sophie elmhirst
For quite a while I was convinced that a post-politics profile of Ed Balls would make essential reading, but absolutely no one seemed to agree. The travel shows, the cooking, Norwich City FC: the material struck me as unlimited and rich, and this was before his turn on Strictly.
nate jones
When I was a young twenty-something, I was obsessed with this very smart blog called The Awl. They had a feature called ‘Listicles Without Commentary’. Inspired by the forthcoming release of Just Go With It, I pitched my masterwork: ‘Jennifer Aniston Film Titles, Ranked By How Many Other Films The Title Could Describe’.
The silence was so deafening that I was too intimidated to send in my follow-up: ‘20 Years That Are Also Songs, Ranked By Disparity Between Song Quality and Year Quality’ (the Fiery Furnaces’ 1917 placed high).
nathan ma
This is the pitch rejection that keeps me up at night:
Hi! Thanks for the pitch. This feels a little look-at-these-freaks to me. I think it is a pass for us but feel free to pitch again.
patrick freyne
I once pitched a hipster magazine the idea that I would audition for the Jim Rose Circus when it was visiting Dublin. The idea was that, alongside the aspiring firebreathers and jugglers and professional masochists, I would turn up and show Jim Rose my weird toenail. It was underwhelming and embarrassing.
Some of the worst pitches I’ve experienced have come the other way. An editor once wanted me to spend a day begging to see how much money I could make.
alix fox
Perhaps not quite what you’re after, but a TV exec once pitched a show to me in which I would eat circumcised foreskins, deep-fried like calamari, as a form of ‘ethical cannibalism’.
