pitchingIPbusiness dev

How to Build an Agency Pitch Deck: A Checklist for IP Owners

UUnknown

2026-02-06

10 min read

A tactical, slide-by-slide checklist for IP owners to create agency-ready pitch decks — rights, KPIs, and packaging tips inspired by the Orangery–WME deal.

Stop losing deals because your deck leaves questions about rights, traction, or packaging

Agents and business affairs teams don’t buy ideas — they buy predictable economics and clear, negotiable rights. If your agency pitch misses the specific slides, proof points, and rights language agents expect, you’ll waste meetings and slow down any path to a deal. This tactical guide — inspired by the 2026 Orangery–WME signing — gives IP owners an actionable, itemized pitch deck checklist, rights checklist, and the exact success metrics agents look for when deciding to sign or package IP.

Why this matters in 2026 (and what changed since 2025)

Late 2025 and early 2026 accelerated a few trends that directly impact how agencies evaluate IP:

IP-first packaging: Agencies and streamers prefer projects with multi-platform proof points — graphic novels, games, serialized podcasts — that demonstrate transferability.
Data-driven bets: Audience metrics (engagement, retention, repeat purchases) now beat vanity follower counts. Agents expect attribution-ready KPIs — pair your campaign data with a readable marketing playbook like those in modern digital PR resources (digital PR + social search).
Rights clarity is non-negotiable: Post-Orangery deals show preferred agency partners signing only when chain-of-title, merchandising, and translation rights are explicitly documented.
AI-aided creative and tooling: AI prototyping accelerates visual proof-of-concept, but agents want provenance and disclosure for any generated elements. See resources on edge/AI tooling and provenance for context (Edge AI tooling).

Variety’s Jan 2026 coverage of the Orangery–WME deal makes the point: agencies sign transmedia houses when creative depth matches legal and commercial clarity.

Quick summary: What an agent expects in a pitch deck

At a glance, agents want three things: hook, traction, and tradable rights. Build your deck to prove each: a compelling IP hook, measurable audience evidence, and an explicit, negotiable rights table.

Slide-by-slide pitch deck checklist (12 slides agents expect)

Use this checklist as your canonical deck structure. Each slide includes the key content, recommended visuals, and the rights/metrics agents will scan for.

Slide 1 — Cover & One-liner

Title, logo, and a 10–12 word logline that sells the world, not just the plot.
Include: Creator(s), IP owner, year, and “Available Rights” summary (one sentence).
Visuals: high-res cover or key art (300 DPI) + color palette swatch.

Slide 2 — Elevator & Market Fit

One-sentence elevator pitch + 2–3 bullets on why this fits current market demand (genre trends, audience gaps).
Include comps (recent successful IP in last 24 months) and where your IP sits relative to them.

Slide 3 — The Hook: World + Characters

Three-panel breakdown: world, protagonist, core conflict.
Visuals: character sketches, mood board, and a one-page lookbook excerpt.

Slide 4 — Traction & Audience Metrics (critical)

Top-line KPIs: unit sales, revenue, monthly active users (MAU), unique readers/listeners, social reach — all with dates and platforms.
Engagement metrics: average read time, completion rate, conversion % from free to paid, repeat purchase rate.
Include supporting proof: platform analytics screenshots (redact PII) or aggregated CSVs; for examples of driving signups and measurable traction see this case study on using product landing and signup tooling (compose.page case study).

Slide 5 — Financials & Unit Economics

Basic 3-year projection: revenue streams (book sales, licensing, merchandising, adaptations), assumptions, and margin per unit.
Example mini-model: Units sold x average price x royalty split = owner revenue. If you need a quick TCO or projection approach, calculators and TCO examples can help shape assumptions (TCO calculators).

Slide 6 — Creative Team & Track Record

Short bios, past credits, and links to previous commercial work.
Highlight any team members with packaged or produced credits — this lowers perceived risk for agents.

Slide 7 — Visual Assets & Proof of Concept

Show a 60–90 second sizzle (hosted link) and 3–5 high-res sample pages or frames. If you want examples of immersive short-form assets and how they present, review recent immersive short reviews (Nebula XR review).
List file formats available and delivery timelines (e.g., PSD, AI, TIFF, PNG, vector art).

