Pitching is all about timing at Screen Forever

When the industry converges at Screen Forever on the Gold Coast this week, networks and producers will be in a spin over content.

What’s next, what’s working, what’s not and why? How do you fund it, where are the opportunities, what’s the best way to cast and pitch?

Tracey Viera, previously Screen Queensland CEO, is Chief Content Officer at Hoodlum (Five Bedrooms, In Our Blood, Harrow). Amongst the many sessions, she will moderate a panel with Scripted execs from ABC, SBS, Foxtel and Stan.

“I think they’re always keen to help industry understand what it is that they’re looking for and how they want projects to come to them. I have no doubt they will talk to how competitive it is now and the volume of projects that they’re getting, which I think has pushed the bar up to a whole new level,” she tells TV Tonight.

“I’m interested particularly in how much content they’re looking for, because it is a an ever tightening market with more competition. What that looks like from a producer point of view, so people can understand the play pit we’re all playing in.”

Viera believes the rising costs of production also need to be taken into account when developing new scripted projects.

“The cost of crews, for example, has gone up in leaps and bounds really quickly, but budgets haven’t necessarily also gone up. That’s creating a real pinch. So understanding what a realistic budget is in this market and what it takes to finance a show, are really key things that I want to explore in this conversation,” she said.

An industry gathering such as the annual Screen Producers Australia conference is also an opportunity for connections between broadcasters and producers via 1-1 Roundtables.

In best case scenarios, projects that have been pitched at Screen Forever have led to production.

“Last year there was a UK / Australia co-productions forum and there are three projects that I understand have come out of that,” Viera notes. “Hoodlum pitched a show, before conference, but at conference we were told by the buyer that they want to go into development. That happened at Screen Forever last year and that show is still in progress. It was impacted by the strikes in America but the writer’s room for that actually takes place next month.

“As a production company, we certainly use Screen Forever as an opportunity to meet with all of the buyers and to have discussions around shows.”

But Viera warns that pitching can also be trepidatious. You have to pick your timing and Hoodlum itself isn’t necessarily looking for pitches.

“We’ve come out of a year of a lot of development. We actually have quite a big slate that we’re carrying. So our focus is really production at this point. That’s not to say that if we heard a pitch that we loved that we wouldn’t take it on. But we’re not actively out there looking for material at the moment.

“In some ways, it’s the worst place to be pitching cold because there’s so much going on. We’re there pitching our slate as well, there are conference activities going on. So for someone you’ve never met to suddenly cold pitch you it’s not necessarily the right environment. But it is a great environment to get to know people and then that opens the door,” she suggests.

“I remember I met someone at Screen Forever in Melbourne, just literally on my way to a meeting. We stopped and had a quick chat. They didn’t pitch to me, but later they reached out and we ended up taking on their project.

“But development is expensive. No one is really paying producers for development at the moment, which means you’re carrying that cost to the business. So when you’re starting with someone who has limited or no experience, and they pitch without a script, it’s an enormous amount of cost to carry in the market where it is right now. That’s a challenge for the industry.”

Hoodlum is currently focussed on its feature film slate with The Land of Bad, starring Russell Crowe, Luke & Liam Hemsworth, released in cinemas in the USA. In Australia it will have an SVOD release, while there are other feature films in the pipeline for the big screen.

“Hoodlum is probably best known for its television but we have been beavering away on our feature film slate….. we’re in the process of packaging a number of films. So that’s probably a big part of what people will see of our slate going forward,” she adds.

“From a Hoodlum perspective, we’ve gone from being basically what we would call a premium television company into one that is doing animation, feature films, entertainment, and of course, our core business has always been drama.”

Screen Forever Tuesday March 19 – Thursday March 22 at The Star, Gold Coast.