opportunity to show your goods to the right people. And as almost anyone in the business will tell you, getting the opportunity to pitch is not an easy appointment to obtain--that is, of course, if you don't know what you're doing. TAKING A SWING AT THE PITCH So, then, how exactly does one go about landing the do-or-die pitch meeting with a prospective network? According to some, if you're ´ ´ new to the business and without a stellar re sume or vast reserves of professional experience, one way to get a network's attention is to first solicit the services of a renowned agent who can, in turn, reassure his or her network contacts that they aren't wasting their valuable time entertaining your underdeveloped pitch. Regrettably, though, finding an agent can frequently prove an even more daunt- ing task than arranging a network pitch meeting all by your lonesome. Ultimately, to sell a show to a network, it's imperative that you get in front of someone with the authorization to cut a check. Even if you manage to wrangle an agent to facilitate a pitch meeting, there's still another major hurdle to jump: Who is going to physi- cally produce the project if it's green-lit? In my experience, I have found it considerably easier to get a net- work's interest and money when you partner with a production company before you set foot in the pitch meeting. Similar to an agent who wields the power and credibility a newcomer may lack, many production companies carry enormous reputations that can elevate your own status merely by association. In other words, even if the television executive has never heard of you, if they know of the production company you're working with, they will be infinitely more inclined to take a meeting and give serious consideration to your project than if you just walked into the meeting as a lone entity. The old saying "Time is money" particularly holds true for network executives. If they think for an instant that you might be wasting their time, you'll never get a meeting. Like clockwork, they will only entertain pitches from those known to have the capability to formulate a workable concept and then produce it from beginning to end. 64 | Facing Reality