# Pitch > A concise selling of a project — spoken or written — that names the hook, characters, conflict, and why this story now, without requiring the listener to read the whole script first. Also known as: verbal pitch, pitch document, one-page pitch ## In practice A pitch is not a plot dump. It is a promise of experience: whose problem, what pressure, what tone, why the engine can run for a film or a season. Strong pitches leave room for the listener to lean in with questions. Weak pitches summarize chapters until the room's eyes glaze and the ending arrives as trivia. Formats vary: a sixty-second verbal pitch, a one-pager, a longer leave-behind. Match the ask. A general meeting may want several small ideas; a dedicated pitch meeting wants one idea deeply. Know your logline cold, but do not mistake the logline for the entire pitch — stakes and tone still need air. Practice aloud. Time yourself. Cut cleverness that does not carry information. Keep supporting docs (one-pager, series bible, pilot) aligned so you never pitch a comedy and hand over a bleak sample. When the pitch evolves, update the leave-behind in the same pass — mismatched materials kill trust faster than a soft joke. ## Common questions ### How long should a verbal pitch be? Short enough to invite questions — often one to three minutes for a first pass, longer only when the room asks you to continue. If you need ten minutes to reach the hook, the hook is buried. ### Is a pitch the same as a treatment? No. A pitch sells the spark and engine. A treatment narrates the story at greater length for development. You can pitch without a treatment; you rarely send a treatment without knowing how to pitch it. ### Should I pitch multiple ideas in a general meeting? Often yes — a few clearly differentiated takes — unless they asked for one specific project. Lead with your strongest. Do not empty a binder of half-built worlds. ### What belongs in a one-page pitch document? Logline, short overview, key characters, tone comps used carefully, and why the story matters now. White space helps. A page of unbroken plot synopsis is a synopsis, not a pitch page. ## Related terms - [Logline](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/logline): One or two sentences that capture protagonist, conflict, and stakes — the shortest honest pitch of the story. - [One-pager](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/one-pager): A single-page pitch document: logline, short overview, and why the project matters now — used to open doors before anyone reads ninety pages. - [Treatment](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/treatment): A present-tense prose summary of the story — usually a few to several pages — used to pitch and develop before a full script exists. - [Series bible](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/series-bible): The living reference for a show — characters, world rules, tone, arcs, and continuity the room consults while writing episodes. --- Canonical page: