"Pretty Little Liars" executive producer Oliver Goldstick is this year's showrunner keynote at NATPE's PitchCon 2013, which kicks off the event's two-day schedule on Thursday morning at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills.
"I'm going to talk about how the first pitch I gave was a cave painting," Goldstick joked when TheWrap spoke to him on Wednesday. "I've been doing this a long time and we used pictures. There were no words in those days."
Goldstick will share what he has learned over his more than two-decade career, which included writing and producing for "Coach," "Caroline in the City," and "Ugly Betty," among others.
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Over that time, he believes that pitching has actually gotten easier as the cable television market has expanded and "you know exactly where to take your project."
"In the marketplace we're in now, it's much more focused," he said. "You know that AMC is not looking for the same show as CBS. To me, that's helpful. ABC Family is very specific and I've learned a lot working with this network. They know who they are."
Since the convention will be full of writers looking to find out how to get their work bought and produced, Goldstick cautions against trying to create with trends in mind.
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"Be connected to the material and don't just try to sell something," he warned. "With connection to the material, there can be follow-through. There are a lot of ideas, but it's all about the execution. It's a marathon, not a sprint."