Enhancing Your Communication Skills
Dear Friends:
I am super excited about this topic…. Communication. It doesn’t get any more important than this. Some of you reading this blog are in the entertainment industry so you are in the center of communication. It’s what we do. We bring our voice to the screen, the stage, the networks. We get to express ourselves publicly, globally. There are few people on the planet who get to do that. It’s a gift and it’s a big responsibility. My question to you is, how conscious are you of your own communication. It starts here, and it starts with you.
Are you aware of the fact that everything we do is a communication of sorts? Language is a small part of it. If you cross your arms during a conversation, you’re communicating. If you are sloppy in your written correspondence, you’re communicating. If you do a mediocre job, you’re communicating. If you hand your script in late, you’re communicating. It’s all communication. Be conscious. Really take notice this week as to how conscious and aware you are of all aspects of your communication. <--read more-->
Pitching Yourself and Your Projects
Dear Friends:
I’ve been on many panels on “Pitching” over the years, heard pitches in my office and heard tons of pitches at various PitchFest events. I am always amazed at how many pitches are unclear, confusing, too long and too generic.
I am not trying to be critical here… I know first-hand just how hard it is to pitch your projects and yourself. I’ve been on both sides of the table 100s of times. In fact, I use to love watching “Dragon’s Den” because it is fascinating to watch people pitch. I always learn so much.
As a film producer, I have been hearing pitches for years and I think what people don’t realize is the fact that they are pitching all the time. It starts when you walk in the room or get on the phone or the email. I’ve seen people at networking events, film markets, festivals, interviews and auditions and for the most part they are completely unconscious as to how they come across. They just don’t get it! You aren’t just pitching while you’re pitching… you’re pitching all the time! Your speaking, who you’re being, how you’re occurring… it’s all pitching! <--read more-->
Networking & Creating Relationships
Dear Friends:
With the American Film Market just around the corner, it’s time to master the Art of Networking! For Indie filmmakers it’s one of the most important weeks of the year. And the better you are at networking and creating relationships, the more successful you’ll be.
Early on in my producing career here in Los Angeles I would be at a party or event and all to often people would approach me and say “Suzanne, I hear you’re a film producer, I’m an actor, here’s my headshot”. Or, “hi, my friend told me you’re a producer, I’m a director, he’s my reel.” Or “here’s my screenplay”, “my composer CD”, etc. It drove me crazy! In every other business in the world we create relationships (or should!) first. Don’t just jump right into action… “please read my script”. Create a relationship, talk about the possibility of working together, the opportunity and the benefits that that could provide and then and only then make a request (take the action). <--read more-->
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