People are trained to resist a good sales pitch…
No one can resist a good story.
Jan Has Worked With:
JAN MILLER
Jan works with producers, directors, writers, filmmakers – emerging to veteran.
She sharpens content, builds on strengths, and refines intentions. She specializes in project development, pitch preparation, and training programs for film and TV. Her workshops and consultations have helped creatives across the globe to hone their content and deliverables for fiction features, TV series and documentaries.
“You’ve hit the “perfect pitch” when your listener wants to take another meeting with you.”
READY TO PERFECT YOUR PITCH?
What Jan has to offer
1-ON-1 CONSULTATIONS
Private, confidential, one-on-one sessions for features, documentaries, and TV fiction series. The consultation offers in-depth, candid feedback about the project and the pitch package materials, identifying what’s working in the story and presentation, addressing tough questions about the project’s target audience, and clarifying the overarching themes. Jan also curates the “package of pluses,” the unique elements that each person brings to the table, both personally and within the project.
“A pitch can be complex, but it shouldn’t be complicated.”
“Jan Miller not only helped us shape a winning pitch, but she also helped us to find direction in our film. With Jan’s help, ARMY OF ONE was commissioned by the BBC and went on to win best feature documentary at Hot Docs.”
GROUP SESSIONS/WORKSHOPS
At festivals, markets, and stand-alone appearances, Jan has delivered her workshops. From Guangzhou to Tehran, from Alberta to Zagreb, from Manausto the Berlinale, she’s shared her experience, expertise, and insights around the world. Few, if any, have her unique global perspective.
“Always deal in specific without getting lost in details.”
“She’s terrific and was a great help in pulling together our pitch. It’s amazing how much better the pitches of the groups from the workshop got as a result of Jan’s precise and constructive criticism.”
PROGRAM DESIGN
Adaptable and visionary, Jan is a talent that makes things happen. She works with clients to design training initiatives that specifically meet the needs of the targeted cohort. The program line-up (virtual or in person) may include master classes, case studies, workshops, 1-2-1 in depth consultations and targeted skills development. Facilitated by Jan, the curated line-up may be one day, 3 day or several months in duration. An added bonus is that Jan has access to resource people and trainers from around the globe to contribute to the tailored program. Her most recent portfolio, designed and delivered, includes Women in View’s Five in Focus Programs, WIA’s Animation Career Excelerator program, CMPA’s International Career Accelerator Program and the East Coast Music Association’s Export Readiness program.
“Your package of pluses, what you bring to the project, is key to getting a project greenlit.”
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Jan across different initiatives. She always delivers, whether it’s programming for emerging producers or for more experienced ones. She excels in responding to client needs to create professional development programs. Her expertise in program design and facilitation ensured exceptional outcomes for participating producers and for the CMPA.”
What people are saying about Jan Miller
“My work with you had me so centred and focused on what the important things are to communicate, and it worked! Also, your advice on which clip to show was right on the money… You have such invaluable information and coaching to give!”
WE WON!!!! Your input into our pitch was crucial, and really shook up the thinking of my co-producer who is very used to thinking of logistics and not heart. You also made me realize that my best asset to the pitch was to talk from the heart, directly to the audience, which marked us apart from the other teams that read from their prepared scripts.”
“Your talent is your ability to see how something could be better/more powerfully presented… but the true GIFT of what you do is the fact that you stay involved and help facilitate the “solution.”
“As a disabled director and producer, working with Jan has been invaluable. She offers crucial insight into how the non-disabled professionals I will be pitching to and speaking with will make sense of my disability-driven projects. I truly value her willingness to dive deep into the intentions of my projects and language to find the words that build bridges across an experience divide.”
“After the pitch other participants/observers remarked how they were moved by our piece and our presentation… Your coaching abilities, coupled with your understanding of the current pulse of the marketplace provided us with invaluable insight and advice. What could we say except that we had you, Jan Miller, to thank!”
“Jan’s authenticity and immense knowledge base are palpable. When you enter a room with Jan, there is not a moment’s hesitation for her to share what she knows; you know right away that you are in the room with a professional who knows what she is doing.”
“One of the highlights of participating in WIA Vancouver’s Animation Career Excelerator(ACE) mentorship program, is being coached by Jan Miller! Jan has the gift of intuition that guides each participant both on how to speak about themselves succinctly, professionally and with confidence, but also how to articulate their creative vision. All this is accomplished with Jan’s trademark sense of humour, and kindness. It is life changing and career changing. Jan is magic.”
WHO IS JAN MILLER?
Jan is a mover, motivator and innovator in the world of screen training.
Jan is a connector. She specializes in project development, pitch preparation, and training programs for film and TV. Her workshops and consultations have helped creatives across the globe to hone their content and deliverables for fiction features, TV series and documentaries.
She has travelled the world as an ambassador for the Canadian media industry, connecting people, companies, and countries while fostering creative alliances. She continues to serve as an international Pitch consultant, trainer and mentor to many. Her international clients have included Series Mania, Poland’s ScriptEast, Cuba’s International School of Film & TV, and Canada’s Hot Docs.
“The more you reveal your personal connection to the story, the theme, the more the listener is drawn in.”
Early on, Jan committed to celebrating films from ‘regional’ filmmakers internationally. In Edmonton, she launched the seminal Local Heroes International Screen Festival, which led to Canada’s first film school, the National Screen Institute. Moving to Halifax, she delivered Strategic Partners for the AFF. With German partners, she headed up Trans-Atlantic Partners(TAP), a globally acclaimed co-production training initiative. She followed this up as Lead for the CMPA’s International Co-production Accelerator Program. Most recently, she was the co–creator of the NSI/WIV Disabled Producers’ Lab.
Jan trained as a clown at Canada’s National Arts Centre under the renowned Richard Pochinko. Together, they co-founded the seminal Theatre Resource Centre. Her Edmonton-based clown & mask company, Small Change Theatre, toured the world as a Canadian cultural calling card – Edinburgh, Paris, Tokyo, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia… She is a former President of the Canadian Conference of the Arts and a former Board member of the Canadian Artists Network. Committed to supporting women and gender diverse creatives, Jan was the founding Chair of WIFT-Atlantic and served on the Board of Women in View for more than a decade.
Jan has received numerous industry awards, including Alberta’s Global Women of Vision Award, WIFT+ Toronto’s Crystal Award and Nova Scotia’s Women of Excellence Award. Of special note, she breeds prize-winning purebred Standard Poodles at her home on the shores of Nova Scotia’s St. Margaret’s Bay.
I am grateful to live and work in Kjipanu’pek on the unceded traditional and ancestral homelands of the Mi’kmaq People. We are all Treaty people.
I am grateful to live and work in Kjipanu’pek on the unceded traditional and ancestral homelands of the Mi’kmaq People. We are all Treaty people.
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