It’s almost that time of year again! Last year, I caught up with one of my students after her whirlwind Cannes trip

While she was there she made some amazing contacts who heard about her ideas and said, “Send whatever you have”

We’ve put in a lot of work over the last few months to make sure she was as prepped as possible for this trip and it paid off

So I wanted to share the 3 tips that really made a difference for her

1: Develop 4-8 different projects

For this to work, each project should have a logline, a synopsis and be developed enough for you to hold a 3-4 minute conversation about it

Having enough variety on her slate was the key to successfully pitching a project to whoever she was chatting with, because she could gauge what they were interested in and give them her most relevant project

Read more: The best advice I’ve ever been given about pitching, financing and selling your films

2: Memorise the loglines and synopses

We spent weeks crafting the perfect loglines and synopses for 5 different projects

She memorised them so she could easily talk about her projects and be confident in making the best impression

This was the tip that seemed tiny, but made her feel so much more calm, prepared and confident in the moment

Read more: What to do when film producers don’t accept unsolicited scripts

3: Perfected her website

This is something else we spent a few weeks on before she left

As a multi-hyphenate (actor and producer), she’d always struggled with how best to convey what she does

So we crafted her filmmaker logline, made her website clear and specific and made sure it matched her personality

While she was there, her website was what she got the most compliments on

Read more: 8 Tips for Emailing Producers

Bonus: She mastered the conversation formula to make pitching relaxed and friendly

In fact it worked so well that the woman she casually pitched to brought her over and interrupted another conversation so she could pitch her idea to more people!

Here’s the formula I teach my students:

1: After the small talk and getting to know the other person a bit better, mentally skim through your 4-8 projects

2: Pick the one you think will best fit the other person based on what they’ve said so far

3: Link your idea to something they’ve said

4: Give them the logline – and nothing else

5: Gauge their interest

5a: If they’re interested, give them the synopsis and the next big goal for the project (a producer, finance plan etc)

5b: But if they’re not interested, don’t panic, just move the conversation along

6: Repeat until there’s definite interest from the other person

7: Offer them the treatment (“If you’re interested I can send over the treatment”)

8: From there, let them lead the conversation

These tips work for any event you have (festivals, networking, screenings) so bookmark this post and come back to it whenever you need to

Get The Magnetic Post Formula that my student used to get a producer onboard in 48 hours!

Hope this is useful for all your future events!