So, I spent yesterday over at De Montfort University at a pitching event arranged by regional screen agency EM Media. Quite why Britain’s most landlocked university features tv ads with dolphins I still don’t know, but it’s home to one of the UK’s various screenwriting MA courses, and I’ve been pretty impressed with the calibre of its graduates, some of whom have gone on to establish careers in television.

The event was run along the lines of a speed dating session, and if I were as successful in that arena as I was yesterday I’d have a lovelife so busy I’d be doing more snogging than blogging, that’s for sure. But in both fields it’s quality and not quantity that matters, so how did it work from that perspective?

I had seven minutes each with the representatives of various film, tv, animation and corporate sector outfits. We’d been briefed to prepare one pitch for the occasion, but with an opportunity like that, naturally I tailored what I was pitching to suit the person I was talking to. So, the guy who did animation for tv got to hear about my science fiction series for people who’d love Buffy. The guy wanting films in the under £2m bracket was told about Trouble Magnet, an emo rite of passage story that combines elements of Juno and Billy Elliot. Someone else was pitched a psychological thriller based around a cop in a mental hospital. And there was even someone there who did want to talk about the project that they’d read about beforehand, my tv drama serial set in the world of drugs work.

The ‘trick’ to all of this, if interacting with human beings can be called a trick, is to identify what the person I was pitching to was about. No point trying to flog dark post-watershed tv to someone interested in light comedy films, after all. Which seems easy enough, and requires two things. First, the ability to assess where someone’s coming from fairly quickly. Second, a varied portfolio of projects so you really can match a project to the person you’re pitching to.

Overall then, I was very happy with the day, and people I pitched to…which also included a fellow pitcher, since he’s looking to get into making digital animated features with his partner in crime, and it so happens that they’re looking for someone to develop stories with. And most of the people I was pitching to seemed to be credible people, with one exception: I was concerned that in one case I was dealing with someone I wouldn’t feel comfortable with walking into a room on my behalf to secure funding for a feature film, say, because I was a lot more confident than they were. But maybe they’re someone who gets all resourceful when placed in a room full of financiers, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Besides, if things don’t work out, I lose nothing anyway.

It surprises me when people get nervous around pitching. Some people expressed uncertainty about themselves, or were unduly suspicious of the people we were pitching to. All wasted energy, in my eyes. If you can’t be confident and enthusiastic when you’re talking about something that you’re passionate about, when on earth will you be? And if you can’t communicate your belief in your creative projects, how is anyone else supposed to share that belief and use it to fuel the long process of getting a concept funded and developed?