Aside from a brief mental lapse in which I momentarily forgot a character’s name, today’s pitch went really well.  Confident, not rushed.  I distilled the richly detailed 12+ hours of game play down to a two hour feature format by streamlining the main narrative, compressing some of the timelines, and stripping away the side quests while building out the world, fleshing out the supporting characters, and injecting some humor into the whole.  In so doing, I crafted a movie that, first and foremost, will appeal to viewers who know nothing about the game and yet, at time same time, will prove an incredibly rewarding experience for fans of the game.  In short, I crushed it.  As for how it was received…hard to say.

I tend to go over my pitch countless times before the big day, alternating between reading it verbatim to winging it.  By the time I’m ready, the two are almost indistinguishable.  Still, during the zoom pitches, I like to keep my written pitch up, fullscreen, and make eye contact with the camera.  As a result, I don’t really track reactions – which can get a little odd on those occasions when the executive you’re pitching to doesn’t utter a sound, prompting you to peek in on them every now and then lest they are madly signaling to let you know your audio dropped out fifteen minutes earlier or, worse, THEY dropped out altogether and you’ve been pitching to no one.  In the case of today’s pitch  there were thankfully no such tech issues.  I did my thing, fielded a couple of questions, and…that was that.  Maybe I’ll hear back from them  later than sooner.  Maybe I won’t hear back at all.  Such is the business.

Rather than worrying about it, I’m switching gears.  I’m about to close the deal on an option for a fun sci-fi pilot.  I’ll look to do a rewrite, craft the pitch, and take it out before year’s end.  After that, it’ll be smooooooooooth sailing!

Meanwhile, on the home front…

New mad scientist glasses.  Who dis?

Today’s Yes/No

Gundam Burgers? Yes/No
McDonald’s Japan is selling Gundam burgers, endorsed by anime’s most charismatic antagonist【Vids】 https://t.co/5nQleYnWtR via @RocketNews24En

— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) June 17, 2022