The Film Pitch Deck That Will Get You a Green Light
A film pitch deck is a sales presentation that includes all the information about your project. As a filmmaker you need to sell your big idea to production company executives, potential investors, crew, and even to your film course professor to give you a green light.
Pitch decks are used in situations where an elevator pitch has probably already gotten you in the door, and now it’s time for a more in-depth sales pitch, to convey the complete picture of your cinematic vision. A pitch deck presentation offers a visual representation of your film’s storyline and establishes tone and design choices.
A pitch deck should be more visually oriented than a bible or film treatment or look book. We’re gonna walk you through exactly what information needs to go into a deck and how it needs to be presented.
Cover Image
Your cover page needs to feel like an opening of the movie. Pitch deck cover is the first impression that someone gets of your film, so not only do you want your cover to look professional, but you also want to look and feel like your film as well. Everything in it needs to look high quality and well designed.
Choose the image and the words on your cover wisely, try to include images that are emblematic of the tone of your film.You want the person seeing your pitch deck at a first glance to know your creative voice and the creative tone that you’re gonna take with the project.
Creating a strong cover page in your pitch deck design process will significantly increase the chances to engage your audience quickly and give them a reason to stick around. And don’t be afraid to get some creative help to make something unique and attractive. If you have an upcoming film pitch presentation but you don’t have the skillset of a professional designer, don’t worry, you can access professionally designed free pitch deck cover page templates by Screen Hustler that will act as a guide for you to create your next impactful pitch deck cover page.
Our tip to creating a strong cover is to use an expressive background and choose fonts and colour schemes strategically. If you could boil your entire film down to just one or two stylistic choices, they should appear on the cover page.
Emotional Hook page
This is about selling your pitch with the written word. The right words with the right image will create the type of emotional response you want to conjure in your audience. Choose words for your emotional hook page that are memorable and unexpected. Use bold fonts and colours to make the page visually stunning.
This emotional hook page could be a quote, a question, or a line of dialogue from your script that demonstrates the value of your project and gives the reader a clear idea as to why this is an important project.
This is the intangibles of your project, it’s the magic of your film and it’s why people are going to connect with it. This is a really important slide and it’s what sets you apart from other people.
Snapshot page
A pitch deck is the highlight reel of your film project, this is the document that allows potential collaborators and investors to read in five minutes tops and get a clear understanding of what this project is about, and show it to anybody else that needs to see it and can make a decision as to whether they are going to green light your project and write you the check or pass.
Use your logline and tagline as a reference to build your project snapshot. The logline is your story distilled into one or two punch-packing sentences. It introduces the film’s core concept, protagonist(s), and the stakes in 25 to 50 words. Unlike the tagline, which is a dramatic, provocative statement, the logline should lean descriptive. Therefore your project snapshot should be short and create warmth.
Moodboard Page
Filmmaking is a visual medium, and a pitch deck helps take the script to the next level, from something that you read to a piece of art that gets your audience to see your vision and hear you loud and clear. The Moodboard page allows you to envelop your narrative, visuals, storyline all into one place.
Moodboards should introduce the theme, the fonts, the colours, the images that you are going to use. Everything needs to match and be cohesive. Photos can speak to the mood of your film, nostalgic, joyful, severe, or adventurous.These images can shape the direction and guidance for your cinematography vision.
Consider the colour and style of the images as well. You aren’t going to be able to just start grabbing a few images here and there off the web and put them right into your mood board template. Designing your moodboard takes far more than selecting image, colour, and font combinations that look nice. This means that a deep understanding of the psychology of the elements of your moodboard and knowing how to use each element strategically to produce specific desired effects, is a core component of a successful pitch deck.
You can take shots for you moodboard on your own, try to find elements in your life where you can show that you are connected to the material, or if you are looking for inspiration, we’ve put together some links for you to get started with:
– Shot Deck
– Film Grab
– Source Creative
– Adobe Stock
– ShutterStock
People Page
Pitch decks should introduce the people who are involved in the project, including cast and crew. You have to show that you’ve attached the right people to your project, and that your team will have an impact on the market.
You can throw in a brief description of the character. You don’t need to be exhaustive here, this should serve as a teaser. Use faces and figures in your cast page, to propel your readers into the film’s narrative
Previous Projects Page
In this page you should show your previous work, to give a glimpse of the kind of work that you do. You can use small thumbnails of the projects that you have done and what was the impact they had on the market. Did they get critical acclaim, turn a profit, or get a big distribution deal.
This gives your readers an idea of what your track record is so that they understand why it’s important for them to green-light your project.
To Wrap Up
A pitch deck is not a film treatment with a back story and character outlines or story arcs. Pitch decks should introduce the emotional hook of your project, the mood, the theme, the fonts, the images that you are going to use. The key is engaging on a visual level with your readers, you need to create warmth so that you win over their hearts and minds.
Give your film project the best chance for success by including the information in this article, Screen Hustler can help you make a great first impression while having some fun presenting creative ideas for your film project, head over to our film project services and get started with creating your pitch deck presentation with the help of experts.