November 23, 2007

Today I spent most of the day preparing to attend the ICANPITCH event at Liberty Village. I agreed to go at the invitation of my friend, the delightful Marlene Anderson (mother of author Gordon Stewart Anderson of The Toronto You Are Leaving fame, whom I'd met after reviewing Gordon's book on my site -- see 'Belated Gifts' under the Other Writing tag.)

I have to say I first glanced over the event's publicity and thought it looked pretty cheesy (a bunch of wannabe screenwriters given the chance to force their ideas on a bunch of jaded film producers at five minutes a pop.) But then I saw a name I felt gave the event some credibility: Scott McEwen, Executive Head of Drama Development at the CBC. (I'd met Scott briefly in Los Angeles in September and liked him and his honest, easy-going way of talking.) So I signed up, and I'm now glad I did.

The evening's seminars on how to pitch were enlivening and enlightening. Story developer Marguerite Piggott's talk was funny and very very good. She made the entire process sound enjoyable rather than the cattle call I knew it would be. Her tips for presenting material to producers (jaded or not) were nothing short of brilliant. For that alone the entire evening was worthwhile.

Tomorrow, the pitch!