Delegate Guidebook

DO NOT have those itty bitty cards,
oversized ones or round ones or
whatever. These get lost far too easily.
IN AN EMERGENCY: if you have no
business cards or run out during the
festival, whip out your phone and ask the
person in front of you who they are on
Twitter. Follow them immediately. Create
a list of people you meet at LondonSWF
this way. Not on Twitter? SIGN UP NOW.
Pitching
Let’s face it: for a lot of LSF delegates,
it’s all about the pitching. And why not:
LSF opens up a plethora of potential
opportunities for writers, all in one place.
What’s not to like about that!
So, a few things to remember when
pitching, especially in the Pitchfest:
Make sure you’ve got your thoughts
together.
Sit down. Smile. Shake your pitchee’s
hand if it’s offered.
DON’T PANIC. No one expects you to
be perfect.
Introduce yourself. Tell them: 1) what
you’re pitching 2) what genre it is 3) what
the audience is 4) the logline [NOTE: If
you trip over your words, take a deep
breath. Start again.]
Don’t babble. If the pitchee does not
seem interested, don’t try and force it.
Ask them if they’d like to hear another
logline. If they say yes, rinse and repeat
the steps above.
If you don’t have another logline, don’t
sit there like a lemon. Ask your pitchee
something. Have a conversation. I find a
great icebreaker is, “What would you like
to see more of in the slush pile?” Make
a mental note of any recurring themes,
genres, or characters etc that crop up if
you ask more than one industry pro this
question.
And another thing, lieutenant: Give one
pagers to your pitchees only if they
ASK for them and never, ever foist an
entire script on them – or anything else
like USB sticks, CDs or photos/props
and especially gifts, even if you mean
well: it can get really weird. If you have
something you want to give someone
– my Bang2writers have brought me
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