Pitch Like Hollywood What You Can Learn From The High Stakes Film Industry

Download or read book Pitch Like Hollywood: What You Can Learn from the High-Stakes Film Industry written by Peter Desberg and published by McGraw Hill Professional. This book was released on 2022-02-15 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inside tips on how to craft pitches that seal the deal—no matter what industry you work in—and banish presentation anxiety forever From impromptu elevator pitches to full-board presentations, sales and marketing professionals face an “audience” daily―often with make-or-break consequences. As the person delivering the performance, you need to know you have a great script and are able to maintain composure throughout. To help you perfect both pitch and performance, there are no better coaches than clinical psychologist Peter Desberg and writer/producer Jeffrey Davis. With experience and insights from both the film industry and the corporate world, they understand the pitch process. In Pitch Like Hollywood, they show you how to up your game substantially—no matter what business you’re in—by incorporating elements of a classic Hollywood pitch: driving emotion, piquing curiosity, and ultimately winning over decision makers with powerful persuasion and performance. They take you on an insider’s tour of the entire process, from defining the fundamentals to designing effective presentation strategies to overcoming stage fright. With chapters that include Persuasion Boot Camp, The Pitch Panic Cycle, and Creating the Pitch II (The Sequel), Pitch Like Hollywood provides a front-row seat in a master class on giving great performances for any audience, every time—at board meetings, sales calls, and whenever else you want to make a case to get the results you want.

Download or read book Good in a Room written by Stephanie Palmer and published by Crown Currency. This book was released on 2008-03-11 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether you work in Hollywood or not, the fact is that selling ideas is really difficult to do. The reason the pitching secrets of the most successful writers and directors are relevant is because these people have evolved an advanced method for selling ideas. Whether you’re a screenwriter, a journalist with an idea for a story, an entrepreneur with a business plan, an inventor with a blueprint, or a manager with an innovative solution, if you want other people to invest their time, energy, and money in your idea, you face an uphill battle…. When I was at MGM, the hardest part of my job was not cutthroat studio politics or grueling production schedules. The toughest part of my job was whenever I had to say “No” to an idea that was almost there. I had to say no a lot. Every buyer does. The buyer’s work is to say yes to projects that are ready, not almost ready. And no matter how good the script is, if the seller can’t pitch it in a compelling way, how can the buyer see the potential? How can he get his colleagues on board? How can he recommend the seller to his superiors? The fact is that poor pitches doom good projects. It happens all the time. The ideas, products and services that are pitched more effectively… win. That’s just how the game is played. No sense getting upset over it. Instead, let’s accept the challenge and learn the strategies and tactics that will allow us (and our ideas) to succeed. -From GOOD IN A ROOM Business consultant and former MGM Director of Creative Affairs Stephanie Palmer reveals the techniques used by Hollywood’s top writers, producers, and directors to get financing for their projects - and explains how you can apply these techniques to be more successful in your own high-stakes meetings. Because, as Palmer has found, the strategies used to sell yourself and your ideas in Hollywood not only work in other businesses, they often work better. Whether you are a manager or executive with an innovative proposal, a professional with a hot concept, a salesperson selling to a potential client or investor, or an entrepreneur with a business plan, GOOD IN A ROOM shows you how to: Master the five stages of the face-to-face meeting Avoid the secret dealbreakers of the first ninety seconds Be confident in high-pressure situations Present yourself better and more effectively than you ever have before Whether you want to ask for a raise, grow your client list, launch a new business or find financing for a creative project, you must not only present your ideas in a compelling way - you must also sell yourself, as well. GOOD IN A ROOM shows you how to construct a winning presentation and deliver the kind of performance that will get your project greenlighted, whatever industry you are in.

Download or read book Now That's Funny! written by Peter Desberg and published by Square One Publishers, Inc.. This book was released on 2017-06-07 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is a feeling of pure delight that comes from laughing out loud while watching a hilarious movie or a TV show. Yet as funny as these lines may be, they are the work of people you will never see. The magic behind any comedy hit begins when an idea is hatched in the mind of a comedy writer and is then put down on paper. And while few of us are privy to this fascinating process, for writers Peter Desberg and Jeffrey Davis, the challenge of observing and understanding how comedy is born has culminated in a unique new book, Now That’s Funny! Desberg and Davis provide an intimate look into the minds of twenty-four of Hollywood’s funniest comedy writers, who have given us such shows as: Saturday Night Live Monk Everybody Loves Raymond The Simpsons Frasier Maude Home Improvement Valerie Modern Family Cheers There’s Something about Mary The Honeymooners Suddenly Susan Newhart Sabrina the Teenage Witch Archie Bunker’s Place The Tracey Ullman Show Wings Who’s The Boss? and more How do you get to see the creative wheels turn? The authors’ premise was simple: Using a Q and A format, they provided each writer with a story idea and let them run with it. Each of the writers was told there were no rules, no boundaries, and no limits! Because everyone started with the same concept, the authors could see how some writers jumped in and began creating, while others asked lots of questions; how some writers stuck closely to the premise, while others turned it on its head. What emerges is an entertaining look—illuminating and hilarious in turn—at the creative process behind hit TV shows and movies. If you’re one of the millions who have enjoyed watching the work of comedy writers, here is an opportunity to go behind the scenes and see the madness unfold. Now that’s funny!

