Another great market and festival – full of inspiration, connections and stimulation, along with the parties and wonderful food.
My big take-aways from this year’s MIP are those connections, and the importance of story and engagement.
As a pitching tutor, I had the honour of helping some of the people at MIP shape their pitches. The essence of the story — and its relevance to the buyer or listener — was so crucial to being understood. We all want to hear great stories; stories with heroes that inspire us, or take us into worlds we wouldn’t normally go or provide context for this confusing world we live in.
One woman I worked with had access to a number of gangs in LA. The story was a wonderful, inspirational event, which was happening and changing the social fabric of the neighbourhoods around South Central. Incredible. Our mission was to tell the story using the voice of the leader so we could make it powerful and have impact, without getting distracted by all the other events that are going on as well.
It all goes back to the logline – what is this story about in one sentence.
Here’s the model I use in crafting a log line – one of the hardest things to do at times.
- This___________(series, film, doc, webisode) is about ____________(our hero/protagonist) who needs to ______________(the goal of the protagonist and yours in telling the story) against ______________________(opponents/obstacles/villains)
All of those elements need to be in a great story so that there is drama and conflict.
This was so true for branded entertainment pieces that I experienced. There was a campaign by Pedigree, the dog food company. The TV component was 5 reality shows called My Ideal Dog.
It showed people learning how to choose their pets and how they became obsessed with becoming great parents to their dogs. They were all very touching stories and showed the obstacles to people achieving their dream of being great pet owners. For Pedigree, their brand loyalty went up 10% and dog adoption in Mexico climbed 119%.
It all comes back to the passion and the connections you can make with your stories. They are indeed the lifeblood of our industry no matter the size of the screen or the age of the viewer.
Mickey Rogers is a Global Media Strategist specialising in on screen entertainment. Visit www.mrogersmedia.com or email her for coaching on focusing and targeting your project. You can learn more about pitching in her book From Start to Screen; The Essential Guide to Pitching Creative Ideas, available from her website.
