This one day interactive hands on workshop held on 13th March 2017 focused on how to develop and write an effective proposal and how to successfully pitch that idea to broadcasters and funders. Emmy award-winning producer, Sydney Suissa worked one on one with the participants to develop their story ideas and gave them valuable feedback during the pitching session.
The workshop focused on 3 main areas:
1. Moving an idea to a proposal:
The first half of the workshop was spent exploring the different ways of turning an idea into a proposal. Case studies were presented to show the different approaches of successful proposals and trailers. Participants learnt how much research is needed to make an engaging proposal and what are the best ways to format their presentations.
2. How to sell your proposal:
Participants were asked to analyze their stories and evaluate some key questions. Who is it for? Why would they be interested in the story? Who will pitch it? What are the strongest selling points? What are the weak spots? From there, participants were given time to work on their proposal with Sydney’s one-on-one guidance on how to tackle all the questions stated above.
3. Pitching:
Finally, the participants were given 5 minutes each to pitch their ideas to the group who took on the roles of commissioning editors. They were then given feedback on what worked and what didn’t and how to improve.
