The Pitch (1998)

• 87%
• 1998
• Mark Lewis

This one hour documentary enters the lives of the major players of a small Sydney advertising agency giving a gripping insight into the world of advertising, and its survival dependent on the strategy, analysis and creativity of pitching. The documentary was being made to screen on ABC Television, and produced with the investment of the Australian Film Finance Corporation. The Pitch captures the drama, hype and fear as the Agency works under intense pressure, figuring out the most complex problems including how to work together and squeeze so much work out of not enough time. Through 16 hour days, we are there in the struggle against time to come to grips with their on-going business of pitching - the brief, the product, the client and the competing agencies. By closely following the evolution of various advertising campaigns through a fascinating process of strategy, analysis and creativity, The Pitch offers an insight into contemporary advertising practice and culture. On any one pitch, only one agency can win the account and each will display a mixture of strategy, gimmicks and brilliance to out shine the opposition and capture the imagination of the client. In a world suffering from information overload, we enter the inner sanctum of those obsessed with effective communication, the professional image makers, to reveal the art and science of being noticed. The agency chosen as the focus of the film is DDI Adworks Filmworks based in Sydney. A small boutique agency, DDI handles a lot of women's products and accounts utilising high quality emotional based advertising. The documentary is observational in style - it is not intended to be an exposé of the advertising industry. Approximately four months were spent with DDI to form the background of the documentary as well as focusing on a number of pitches during this time to record the pitching process so integral to the life of an advertising agency.