Both cheering and booing masses are all-a-Twitter about the new iPad. Is it worth it? Who will use it? Will it really change our world?
I’d like to let you know how the iPad will make our Hollywood careers easier.
Pitching Big Ideas
Yesterday, Joke and I pitched a TV show to CBS.
It’s a big reality show. Easy to grasp hook.
It’s also chock full of twists and turns, bells and whistles–the kinds of things that can confuse executives who haven’t developed the show along side you for 3 months–especially in a 10 minute pitch.
So you need an easy-to-understand, clean presentation to help the room stay focused on the important parts of the show.
Enter Keynote
I’m a Mac guy, and our company runs on Apple products. Recently, we switched from Powerpoint to Keynote for pitch presentations. Keynote runs faster on my Mac than Powerpoint, presentations look more “Apple” like out of the box, and Keynote’s deadly simple to use.
In the room, I present the Keynote presentation to the executives, and both Joke and I narrate the pitch.
The Problem
You never know what room you’ll be in when pitching to an executive. Don’t know what the AV situation will be, or if you’ll be able to connect to a TV or projector. Most of the time, you can’t. So you must be prepared to pitch off of whatever device you’ve brought with you.
Yesterday, the room was tight.
At one point, I ended up kneeling on the floor pointing at my laptop. This was both uncomfortable and looked weird.
Still, given the circumstances, I wouldn’t have done anything different. The execs understood the show, asked the right questions, and were polite enough to giggle at my lame verbal sound fx.
Hello, iPad
Given the iPad’s size and the fact that it will run Keynote, this could be the solution I’ve been longing for. It seems big enough to pitch to 2 to 3 executives, while being small enough to handle.
Sure, it may take a bit of practice, but pitching a Keynote Presentation off a laptop you’re forced to place on your lap in a tiny room, as opposed to an iPad you can hold up easily…well, I’m all for the iPad.
Now, if I can just convince Joke to let my buy one…
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