---
name: pitch-worksheet
wtfbId: wtfb:pitch-worksheet
description: |
  This skill provides a structured pitch development worksheet for screenwriters.
  Covers logline creation, story structure breakdown, character summaries,
  and commercial viability assessment for pitch meetings.

  Use when: developing a story concept into a pitchable form, preparing for
  pitch meetings, clarifying story structure, or testing commercial viability.
---

# Pitch Worksheet Skill

## Invocation Triggers
Apply this skill when:
- Developing a story concept into a pitchable form
- Preparing for pitch meetings
- Clarifying story structure before writing
- Testing if a concept has commercial viability

## The Pitch Mindset

Life's a pitch, and then you try! Pitching can create opportunities that you never dreamed of. Pitches don't always work - in fact, most of the time they don't. However, as a screenwriter you should always be ready to pitch your exciting, wonderful story ideas.

**Remember**: Always COPYRIGHT your pitches, scripts and treatments! You can't really protect an idea, but you can make it a unique creation in your copyrighted work.

## The Pitch Worksheet

### Logline
What is your story about? Keep it brief! (1-2 sentences maximum)

```
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
```

### Genre
Try to stick to one, but keep it simple if you mix genres.

```
PRIMARY: _______________ / SECONDARY: _______________
```

### The 3 Main Characters
Include the enemy/foe.

```
1. _____________________________________________
   (Role: Protagonist / Antagonist / Supporting)
   Brief description:

2. _____________________________________________
   (Role: Protagonist / Antagonist / Supporting)
   Brief description:

3. _____________________________________________
   (Role: Protagonist / Antagonist / Supporting)
   Brief description:
```

### Act 1: Setup
Introduce us to your main character. Tell us how they live; introduce your other characters. Tell us the moment where their life changes - that moment when nothing will be the same for them ever again - that moment that sets them on their journey.

```
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
```

### Act 2: Confrontation
Intensify the conflict, the journey - but be brief. What stands in their way? Tell us the moment when they are the furthest from their goal.

```
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
```

### Act 3: Resolution
Tell us the ending.

```
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
```

### Turning Points
Those flashes that change the direction of your story.

```
1. _______________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________
```

### Most Cinematic Scenes
The ones you can really "Visualize."

```
1. _______________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________
```

### The B-Story
Your secondary plot.

```
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
```

### Revised Logline
After all is said and done, maybe you feel different. Refine your logline.

```
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
```

## Verbal Pitch Guidelines

### One-Minute Pitch Exercise
Come up with a one-minute pitch of your favorite movie. When the movie is reduced to a short pitch, what are the important points? Which lines, which events, which moments hold the story together?

### Rehearsal Tips
- **Don't memorize it**: This will only make it sound rehearsed
- **Sell the story**: As if you were telling a friend about an exciting event that just happened
- **Show enthusiasm**: Your passion for the project should be evident
- **Know your audience**: Tailor the pitch to who you're speaking with

## Pitch Structure Formula

```
[GENRE] about [PROTAGONIST] who [SETUP/STATUS QUO]
until [INCITING INCIDENT] forces them to [GOAL].
But [OBSTACLE/ANTAGONIST] [CONFLICT].
Now they must [STAKES/DECISION] or else [CONSEQUENCES].
```

### Examples
- **Raiders of the Lost Ark**: "An archeologist is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis."
- **Gladiator**: "A Roman general is betrayed and his family killed by an insane emperor. Now a gladiator, he comes to Rome for revenge."

## Validation Checklist
- [ ] Logline is 1-2 sentences max
- [ ] Genre is clearly defined
- [ ] 3 main characters identified with clear roles
- [ ] Act 1 establishes protagonist and inciting incident
- [ ] Act 2 shows escalating conflict and low point
- [ ] Act 3 delivers satisfying resolution
- [ ] Turning points are dramatic and visual
- [ ] B-story complements main plot
- [ ] Can pitch verbally in under 2 minutes