Of course, what may be a great pitch for one can be a bad pitch for another. In an attempt to sell Sir Ian McKellan’s Richard III as an action picture, some Asian buyers were told about how it would be filled with plane crashes, trains blowing up and tank battles and how Richard himself would come out looking like a hero.After a moment of silence, one of the buyers put up his hand, “We love the idea. He took two days to write the script for Weird Science.)The pitch, like an auction, is supposed to catch others up in the excitement of its story. He then told Hughes, “Come back to me when you’ve got the scripts written” Hughes didn’t leave He pulled out a pile of scripts from his satchel He’d already written all 12 Needless to say, he got a deal (Hughes has a reputation for writing well and quickly.

Walking in with a leather teacher’s satchel, Hughes pitched 12 ideas back to back using “log lines” – single sentence descriptions of a project.The studio executive thanked him, said he liked the third, fifth and 10th ideas. Hughes, who had never worked in films, wangled a meeting with a studio head. For example, producer Gavin Poolman, of Apollo Films, is keen on preparing the pitch for all eventualities.”When pitching,” says Poolman, “You must beready to deliver.” Poolman points to the likes of John Home Alone Hughes’s first pitch in Holly-wood. It was bought,” says Leonard Klady, senior writer at the trade magazine Variety.The pitch can be cunning. Writer/director Ken Finkleman (Airplane II, Grease II) devised a trailer which worked as a pitch The scene is a battlefield In the background, there are tanks and explosions. In the foreground, there’s a guy in a helmet going, “I’m gonna die! Get me out of here!” The tagline? “Cowards – coming this fall.” It sold.The advice given by the experts on the art of the pitch, although shaped for the film industry, could be applied to anyone who sells for a living.

The deeper into the boat the darker it became.Unfortunately, I managed to drop my torch and as I dived down to try and catch it, my buoyancy jacket became trapped in my emergency breathing apparatus and I found myself jammed up against a pipe on the roof of this wreck. We would take torches and flares and sneak off without them knowing.One day we went on a specialist dive down about 28 metres to watch sharks at a shipwreck To get there we had to swim through two decks. I was doing two tank dives during the day and after dinner would do a night dive off the back of the boat. I found it difficult living in a confined space and it is a very physical sport. So I accepted a job on a private yacht which at 75ft was like a floating Dorchester. I was hired to cook for the owners and their occasional guests, and with three in the kitchen I couldn’t believe how easy it was.
When we arrived at St Thomas, I became obsessed with diving. I cannot emphasise how important it is you get your bones in good shape.”.

The time: 1992 The place: St Thomas – Caribbean The man: Gordon Ramsay – Michelin-starred Chef and former footballer

AT 25 I was taking some serious time out, after intensive training in Paris with renowned chefs, Guy Savoy and Joel Robuchon My head felt stuffed. “Girls should particularly try to take exercise that is load bearing on your bones, such as running, jogging or aerobics. The more impact you put on your bones the greater the strength. I used to try to go swimming at my local leisure centre, but I don’t go that often.”"It is so important to take regular exercise,” says Graham. “Obviously you wouldn’t want them to be living on them,” says Dr Skypala, “but they can all contribute to your daily intake.”The other important way for girls to improve bone strength is to exercise -but many are like Ashcroft, who says “I don’t really exercise at all. A pasta dish with cheese is a good source and with all of these it isn’t like you are pushing them to eat something calcium-rich and obviously ‘good for them’.”Other good sources of calcium include green vegetables, such as spinach, but you will be hard-pushed to get many teenagers to eat them as they don’t come across as terribly exciting.”For odd treats mothers may be relieved to hear that their daughters can get 65mg in a choc ice or 55mg in a hot-cross bun or even 100mg in four fish fingers.