Slide 8 — Transmedia Roadmap

Platform-by-platform outline: comics → limited series → game → toy & merch plan.
Milestones and proof points needed to greenlight each window (e.g., unlocked pre-orders, license commitments).

Slide 9 — Rights & Chain of Title (the dealmaker slide)

Explicit rights table (see Rights Checklist section below) — who owns what, existing encumbrances, and option structures.
Attach or reference key agreements (publisher contracts, co-creator splits, artist work-for-hire docs).

Slide 10 — Packaging & Potential Partners

List any commitments or conversations with producers, directors, studios, or brand partners.
Include letters of intent (LOIs) or non-binding term sheets if available.

Slide 11 — Ask & Deal Structure

Be explicit: are you offering an option, exclusive representation, joint-venture packaging, or a first-look? State proposed economics: option fee range, equity split, and profit participation model.
Include timing: desired option period, deliverables per tranche, and reversion triggers.

Slide 12 — Next Steps & Contact

Three concrete next steps (e.g., NDA & materials review, sample chapter delivery, meeting to discuss term sheet).
Contact details and link to a secure data room with all supporting docs.

Rights & packaging checklist: what agents will audit immediately

Make this a single-page appendix in the deck and a downloadable folder in your data room. Agents want to triage legal risk in minutes — give them a clean checklist.

Chain of title confirmation: signed assignment or copyright registration if available. Name all contributors and their signed agreements.
Underlying creator agreements: work-for-hire, contributor splits, and any deferred payments or recoupable costs.
Territorial scope: list which territories are cleared and which are reserved (worldwide, EU-only, language exclusions).
Media scope: expressly list adaptation rights (film, TV, animation, games, podcasts, merchandising, stage).
Option terms: current options, terms, expiration dates, and reversion triggers.
Existing licenses: merchandising, translation, serialization — include contracts and revenue splits.
Moral rights & approvals: any creative approval clauses that could block packaging.
Third-party clearances: trademarks, likeness releases, sampled assets, or licensed music.
AI provenance: disclosure of any AI-generated assets and accompanying rights or licenses. For disclosure and explainability tooling, consider resources on live explainability APIs (describe.cloud).

IP metrics agents expect (and how to present them)

Forget follower counts alone. In 2026 agents want a small set of verified, reproducible metrics tied to commercial outcomes.

Top-priority KPIs

Monetized Unit Sales (books, comics, digital issues) by month and channel.
Paid Conversion Rate (free reader to paid buyer) — agents expect conversion to be measurable.
Retention / Completion Rate for serialized content — % who finish the issue/episode.
Repeat Purchase Rate — % of customers who buy a sequel or new release.
Engagement Depth — average session duration, scroll depth, or time-on-page for content assets.
Licensing Interest Signals — inbound LOIs, pre-order commitments from licensees, or brand outreach.

How to present them

Use one slide with a clean 3-column table: metric, current value (with date), source (platform or CSV).
Prefer graphs over raw numbers for trend visibility (3–6 month moving averages).
Annotate spikes with causality (marketing push, festival award, influencer feature). For public-facing discoverability and distribution tactics, review digital PR playbooks (digital PR + social search).

Sample KPI benchmarks agents look for (guidance, not rules)

Graphic novel: 10k+ paid units and strong sell-through within 6 months is attractive to agencies packaging for streaming.
Serialized webcomic: >50k monthly active readers with a 3–5% conversion to paid content is competitive.
Podcast / audio drama: 30k+ downloads per episode with >20% listener retention is considered fertile for adaptation. For guidance on podcast use-cases and how to present podcast metrics, see resources covering podcast sourcing and citation (example multimedia asset presentation).

These numbers vary by genre and territory. The point: show consistent growth and a reliable path to monetization.

Packaging economics & sample ask language

Be explicit in your “Ask” slide with a short, negotiable structure agents can pick up and put into a term sheet.

Example ask (concise):

We propose a 12–18 month option to WME (exclusive agency/packaging) with an option fee in the $25k–$75k range, co-producer credit, and a 10% net licensing revenue participation for the IP owner. Reversion triggers: option lapse or failure to enter principal production within 24 months.

