I love making pitch decks! Not only is it an efficient way to communicate your vision to other team members and producers, but it also helps you clarify all the different aspects of your film and the choices you want to make.
1 – choose a presentation software YOU like
The software you use (PowerPoint, InDesign, Slides, Keynote…) doesn’t matter as much as long as it looks professional and coherent. You’re likely to show a PDF anyways so don’t spend too much time picking the one you want. Just choose the one you feel comfortable with the most!
2 – Be visual
Filmmaking is a visual art. The whole point of a pitch deck is to show what your film would look like. Use a lot of images, and references from previous films or TV shows to showcase the lighting style, and the locations, and put headshots of your cast and crew if any of them are attached.
Your entire presentation style should also reflect the film’s mood. Is it a comedy? Bright colors are a good bet. Is it a western? Try earth colors. Making a Si-fi? Cold colors like blues and purples usually suggest mystery and futuristic environments. Softwares often have templates to help you pick the best fit for your story. And don’t forget the importance of font! You can download more on free websites like dafont.com to find the perfect match.
3 – Be concise and organized
As previously said, it is a visual medium so don’t spend too much time writing long paragraphs. It’s a presentation after all!
Here’s the way I like to organize it:
- Presentation page (a strong poster version image with the title and the creator’s info -name, email, socials etc)
- Basic info on the film (genre, length, logline)
- Synopsis
- The cast
- The team
- Visual style (camera, lighting, editing, costume, mise en scène in general)
- Locations
- Budget
- Film comparatives
- Target audience
- Marketing Strategy
- End page (thank you + contact info)
4 – Be adaptative and creative
Easier said than done but important to stand out. Those softwares have so many possibilities so use them to your advantage to create a unique presentation that reflects the spirit of your film. Add some music, a cool lighting effect, or transition that demonstrates the style of your film.
5 – Back yourself up with facts and numbers
Think your film will be a killer at the box office? Don’t just say it, prove it! Lots of numbers can be found on box office mojo or imdbpro. Use comparative films similar to yours and no older than 5 years (this industry changes fast and anything older than 5 years is likely obsolete! Remember when Netflix was just the only streamer out there? Yeah that wasn’t that long ago now, was it?)
6 – check for misspelling
The easiest for the end: check and double-check for misspelling errors. Those almost always send this unconscious message of lack of professionalism to the reader. So easy to fix yet so easy to miss. Ask for someone to proofread it for you, sometimes even the most powerful software miss some errors.
In conclusion, whether you’re doing a pitch deck for a producer, a network or not, I highly encourage you to make one as soon as you’re ready. You nsver know when you might meet a person asking for it, and beyond this, if you’re not doing it for an executive, you might as well doing it for yourself as it is a very powerful tool to sharpen your vision and plan of action.
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