How can I sell an idea for a movie?
It’s really, really hard to sell just an idea. Hollywood is full of ideas; everybody’s got a few thousand. Still, the idea is the germ. What you want is to set up a “pitch meeting”. Refine your idea to where you can get it out in fifteen seconds or less. Really. If they want more, they’ll ask for it, but they listen to a few hundred ideas a week and if the idea doesn’t grab them in fifteen seconds they want to move on to the next thing. Getting that pitch meeting is the hard part, and it’s a combination of luck and networking. You can show up at film festivals and pitch your idea to anybody who will listen. Get to know your local filmmakers by hanging out at the local art college or signing up to work as the crew on an indie movie shoot. That’s where you meet the right people. And when you meet them you can pitch your idea. If they like it, they can put you in touch with their friends, who will be able to do the rest of the job: write a script, find a producer, get funding, find a dire
