The pitch or query letter is vital for submitting your finished script for consideration by an agent, or movie VIP. However, making it your first task will focus your mind on your story. And it's a great test of your own understanding of the plot terms before any script can make it into the production setup to be made into a movie. First, it wasn't get past an agent or a producer. An agent or producer doesn't simply read every script that comes across his desk. They read what is called a pitch letter or a query letter.
The query letter is very short and it just gives you the basis idea and the basic information about a movie plot and what happens within it. The difference between a successful screenwriter and a failure comes down to just one thing. Not a great movie script or a fantastic idea, but a great pitch letter. It's not only necessary, but absolutely essential if a script is to be noticed. The guiding principle is simplicity. The letter must be short, and hook the reader from the very beginning.
The object is to get the agent or producer to ask to read the movie script. Let's take a look at the structure of the perfect pitch letter. First of all, introduce the title of the movie. This is simply to in one sentence, and the title of the movie is in capital letters, then you state the genre. By placing this early on in the letter, the agent or producer knows if he should continue or not. Because they deal with different genre so they may not be interested in that particular style.
Creating a great logline is perhaps the most challenging part of the letter. A logline describes the whole movie in just one or two sentences. In this example on the screen, we can see the logline for the film Terminator written by James Miss Cameron. And in this example, we see the load line for diehard with Bruce Willis. You can see that in this logline for diehard. It gives a lot of information in a very short space with very few words.
We're given the hero's name, john McClane his job. NYPD is a New York policeman. His conflictual quest is to save some hostages. We have the villains name and his status is Gruber and he's a terrorist. We know when because there's a Christmas party involved. And where, because it's stated that the conflict happens in Los Angeles.
In addition, we're also told McLean's wife's last name is Janeiro, which serves to intrigue us a little bit. Why should their names be different? This is just one more reason why we should be curious about watching the movie. The best way to develop this skill of writing a movie logline is to search for successful movies in the database@www.imdb.com and analyze the log lines. You should write a very brief synopsis. Introduce your main characters explain what they're trying to do, and what barriers or obstacles they face in their quest.
Finish off the synopsis by stating what will happen if they fail at their task. What are the consequences or the stakes of the game? The synopsis displayed is extracted from the pitch letter sent to promote the movie Terminator with Mr. James Cameron. The challenge is to make every word count, keeping the paragraph short, but including the essential ingredients of the movie. The letter is finished with an author biography, but a very short one. It could be the easiest part of the whole letter, but it should also be crafted carefully.
The BIOS should focus only on positive aspects of the author's talents. Whatever positive aspects the author has tried to turn them around to the advantage of the movie script and show how they're relevant. However, if the author has no relevant diplomas, or awards or experience, it isn't necessary to state this. Because this is negative. The BIOS should contain only positive elements. finding these positive elements and stating how they contribute to the script is part of the way in which you sell the author and help to get his script read.