STEP 9 – Assignment #2: The Long Pitch (Written)
Nick Yellen
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Sep 21, 2023 (Edited Oct 20, 2023)
Homework
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Due Oct 30, 2023, 10:59 AM
Please submit a WRITTEN version of the long pitch following handout/format guidelines for teacher to review.
This should be roughly 8 mins long. This will be not presented verbally at this time.
The Longer 8-10 min Office Meeting Pitch Components
The Introduction (including importance to you)
Introduce the Specs (Title, Format, Genre, Nutshell, Logline)
Format
Genre/Sub Genre
Nutshell/Meets/Comparables
Logline
Setting
Dive into your story (Act 1) (Maintain tone, if a Horror, make it scary, etc…)
Character introductions (focus on Protagonists and Antagonist)
Act 2
Set Piece (it can fall anywhere in 3 act structure/visually powerful)
Act 3
Summing up Themes and Arcs (how does your character change? Show us how the themes are
delivered.
Logline recap
(same as initial logline)
Questions?
Reflection:
What I love and learned from this assignment is to present what I truly wanted to convey in every detail. From my personal connection to the importance of this project to describing every aspect of this project in great detail. From the introduction, to the settings, to the character details. I found a written pitch conveys more detailed information and structure compared to a verbal pitch. I love pitching despite the fact that I have trouble with verbal pitches. A written pitch assignment such as this helped me with organizing my pitch as well as focusing on the important aspect of the project.
Premise
During the Last moment of his grandfather’s life, a man listens to his grandfather’s life story through the words of his relatives; from being sold to a foster family in China and migrating to Indonesia to growing up in a hostile family going through hardships and struggles and eventually overcoming many hurdles in his life to achieve success in businesses as well as providing a better life for his own family.
Logline
A true story about a boy bought and sold in a market, migrated to a foreign country, abused by his foster mom, started working as a child, the boy who happens to be a mechanical talent and a genius grows up to be a successful businessman against all odds due to his out of the box thinking and his perseverance.
Genre
A period drama
Comparables
Shawshank Redemption 1994
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A character with an extraordinary talent that makes him/her special.
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A story within a story, told by a narrator.
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A period drama
Forrest Gump 1994
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A character with a deficiency yet displays extraordinary abilities that catapulted him into success.
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A story narrated by the main character from the present time to an audience, a story within a story.
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A period drama
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A life story.
The Legend of 1900 1998
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A character that has a talent that has never set foot on land.
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A story narrated by his friend, a story within a story.
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A period drama
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A life story.
Setting
A young man learning about his dying grandfather’s life of struggles, failures, and successes through the words of his relatives as he awaits his grandfather’s passing. The period drama is told through flashbacks as they are narrated by the young man’s visitors. Each story told in the present time that flashes back to that past period of his grandfather’s life. The main character, the young man’s grandfather, is a mechanical genius and an opportunist that eventually becomes successful in business with a big loving family. Something that he started without. The overall story deals with abuse, struggles through hardships, romance, forgiveness, perseverance, dementia.
Note* I would love to use one single actor playing the grandfather role from teenage years to a 100-year-old utilizing current CGI technology akin to Marvel films of de-aging Robert Downey Jr’s Tony stark as well as aging Chris Evan’s Steve Rogers. I feel that the current technology is advance enough for a feature film; The Irishmen starring Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino de-aged the actors to play the younger version of their respective characters. The reason behind this is to maintain an emotional attachment between the audience and the main character as I feel that casting different actors for different time period of the same character would require the audience to ‘familiarize’ with the character again.