What is pitching? If you look it up in the English-Chinese dictionary, the definition of this word is related to sport or angle. But today we are going to talk about pitching in the film industry. In Cantonese, we have a similar expression “sell kiu”, which can be translated as selling your idea.

Why is pitching so important to emerging directors in the industry? Simply put, pitching can help directors find investment. It is a common fact that when producing a film, especially drama, a lot of human resources and props are needed whether it is a feature film or short film. If the production team does not have a sufficient fund, the filming process and the final product’s quality will be affected. When emerging directors have come up with an idea of their own, the first thing they need to do is pitching. The pitching we are talking about here is not limited to pitching that targets investors or government funding. What I mean here is that the director has to convince his or her friends that can help make the project work. Film making is a team work. Indeed, there are some directors able to make films with only a handful of people. But for most directors, film making requires a complete production team to produce the film. In this case, if a director has an initial idea, he or she would need to at least convince a script writer to join the team first if the director cannot write the script. Then it comes down to putting the project on track, which involves a lot of administrative works. That is why the director needs to find a suitable producer to handle them. But of course, the director has to convince the producer that the project is viable first. 

After the director successfully finds one or two partners to work on the project, then the team needs to convince a bigger audience that the film project is worth investing. If it is a short film, the production team might most likely need to look for funding from the government due to the slim chance of public release. Neighbouring regions such as Taiwan and Hong Kong do have some supporting funds for short film projects. However, Macao’s financial support in this field is relatively smaller. Macao Cultural Centre has similar funding for film industry workers and offers an annual application opportunity. The funding application mostly requires the applicants to submit a proposal and a script, and later requires the applicants to participate in an interview and explain the idea to a panel. This interviewing process is also a form of pitching that we are talking about here. The financial support from each organisation serves a different purpose. For example, the film ideas might need to cater to local features or some particular themes so as to appeal to particular financing organisations. Aside from that, people on the panel have different personal preferences as well. If a director makes modifications to the original film idea to cater to some preference, it might not work well. It is very tricky when you are trying to attract non-profit funding since you need to explain your film idea, a particular story and why it has to be you to run that project.

The pitching for feature films requires more business consideration since the investment involved is relatively bigger. Simply put, it is a matter of investment and returns. Besides telling the investors why it has to be you to produce a particular film, it is also very important to tell them what your target audience is. Even if the film is not a commercial film, it still has its audience. If the film is some sort of self-actualisation project, then it is hard to convince investors to pour in millions for personal entertainment. After finding investors, you also need to make sure that the production process will not be disturbed and convince other people to follow your direction. It is going to be an uphill battle.

I believe every director has his or her own strengths and shortcomings. Perhaps for some directors, pitching is not something they are good at. But many seasoned directors are still facing these challenges. If making films is something you are passionate about, then it is worth the efforts to become better at pitching.