Download or read book Becoming a Film Producer written by Boris Kachka and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A revealing guide to a career as a film producer written by acclaimed author Boris Kachka and based on the real-life experiences of award-winning producers—required reading for anyone considering a path to this profession. At the center of every successful film is a producer. Producers bring films to life by orchestrating the major players—screenwriters, directors, talent, distributors, financiers—to create movie magic. Bestselling author and journalist Boris Kachka shadows award-winning producers Fred Berger and Michael London and emerging producer Siena Oberman as movies are pitched, financed, developed, shot, and released. Fly between Los Angeles and New York, with a stop in Utah at the Sundance Film Festival, for a candid look at this high-stakes profession. Learn how the industry has changed over the decades—from the heyday of studios to the reign of streaming platforms. Gain insight and wisdom from these masters’ years of experience producing films, from the indie darlings Sideways and Milk to Academy Award–winning blockbusters like La La Land. Here is how the job is performed at the highest level.

Download or read book Loserthink written by Scott Adams and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2019-11-05 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the creator of Dilbert and author of Win Bigly, a guide to spotting and avoiding loserthink: sneaky mental habits trapping victims in their own bubbles of reality. If you've been on social media lately, or turned on your TV, you may have noticed a lot of dumb ideas floating around. "We know when history will repeat and when it won't." "We can tell the difference between evidence and coincidences." "The simplest explanation is usually true." Wrong, wrong, and dangerous! If we're not careful, loserthink would have us believe that every Trump supporter is a bigoted racist, addicts should be responsible for fixing the opioid epidemic, and that your relationship fell apart simply because you chewed with your mouth open. Even the smartest people can slip into loserthink's seductive grasp. This book will teach you how to spot and avoid it--and will give you scripts to respond when hollow arguments are being brandished against you, whether by well-intentioned friends, strangers on the internet, or political pundits. You'll also learn how to spot the underlying causes of loserthink, like the inability to get ego out of your decisions, thinking with words instead of reasons, failing to imagine alternative explanations, and making too much of coincidences. Your bubble of reality doesn't have to be a prison. This book will show you how to break free--and, what's more, to be among the most perceptive and respected thinkers in every conversation.

Download or read book Five Came Back written by Mark Harris and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-02-27 with total page 528 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now a Netflix original documentary series, also written by Mark Harris: the extraordinary wartime experience of five of Hollywood's most important directors, all of whom put their stamp on World War II and were changed by it forever Here is the remarkable, untold story of how five major Hollywood directors—John Ford, George Stevens, John Huston, William Wyler, and Frank Capra—changed World War II, and how, in turn, the war changed them. In a move unheard of at the time, the U.S. government farmed out its war propaganda effort to Hollywood, allowing these directors the freedom to film in combat zones as never before. They were on the scene at almost every major moment of America’s war, shaping the public’s collective consciousness of what we’ve now come to call the good fight. The product of five years of scrupulous archival research, Five Came Back provides a revelatory new understanding of Hollywood’s role in the war through the life and work of these five men who chose to go, and who came back. “Five Came Back . . . is one of the great works of film history of the decade.” --Slate “A tough-minded, information-packed and irresistibly readable work of movie-minded cultural criticism. Like the best World War II films, it highlights marquee names in a familiar plot to explore some serious issues: the human cost of military service, the hypnotic power of cinema and the tension between artistic integrity and the exigencies of war.” --The New York Times

Download or read book Face to Face written by Brian Grazer and published by Simon & Schuster. This book was released on 2019-09-17 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Featured on CBS This Morning, Squawk Box, MSNBC, CNN, Bloomberg, Forbes, Fast Company, The New York Times, and more. “Reading Face to Face is like being a fly on the wall, watching Brian Grazer work his magic. Utterly entertaining, this is how you become Hollywood’s best producer.” —Malcolm Gladwell, author of Talking to Strangers Legendary Hollywood producer and author of the bestselling A Curious Mind, Brian Grazer is back with a captivating new book about the life-changing ways we can connect with one another. Much of Brian Grazer’s success—as a #1 New York Times bestselling author, Academy Award–winning producer, father, and husband—comes from his ability to establish genuine connections with almost anyone. In Face to Face, he takes you around the world and behind the scenes of some of his most iconic movies and television shows, like A Beautiful Mind, Empire, Arrested Development, American Gangster, and 8 Mile, to show just how much in-person encounters have revolutionized his life—and how they have the power to change yours. With his flair for intriguing stories, Grazer reveals what he’s learned through interactions with people like Bill Gates, Taraji P. Henson, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Eminem, Prince, Spike Lee, and the Afghani rapper activist Sonita: that the secret to a bigger life lies in personal connection. In a world where our attention is too often focused downward at our devices, Grazer argues that we are missing an essential piece of the human experience. Only when we are face to face, able to look one another in the eyes, can we form the kinds of connections that expand our world views, deepen our self-awareness, and ultimately lead to our greatest achievements and most meaningful moments. When we lift our eyes to look at the person in front of us, we open the door to infinite possibility.