Customize the numbers to your stage — early IP takes lower option fees but higher participation; proven IP commands larger upfronts.

Red flags agents watch for (and how to neutralize them)

Unclear creator ownership — neutralize: deliver signed assignments or payment ledger.
Exclusive publisher or platform commitments that block adaptation — neutralize: show amendment or carve-out language.
Unproven audience with no retention data — neutralize: run a 6–8 week paid test campaign and attach results. If you need to plan a paid test or newsletter acquisition funnel, see launch examples for niche audiences (how to launch a profitable newsletter).
AI-generated art without provenance or royalty commitments — neutralize: provide license terms and attribution plan.

Visual assets & file delivery checklist

Agents expect a tidy asset package in a data room. Provide a clear index and name files consistently.

High-res cover art (TIFF, 300 DPI) and web-optimized PNG/JPG.
Character sheets and vector logos (AI, SVG, PDF).
Sizzle reel (MP4, H.264, 1080p) and transcript.
Lookbook PDF (print & digital versions) and page proofs.
Legal folder: chain-of-title documents, creator agreements, existing license contracts as PDFs.

Workflow & SOP template to build this deck (owner, deadline, deliverable)

Turn this into a repeatable SOP so every new IP gets a business-ready deck. Use your project tool (Notion, Asana, Monday) and set owners. Example 6-step SOP:

Discovery call (Owner: Founder) — 2 days — Gather IP history, current rights, and high-level metrics.
Data pull (Owner: Ops) — 3 days — Export analytics, sales reports, and contracts into a secure folder.
Creative assembly (Owner: Creative Lead) — 5 days — Finalize cover, lookbook, and character art for deck slides.
Legal audit (Owner: Legal Counsel) — 4 days — Confirm chain of title, gather signed agreements, prepare rights summary.
Deck build (Owner: Content/Producer) — 3 days — Assemble slides, embed sizzle, and create visual appendix.
Review & sign-off (Owner: CEO/Producer) — 2 days — Final review and export PPTX/PDF and data room link.

Automate reminders and version control. Keep a template folder with pre-filled slide masters.

Transmedia pitching — practical tips agents appreciate

Show the minimum viable proof for each window. A playable demo prototype (15–20 minutes) is more persuasive than a 30-page game design doc.
Include realistic timelines and budget ranges for each platform, and list dependencies (e.g., voice cast, engine license).
If you used AI to accelerate character concepts or scripts, include an AI provenance file and license statements. For explainability and provenance tooling, consult live explainability API resources (describe.cloud).
Bring at least one name or LOI from a production partner — even a non-exclusive advisory agreement increases agency confidence. Community and direct-audience signals can be strengthened by off-platform community strategies (interoperable community hubs).

Negotiation prep: key clauses agents will ask to change

Option period length — commonly shortened or extended depending on development milestones.
Reversion triggers — define performance milestones clearly (deliverables, time-based, or greenlight events).
Merchandising splits and control — agents will ask for a carve-out for packaging fees or exclusive agent commissions.
Approval rights — agents prefer limited creative approval clauses that don't veto downstream licensing.

Real-world checklist — one-page printable version (condensed)

Cover + 1-liner + Available Rights
Market fit & comps
Traction: sales, MAU, retention
Financial mini-model (3-year)
Creative team & credits
Visuals: sizzle + lookbook
Transmedia roadmap
Rights table & chain-of-title PDFs
Packaging asks & proposed economics
Next steps & data room link

Final thoughts — how to turn interest into a signed agency relationship

Agents like WME and other top agencies signed transmedia outfits in early 2026 because those IP owners combined creative depth with legal clarity and measurable audience traction. If you want to be the next IP owner agents call first, prioritize three things in your deck: clean rights, proof of commerce, and a clear packaging ask.

Build this process into your SOPs so every new release is pitch-ready. Save time by maintaining a standard data room structure and a modular deck template that can be customized per agent pitch.

Call to action

Ready to convert your IP into an agency-ready pitch deck? Download our free pitch deck checklist and rights table template, or book a 30-minute strategy review to get a custom deck audit. (Include secure data room link when you request the audit.)

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