ALWAYS TAKE THE MEETING! (courtesy of the 14th ANNUAL HOLLYWOOD POWER PITCHFEST, Oct 25 & 26)

Learn every aspect of pitching and taking successful meetings with executives, producers and
agents, while honing your own pitch. Then take actual pitch meetings with Studio Executives,
Agents, Managers, Producers, Directors & Development Executives.

There'll be 100 of Hollywood's top companies represented this year. Where Will You Be?

14th Annual
HOLLYWOOD POWER PITCHFEST
Where Preparation & Luck Meet Opportunity
OCTOBER 25 & 26 - Los Angeles

100 of Hollywood's most prominent companies under one roof
From CAA, William Morris and ICM to Paramount, HBO and Miramax
This is Your Chance to Present Your TV or Film Script, Book or Idea
Directly to the Entertainment Industry in One-on-One 7-Minute Meetings.

The 14th Annual Hollywood Power Pitchfest is also a great opportunity to present your work to
agents and managers. As an attendee, you are eligible to submit the first act (approx. 30 pages) of
one script or one filmed short to each agent and manager who will be there on Saturday. This has
proven to be a very successful way for writers to find representation with closed-door agencies and
management companies.

- Event Limited to 175 Attendees -

INFO
800-646-3896
310-275-0287
www.fadeinonline.com

ALWAYS TAKE THE MEETING! (excerpted from the best-selling book
"The Hollywood Rules: What You Must Know to Make it in the Entertainment Industry")

Meetings are as essential to life in Hollywood as steel bolts are to Boeing Aircraft. Writers meet with producers. Producers meet with other producers. Directors meet with producers, writers and rewriters. Some meetings take place at the office, some meetings occur in restaurants. A few meetings even take place in one of the principals' homes. And the irony is, most of these meetings will result in... absolutely nothing.

The first time a new writer, producer or director gets an appointment with a studio executive or other Hollywood Big Shot, it's natural to believe that a deal is imminent. "These are busy people," you may think. "They're not going to take the time to meet with me unless they really want to make my film!"

Ah, ignorance is true bliss.

The truth is, meeting with new talent for the sole purpose of being able to match a name with a face is one of the primary responsibilities of producers and studio executives. In most cases, these people have absolutely no intention of buying your script, offering you an assignment or putting your project into development. They only want to get acquainted and - because they like your work just enough to take you seriously - to "find out what else you've got."

In fact, these words are a clear tip-off than you are in nothing more than a "Get Acquainted Meeting," or what's better known as a "General Meeting." When you're asked, "What else have you got?" or "What are you working on?" it typically means they're not going to buy what you gave them. They do, however, want to get in line for your next project, on the off chance they might like it enough to buy it.

In pitch meetings, producers and executives are invariably polite and, in many cases, downright enthusiastic. This is in no way a sign that they're going to actually made a deal with you. As we just explained, their primary job is to build relationships, not buy projects. When they say, "We love your script" it means "No." When they say, "We think your project is great, but we already have something just like it in development" it means "We're already up to our necks with projects that are going nowhere, so unless you've got Tom Cruise or Julia Roberts attached, don't waste our time."

Attend enough of these meetings, and a sense of ennui - if not downright frustration - is bound to set in. Month after month of being told how wonderful you are with nothing to show for it, and you may vow to never go to another meeting unless a real offer is going to be tendered.

Don't let false expectations get the better of you; they could be career-killers. Instead, welcome every chance you get to make new contacts and open new doors. No matter how useless the appointment may appear, Always Take the Meeting.

"But why waste my time? you ask. "There are only so many hours in a day." If you're a writer, you may think your time is best spent writing, not talking to some slick-ass production V.P. about how much you liked his last movie. If you're a producer or director, you may feel that pitching ideas to people who have no intention of buying them is not only a waste of time, but risks the danger of having your ideas stolen or, at the very least, "borrowed."

The misconception here is that it's even possible to waste time in a meeting. It never happens. Meetings are the connective tissue of Hollywood. When an oak drops 10,000 acorns - only one of which ever becomes a full-grown tree - that doesn't mean that the other 9,999 were wasted. Seemingly individual, insignificant efforts are, in fact, part of a single process designed to bring about a specific result. As a quantum physicist will tell you, there are no certainties in the universe, only odds. You never know when or where luck is going to strike. You may have a deal that you think is a sure thing, only to have it wither and die. Conversely, you may go into what you're convinced is a bullshit meeting and come out with a quarter-million-dollar deal. You just never know.

Which is why you should cheerfully approach every opportunity as the chance of a lifetime. If you'll forgive the cliched sports analogy, you can't hit a home run unless you swing the bat. Just because you may strike out is no excuse not to try. You got to be in it, to win it! Show business is no place for people looking for guarantees. You want a sure thing, invest in mutual bonds.

So you'll take the meeting, and you'll make the most of it. Nowhere is the axiom "It's not what you know, but who you know" more relevant than in Hollywood. This is a town driven by connections, contacts and personal relationships. Knowing the right people can lead you to getting an agent, manager or entertainment lawyer. It can also lead to three-picture deals, an office on the studio lot and invitations to some real cool parties.