4th Annual Pitch Festivus!

4th Annual Pitch Festivus! This week, instead of our normal programming, we’re going to be bringing you a replay from our 4th Annual Pitch Festivus! event. We’ll begin with a roundtable where you learn pitching and get answers to common questions from Jacob Krueger and top members of the Jacob Krueger Studio faculty, Steven Bagatourian, Jerome Perzigian and Christian Lybrook. Then you’ll hear a series of pitches from members of our community, and feedback from me and my faculty members, so you can learn how to make your own pitches better and succeed in this challenging industry. And before we get started, congratulations to our winners:  The Audience Choice Award went to  J.D. Elliby for “The Kingmaker.” The Faculty Choice Second Place Award went to Fred Mazyck for “The Pain Reliever.” The Faculty Choice Grand Prize Award went to J.D. Elliby for “The Kingmaker.” The Pitch Festivus! Pitching Panel Jacob Krueger:WGA Paul Selvin Award Winning Screenwriter of the Emmy Winning The Matthew Shepard Story Steven Bagatourian:Independent Spirit Award Winning Screenwriter of American Gun and All Eyez on Me. Christian Lybrook:Award Winning Indie Screenwriter, TV Writer and Producer, with work featured at Tribeca Film Festival and SeriesFest. Jerome Perzigian:Emmy Award Winning Showrunner of The Jeffersons, The Golden Girls and Married With Children. Q: Why does pitching terrify me?  JERRY PERZIGIAN (ProTrack, TV Comedy Writer’s Room) Everybody's afraid! Not only afraid to pitch but also afraid to face that first blank page. And no matter how much success you may or may not have had in the past, each new venture is intimidating. It’s scary. And everyone is insecure. It’s normal to have fear. That's why I strongly advise practice, practice, practice.  Just sit, practice it alone, practice it at Starbucks, practice it with your friends until they get sick of hearing it. You’ll see what lands and what doesn't work. And then little by little, you’ll gain confidence in your premise, in your delivery of that premise, in the places where you stop and wait for a laugh or a reaction and the places where you bring more energy –  and you'll get less afraid.  Just remember that we're all in the same boat. When you see an executive that's pompous and intimidating, that person is scared too. Being seen in that way is their protection. So we're all in the same boat.  JACOB KRUEGER: (Write Your Screenplay,