B story is just another conflict between two secondary characters.
• Escalation – Layer onto the premise multiple times.
• Ending – Twist the audience’s expectations and resolve the conflict.

A half-hour comedy episode has multiple escalations played out as act breaks whereas a comedy sketch is compressed starting with a premise, at least two escalations, and a twist.

Pitching Notes

• Name your main character and use that name in your pitch. Have a few things to say about the character.
• Tell us about the world they are in.
• Find something you like about someone else’s pitch and reflect it back. This makes you a great pitch partner.
• You are writing for performers. Write what they love to perform. Make the contractions “performable”.