May Intersessions: Pitch Like an Animator
What do you do when your big idea loses its magic?
A new client creates exciting opportunities, but as the creative process drags on, you encounter roadblocks and challenges. Maybe there is an overwhelming number of last-minute notes, team members coming late to the project, or an unresolved legal query.
By the end of the project, your initial idea is a shell of its former self. How can thinking like an animator help you simplify complexity, spark emotional buy-in, and pitch your ideas without watering them down? Patrick Rieth teaches how to turn client conversations into creative wins and keep the magic alive in the process.
Patrick is the Creative Director of Devon House Creative, a team of animators and filmmakers based out of Indianapolis specializing in motion graphic animations with roots in filmmaking and storytelling. His experience shares insight on how to create a process to help guide you and your clients to better results.
When your project has lost all its bite, Patrick suggests a step-by-step guide that allows you to better pitch captivating and powerful ideas to your clients. This produces a better result and becomes a more enjoyable process overall.
Give Your Client Guidelines
Begin your Reference your process to create boundaries for non-negotiable points and create space for creativity and input. At Patrick’s animation house, there’s a nine-step process for the entire team and clients to follow.
The Devon House Creative process:
Discovery
Concepts & Mood Boards
Scripting
Storyboards
Style Frames
Voice Over & Music
Animatic
Animation Draft
Final Animation
The discovery step is vital to your project's creativity. To do this, Use pointed questions to generate success for your business. Vet people on your services to find the right client and help the client trust that you’re the right problem-solver for them.
At Devon House Creative, they ask vetting questions like: Are you in a relationship-driven business? Do many of your relationships live on LinkedIn? Do you believe being consistently top of mind would make an impact?
With pointed questions, clients can confidently say yes or no and eagerly hire or pass on your services. Vetting for your business creates higher satisfaction in your company and for your clients.
Create Anchor Points
Once it’s clear how to fulfill your clients’ needs, it’s time to create anchor points in your process. Emotional anchor points reorient clients back to the original passion driving the project.
At Intersection, an example of our “anchor points” is the single most important thing. We determine what the single most important thing about a client’s business is to effectively communicate that message. Another anchor point every process needs is the “point of no return.” That point at Devon House Creative is the animatic. At Intersection, it’s known as the vibe check. This allows the client to unleash their own creativity and make adjustments before the project is polished.
To create anchor points, scripting is essential to guide creativity. It may seem like a betrayal to thoroughly script the creative process, but it actually protects the process.
“The more structured the process you have, the more freedom you actually have to create,” Patrick says. “Because process creates clarity for you and your client.”
Defend Your Pitch
Lastly, be willing to say no. No one likes saying no to a client but saying yes to everything endangers the original idea’s integrity. By defending your original vision, you avoid watered down content.
Great work doesn’t happen by accident.
When you stick to your structure, pitch with clarity, and protect your creativity, you build with trust and create better results.