For the past four months, Many and I have been working on several pitches, all of which have taken a lot of time and research. Working on a pitch is no easy feat; the job is not guaranteed, company time and savings are used for printing and mock up purposes, the simple fact that you’re in doubt until you get that call – these all contribute to a general feeling of uneasiness.

That aside, writing a pitch is exciting, especially when there’s competition involved. It’s your moment to show the prospective client what you’re made of; to let yourself shine so to speak. We’ve been getting a lot of practice and have narrowed in on some key elements that are crucial to writing a successful pitch.

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We’re going to talk about something that scares most people when mentioned: Accounting. But first, here’s something mildly related.

I was sitting on the terrace of a local drinking hole a few nights ago. It was 11pm and the only patrons there were an elderly woman reading the newspaper at the bar and a couple of lesbians who seemed to be on their first date. I was sipping away at my 650ml bottle of 50 while thinking of ideas for my next blog post when, out of nowhere, a fidgety guy wearing a fuzzy baseball cap introduces himself as Hugo. He proceeds to spill his heart out to me. In a nutshell, my new friend was having problems controlling his craving for benders. Continue reading

Bis Films Thank You Card

There are essential steps to running a business to ensure smooth sailing. As part of our blog mandate, we would like to share with you certain tools and knowledge that we’ve gained working on Bis Films for the last two and a half years. The subject I would like to address is the idea of ‘going beyond the call of duty’ in regards to clients – old, new, or future – and peers. This is one thing that we promised ourselves to upkeep over the years, regardless of how much work comes our way. There are several ways to stand out as an honest, hardworking, and loyal company:

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Business Plan.
Just these two words are enough to make my skin crawl! Since we started Bis Films in 2008, we’ve been struggling with the question of whether we need to write one or not at all! Following a Yes Montreal conference, Youth Employment Services, the topic was brought up several times and the opinion was unanimous: Get it done! Then after assisting a separate four-part seminar teaching start-ups the basics on writing a kick-ass business plan, I finally decided to stop putting it off and to chip away at it one question at a time. I have to specify that I started working on it during winter and had already experienced three months (out of five!) of looking for work. I knew I had a gloomy task ahead, but I was motivated!

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