The Burning Pitch

The Pitch
Nathan and Rebecca R.'s "Four Chambers"
Think…Crash meets the Accidental Tourist
"Four Chambers" is a gripping family drama about two couples dealing with the loss of their sons and each other in the aftermath of a drunken driving accident. The grief that might tear them all apart might also bring them much closer together.

The Burning
"Might make a best actor Oscar long shot for some aging warhorse like William Hurt, but the whole thing screams "ensemble" and that usually means going for broke on best picture or nothing. Going on the premise this will sell to the 18-35 demo like a diaper full of hot shit. Seriously, best idea since a sequel to 'Xanadu.' It used to be every year a studio would release this movie, now if you're lucky you can sell it to some loser in New Zealand who can fill a can full of incomprehensible accents and bad teeth."
A smart studio would…maybe validate your parking after the meeting. Maybe.

The Pitch
Joshua L.'s "Verity"
Think…A Clockwork Orange meets Johnny Mnemonic
"In a dystopian near future a veiled totalitarian state releases microscopic devices into the water supply that force everyone to tell the truth at all times. Plummeting crime rates and mass confessions of guilt give way to pandemonium as the veil of polite lies is lifted and ugly truth wreaks havoc. A man recovering from throat cancer and taking fluids from an IV becomes the sole person without the truth chip and mankind's only hope."

The Burning
"This high-concept sci-fi bullshit tends to piss off audiences. It could work if you've got enough gunfights and maybe a mechanical scorpion or something, but no way are you going to retake the CGI budget for something like this without high octane action. You could go low budget but then you're going to end up forgotten by absolutely everyone. Hey, remember 'Code 46' with Tim Robbins? Exactly. Not to mention, your two movie choices are going to raise more red flags for a producer than a parade in the Kremlin. 'Johnny Mnemonic' grossed about as much as a hotdog stand and 'Clockwork Orange' was rated X and banned from theaters in England. England! They show girls licking each other's asses on TV there! This one is a burning pile of crap."
A smart studio would…have you escorted from the building by a couple of huge black guys with headsets.

The Pitch
Lisa F.'s "Lovelorn"
Think…The Ring meets Fatal Attraction
"Morton Casanova is a man used to getting his way with women. A one-night stand with a beautiful woman turns into trouble when the woman begins sending threatening letters and visiting his house. After Morton confronts the woman she commits suicide and he thinks the threats have ended, but after a brief lull they keep coming. The ghost of the woman wants Mort to join her in the afterlife and she's willing to do anything or kill anyone to get to him."

The Burning
"This one I could almost see working. You've got an aging hunk like Richard Gere and some hot damaged-goods number like Brittany Murphy. It works, but you've got to juice it up a little more. Maybe work in a curse from a gypsy or - Kabala is big these days - and then once she's a ghost she could have some really cool powers like controlling the weather or swarms of insects. I'm talking about a good visual sort of thing she could really menace the guy with. Ah, you know, on second thought this movie doesn't know if it wants to be 'Ghost' or 'Poltergeist.' Pass.
A smart studio would…nod a few times and then say "our people will get in touch with your people."