Pitch Day at Stockroom by Pia Richards

24th Aug 2022

Insights into the Writers Room

My name is Pia, and I am the Creative Support Associate at Stockroom. I work with the writers to ensure they have anything practical they need to create projects. I also keep a diary of the creative process, and in this blog, I hope to share some insights into how we work. 

Today I want to explain how we use pitching at Stockroom to develop and share ideas.

Pitch days at Stockroom can be one of three things:

• A General Pitch Day with the whole staff
• An in-house pitch day where the writers share ideas that meet a brief from a theatre or company
• Pitching directly to a partner

I spoke with some members of the Stockroom team to find out how they feel about pitch days and why they are so crucial.

Our Artistic Director Kate says:

“Pitch Days are an enormous outpouring of creative energy and a chance for the writers to share more about their vision. For us, as a company dedicated to group writing, this is important because while we are interested in synergising different voices and they are an exciting group. After all, they are all different. We don’t want to flatten their individuality, so when they pitch we learn about their dreams, interests, passions and how they think about stories.”

We have two General Pitch Days a year. Anyone that works at Stockroom has the opportunity to pitch an idea. Anything from our general pitch day may be developed, repurposed if they fit a brief from a theatre or not developed immediately but possibly in the future. 

Our Executive Producer Martin says:

“You can’t create in a vacuum. It’s essential that the ideas of everyone in the company are tested in a rigorous but supportive environment, and our pitch days allow for this.”

We also hold pitch days aimed at specific partners – a theatre or company that may be interested in a Stockroom play. These pitches usually respond to a brief provided by the theatre company, where they talk about their audience, location and hopes for this project. 

One of our writers, Georgia, says:

“I love pitch day because I learn what the other writers think about specific briefs and gain insight into their writing styles based on how they interpret the brief. They are a way to include the whole company in the creative process.”

Everyone has different responses to the brief, and we share them with the rest of the company. We pitch to each other in-house, give feedback and refine our ideas before taking them to partners. The whole team takes part, bringing in different perspectives and lived experiences.

Kate says: 

“Pitching to brief is a skill that needs practising as it strengthens our commitment to audiences. When writers receive a brief, it should tell us who their audience is, what they are interested in, and where we might take them that they haven’t been before. We immerse ourselves in the world of a theatre and create bespoke ideas for them.” 

Pitch days are a chance for the whole company to come together. Sharing in the creative process creates a sense of unity between the writers and the rest of the team. 

We recently held two in-house pitch days, preparing ideas to share with specific partners. The writers have received briefs and have been preparing for the previous few weeks. The whole company sits around our writing table with coffee and cake, and a brave writer dives in first. People lean in, listen, laugh, and ponder. Then the questions start, always supportive but thorough – who is the audience? Is the story clear? Can the characters be pushed further? Ideas are gently explored, praised, and pushed. 

Our Creative Producer Daisy says:

“It’s a wonderful testing ground for new ideas and great practice for our team as pitching is something we encounter all the time in our industry – whether it’s a producer making a funding application, a marketer coming up with a show image, or a writer sharing a show concept.” 

At a recent pitch day, a writer pitched an idea based on and inspired by their own family history. It was a captivating story, and the room was immediately alight. Is it theatre? What’s the form? How much can we fictionalise? Is it right for the partner? The conversation ends and we applaud the writer, who has a page of questions to push the idea on.

Our Marketing and Communication Officer Becca says:

“As a marketer it lets me know about projects from the very start. It solidifies our ethos of collaboration in the writer’s room with the rest of the organisation. Pitches are delivered around the same table where we have our weekly meetings, which makes it feel like a safe and familiar environment to share new ideas. Even pitches that aren’t picked up are added to a wealth of ideas that may come back and inform new things in future.”

Pitches do indeed come back – one idea from a general pitch day has been sharpened and developed for a partner, retaining its original brilliance while reorienting in a new direction. It is pitched a second time and is thrilling. 

Pitch days are special to me because they are a great place to share what you have been thinking about in a low-stakes situation where everyone wants your work and ideas to be great. It brings us together and reminds us why we do what we do. I can’t wait to see these ideas grow into shows, and look back at where they started.

About the Author 

‘Pitch Day at Stockroom’ is by Pia Richards, Creative Support Associate at Stockroom, working in the Writers Room across Stockroom’s shows and projects.

Stockroom is a writers room for theatre, and the Stockroom Artists produce new work for stages around the country. We are a creative hub, with over 25 years experience finding some of the nation’s most influential writers. Meet the Stockroom Artists

Featured images taken of Stockroom Artists by Rebecca McGreevy, Pia Richards’ headshot taken by Hana Kovacs