Pitch Practice Makes Perfect, Part 1

Learn how to hone your pitch with the help of experienced executives.

Five to six comedy/variety writers will have the opportunity to pitch in front of a live (virtual) audience of Writers Guild members. Each writer will be given constructive feedback and advice on moving their project forward.

About the Panelists

Genevieve Aniello is three-time WGA Award-winning writer for her work on HACKS and is currently in development on several projects including an hour-long UNTITLED TV PROJECT with Disney+ and GODDARD TEXTILES, a half-hour comedy with Fifth Season as well as an upcoming directorial debut on the feature with Strong Baby. She recently was a consultant on the feature MY OLD ASS, and a writer on the upcoming Steve Carell & Bill Lawrence HBO series.

Before writing, Genevieve was the Director of Development at Jax Media where she oversaw the development and/or production of several successful shows including, SEARCH PARTY, THE CHARACTERS (Netflix), DESUS & MERO (Showtime).

Franklin Leonard is a film and television producer, cultural commentator, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of The Black List, a company dedicated to identifying and supporting remarkable screenwriting and screenwriters through its annual survey, online marketplace, grants, labs, and fellowships.

Leonard has worked in feature film development at Universal Pictures and the production companies of Will Smith, Sydney Pollack & Anthony Minghella, and Leonardo DiCaprio. He’s been a juror at the Sundance, Toronto, and Mumbai film festivals. In 2019, the Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) presented him with the Evelyn Burkey award for elevating the honor and dignity of screenwriters.

Daniel Powell is an Emmy and Peabody-winning founder of Irony Point, a production company based in New York and Los Angeles whose select credits include LIFE & BETH (Hulu), I THINK YOU SHOULD LEAVE (Netflix), FANTASMAS (HBO), Oh Mary (Broadway), and INSIDE AMY SCHUMER (Comedy Central) which Powell co-created.  Earlier in his career he was an Associate Producer at THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART, a contributing writer to Robert Smigel’s “TV Funhouse” segments on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, a house performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, and an exec at Comedy Central where he oversaw development of the animated cult hit UGLY AMERICANS, eventually becoming a writer/EP on the series.

Dan co-directed the feature film BECKS which won Best Picture at the 2017 Los Angeles Film Festival, and produced Josh Ruben’s film SCARE ME which was an official Sundance selection in 2020. He lives in Jersey.