On September 24, the Asian American Committee’s (AAC) meeting included the panel discussion, Selling Your Project: Pitching, Packaging and Financing. In a conversation moderated by Director Dan Liu (For All Mankind), Agent/Executive/Producer Jay Cohen (The Gersh Agency), Manager/Producer Amotz Zakai (Sunny Nights) and Producer Fernando Loureiro (Our Son) gave tips on the process of taking your project from concept to the screen.
Cohen stressed the importance of knowing your audience and advised those looking to pitch their projects to do a short, sizzle reel but to keep texts of pitch decks minimal as most people don’t read and will just look at the visuals. He also recommended always having several projects to pitch and when a pitch is not going anywhere, stop.
Loureiro spoke about how new Directors need to set the foundation of the project, work on the script and make sure the roles make sense. He noted that it’s best to fix everything at the script stage because it’s a market driven world and if a producer wants to make an $6-8 million project, but the market dictates only $3-4 million, then you have to figure out how to make it work.
Zakai shared how a Director needs to have a personality when selling a project. He recalled an instance where a Director made a great film, got a lot of attention but had no personality during the Q&A and could not articulate why she made the film, and the film ended up not selling.
The discussion was organized with the assistance of Asian American Committee member Sam Kadi.
About the Asian American Committee:
The Asian American Committee (AAC) was created as a networking group to provide a forum for interests and issues that concern Asian-American Guild members. Through outreach efforts in the entertainment industry that emphasize career development and skills enhancement, the committee provides a variety of networking opportunities as well as screenings, seminars and discussions with industry professionals.