Blog: Pitching documentaries

Jude Law

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Pitching a documentary can be a stressful and tortured affair, and a bit of celebrity name dropping can help your cause, writes Robin Parker.

I've never pitched a TV or film project and have nothing but sympathy for those who do. Particularly when (a) you're describing your labour of love to a panel of international broadcasters, many of them former film-makers and all used to having their patience sorely tested; and (b) everyone you know in the documentary world is in the same room.

The pitching sessions at the Britdoc festival are a curious affair, putting veterans next to recent graduates. New this year was a 'good pitch' session that saw representatives of associations for bee keepers and pig farmers sat next to the deputy editor of the BBC's Storyville.

So, what did this first-timer learn?

1. It is as terrifying as it looks
That was the verdict of Jon Blair. And he's got a trophy cabinet lined with an Oscar, two Emmy's, a Bafta and a host of other industry awards, so you'd think he'd be used to this sort of thing by now. Still, he was shrewd enough to emphasise that his project, on a preacher in the Brazilian favelas, would cost "very little money" and moreover, told a panel of broadcasters that "I have two of you in mind. Some, I know, won't want it". He was right.

2. Stand out - think light, not bleak
Over the course of three days, the various panellists were lectured about AIDS, Robert Mugabe, doomsay cults, malpractices and abuses in pig farming, the bee crisis that, apparently, threatens to bring apocalypse upon us all. No wonder trailers featuring an old man writing a saucy Mills & Boon novel and a quirky tale of one man's gonzo attempt to 'disappear' for a month to thwart the ID spies won big laughs of relief.

3. Be flexible
Every documentary maker wants a big feature, but it's not always the best route. More4 head Hamish Mykura was convinced Julie Moggan's Mills & Boon doc Guilty Pleasure would be better positioned as a half-hour First Cut doc and stressed that his all-encompassing role enabled him to look across Channel 4's doc output. While Brian Hill's AIDS: The Musical was worthy of a whole series according to The Independent Film Channel's Christine Lubrano. "It screams public service," she said – which, let's face it, translates as "more please" to most commissioners. 

4. Go the extra mile
Jeremy Gilley produced a glossy colour booklet of press clippings and put it on every panellist's chair, while Tracey Worcester gave everyone a DVD. For her film on the International Criminal Court, Pamela Yates played an ace by screening a mock-up of a Twitter channel webpage that demonstrated how the whole world would get talking about the issue.

5. If in doubt, big up the celebs
Jeremy Gilley presented footage from his doc in which he enlists pal Jude Law on a trip to Afghanistan for an inaugural 'day of peace'. Just to be sure, he namedropped Angelina Jolie in his pitch. Tracey Worcester alerted the audience to the presence of the "sexy" Robert Kennedy Jr in the trailer for her doc. But Marc Silver went one better, bringing his collaborator Gael Garcia Bernal in person, leaving certain members of the panel even hotter under the collar on this balmy July day.

Ring any bells?

Robin Parker is Broadcast's deputy news editor