The Movie Pitch Icebreaker

Break the ice and energize the group with humor and imaginative storytelling.

Step 1: Set the Scene

• Explain that each participant or team will create and pitch an original movie idea based on a random prompt.
• Emphasize that pitches can be as wild, serious, or funny as they like—creativity is key!

Step 2: Form Teams (Optional)

• For larger groups, divide participants into small teams of 2–5 people.
• For smaller groups, individuals can pitch solo.

Step 3: Assign Prompts

• Give each team or person a random prompt and combine it with a unifying statement such as "about meetings" or "about your training topic". This random prompt element can include:
  • A genre (e.g., sci-fi, horror, romantic comedy, action thriller)
  • A theme (e.g., time travel, mistaken identity, an office under attack by robots)
  • A funny twist (e.g., "A superhero with a fear of heights" or "A cat who wants to become CEO")
• You can assign prompts randomly or let teams pick from a list.
• The unifying element can be modified to your needs, but try having it be relevant to your session on a meta-level (a film about meetings if you're in a meeting) or be related to the topic (strategic planning, team building, time management skills. etc) 
• If working with a product or service team, it can also be effective to give a prompt that includes your product. For example, "pitch a horror film where SessionLab is used to save the day!" 

Step 4: Prepare the Pitch

• Give teams 5–7 minutes to brainstorm and prepare their movie pitch.
• Encourage them to include:
  • The movie title
  • Plot summary (what’s the story?)
  • Main characters
  • A catchy tagline
  • (Optional) Who would star in the movie

Step 5: Pitch Time!

• Each team or individual has 1–2 minutes to deliver their pitch to the group.
• They can be as dramatic, persuasive, or funny as they like—imagine they’re convincing Hollywood producers to fund their film!

Step 6: Voting & Celebration

• After all pitches are presented, hold a quick vote for categories like:
  • Most Creative Pitch
  • Funniest Idea
  • Movie We'd Actually Watch
• Voting can be done by show of hands, chat reactions (for virtual teams), or a simple poll.

Variation of The Movie Pitch

• For a fast, collective variation, start by explaining that the group will collectively create a movie pitch for a film about meetings (or your chosen training topic) by each contributing an answer to the questions below.
• The first person will answer the first question and then read out the next before selecting a chosen person to answer.
• Questions
  
• What genre is our film?
• What actor will play the hero/heroine? 
• What actor will play the villain?
• Who will direct the film?
• What happens at the beginning of the film?
• What happens at the middle of the film?
• What happens at the end of the film? 
• If there was a big twist, what would it be?
• What is the name of our film?
• What is the tagline of our film?
• What is the moral or main lesson of our film?