For the last 14 years, NMI has hosted the Biz of the Musical Theatre Biz Conference in Los Angeles, giving writers a rare opportunity to network directly with producers, agents, union reps, attorneys, and fellow writers. But social distancing is going to change that this year.
This summer's conference will come to you in your own home. This will be the first ever all virtual conference designed to give participants the chance to prepare, practice, and present pitches of their new musicals to producers and other industry professionals. The team will provide video conferencing, and breakout Zoom rooms, so participants can still have intimate one-on-one interactions.
The Conference traditionally costs $595 to attend. But thanks to some much-needed government underwriting, you can attend the conference for only $175 ($125 if you register by June 1).
The weekend will launch with a Friday evening session on the art of pitching from NMI Executive Director Scott Guy, who will share many years of experience in the world of writing and producing television for Disney, Warner Bros., PBS, NBC, etc.
Saturday's sessions will give all teams the chance to try out their 3-minute pitches on NMI staff for feedback and help in making their pitches stronger and more compelling.
Sunday's sessions will give all teams the chance to practice their refined pitches on chosen industry professionals who will give constructive and specific feedback on improving the pitches.
The week following the conference weekend, each participating team will be given two separate opportunities to pitch live to a group of industry professionals. Pitch sessions will be two hours long; there will be a morning and an afternoon pitch session from Monday to Friday during the week. Participating teams will be pre-assigned to two specific sessions.
In addition to all of that, the team will set up a web page just for your show, so you can upload demos, script excerpts, and recorded version of your pitch. These pages will be made available to all of the industry professionals who have taken part in the conference; as well as a much longer list of industry professionals across the country.
NOTE: A maximum of 60 participating writing teams will be accepted. Additional auditors who don't want to pitch during the conference will still get the opportunity to have a webpage that will be circulated to the same list of industry professionals after the conference.
Want to make sure you are extra prepared for your chance to pitch? You can also sign up for Scott Guy's PITCH BOOTCAMP prior to the conference and polish your materials in advance. (Bonus! Conference registrants receive a $100 discount off the regular Pitch Boot Camp price. For more info about the Pitch Boot Camp - see the article later in this newsletter.)
Videos