How Sam Shepard Taught Me the Art of The Pitch
In one Sentence
Show biz is not for the faint of heart. It is as intense an environment as I have experienced in any war zone. You have to figure out who to trust, when, and be prepared for surprises at just about every turn. After seeing my first book proposal rejected a few too many times I officially decided I would stop trying. That evening I dined at the bar of Café Mogardor on St. Mark's place in New York's East Village. Next to me sad an elderly gentleman. We got to talking and I told him about my decision to stop trying break through the defences of the industry's gatekeepers.
The man smiled at me, and asked me to tell him my story. Just like that, at the bar, I told him the gist of how I had arrived at the UN as an idealist and how I refused to just become a cynic, which is why I resigned and why I stuck my neck out - at significant risk - to tell the truth about how the international community basically conspired to steal upwards of $10 billionfrom the Iraqi people, when they were at their most vulnerable....
In the end, he looked at me with a half smile, and said:
"You know what, kid? Just tell people your story the way you just told it to me."
"Why? I mean... How?"
"What I heard from you sounded a lot like a confession... Now tell me... who can resist a good confession?"
I remember the smile on his face. I knew what he was saying but...
Then he leaned in, like he, in turn, was about to tell me a secret: "The people you call "gatekeepers" - don't think of them this way. They have important jobs to do. They take risks on a story.
Every editor, every publisher, every producer, every studio executive, every acting talent - and believe me, when I take on a story, I want to hear form the original writer. I want to hear that it's got heart.
We are all invested in the projects we pick. Treat everyone like you are telling your story for I think that if you just pitch you story in the exact same way you just told it to me, you know, in conversation, I bet you'll see a radical change in the reactions you get."