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RANT: HIGH CONCEPT vs. yawn...

I thought I would attempt to solicit some IndieTalk opinions about a subject that is near and dear to me...

The topic is screenplays overall with an emphasis on screenwriting contests... I have a friend who's an A-LIST screenwriter and over the last few weeks, we've been on the phone till the wee hours of the morning discussing this business of screenwriting...

The following is my opinion only and for ME... In this business, it keeps ringing true on a day by day basis...

Here we go...

First of all... I know a lot of people that want to write a SPEC script and use it as a way of breaking into the business... They may ultimately want to be directors or producers but that being said... One of the very best ways to break into this business is to write that BREAK-OUT spec script that blows everyone away.

Let me also define "the business" a little further...

I'm talking about writing spec scripts for Hollywood. Not necessarily Indie films with little or no budget... I'm talking about writing something that gets your foot in the door with the big boys of Smell-A.

My opinion, as discussed with my A-List friend, is that everywhere we go, we have NEGATIVE OBSTACLES getting in our way... I'm not talking about the usual obstacles i.e., not knowing anyone, needing an agent, etc...

No...

I'm mostly talking about entrepreneurs... i.e., screenwriting contests, screenwriting books, screenwriting magazines, screenwriting gurus, etc.

I've been able to peek through the Hollywood barrier more than a few times since I've been writing... I've had some success and have even gotten a job or two but admittedly, I'm not an A-List writer... However, the little I've been able to access other working writers, producers, directors, etc., one thing stands clear above and beyond everything else...

HIGH CONCEPT SCREENWRITING.

Again... For clarification purposes... I'm not talking about indie low budget, Avant-Garde or experimental films... I'm not even talking about stuff like David Lynch would write... Charlie Kaufman yes, but not Lynch. I'm talking strictly about scripts that get sold to Hollywood and made into a film...

Everywhere I turn, I see screenwriting contests, books, gurus, etc., telling the proverbial wanna-be to write what they know, write what you feel, etc... From much of these recommendations, I see lots of screenwriters winning contests with historical stories, quirky character stories, etc... In fact, many a contest seems to be won with smaller type NON HIGH CONCEPT screenplays.

This would be fine as long as the screenwriters aren't trying to break into the business... And, I no means have any data or information to back this up but out of the some 75,000 PLUS screenplays that get written every year, the majority of the people that write these ARE IN FACT attempting to get noticed, discovered, a job, or better yet, SOLD.

Which takes me back to the problem...

It seems to me... With my limited observations with screenwriters/filmmakers that most are missing one very important factor... HIGH CONCEPT.

I schlep my way through at least 10 to 15 spec scripts a month for friends, for money, for coverage, etc. and at least 99% of these scripts suck. Poorly written, no structure, no real story, no real protagonist or antagonist, etc.

The 1% that do make the grade are RARELY high concept. Don't get me wrong... They are well written scripts. Clear characters and decent storytelling but one huge problem... WHO CARES?

Over the last 10 plus years, we seem to be somehow endorsing everyone and their brother to write these cute, quirky, character driven, scripts... Which they do and do very well but these very same scripts fail to make the grade in Hollywood. This would be fine as long as the writer doesn't want to try and break in but my unofficial survey tells me different. My unofficial survey tells me that 99% of the people I know that write screenplays DO IN FACT WANT TO BREAK INTO HOLLYWOOD or the HOLLYWOOD SYSTEM.

If you're lucky, one of these cool little scripts might get you some meetings but as usual, I know many many people that DIE in these meetings when asked what other material they are working on... As soon as they SPEAK about their projects, big group YAWN.

Please don't misunderstand me...

I am not telling anyone to quit writing those cool little quirky scripts... What I am saying is that to break into the Hollywood system or maybe I should say to maximize your chances of breaking into the system, you really need to have a high concept story. I would even go so far as to ask yourself the following question about your story, "WOULD I PAY $10 TO GO SEE THIS STORY AT A THEATER?"

Better yet...

A better question might be to ask your next door neighbor, your teenage brother, your sister's boyfriend, etc., if THEY would pay $10 to go see your story at a theater... Chances are (if these people are AVERAGE movie-goers) the answer will be NO.

I guess my complaint is this...

I see a ton of thoughtful and dedicated work on a monthly basis... Almost all falls short of its eventual goal i.e., to break someone into the business because the story is flat... Not important. Not something that will make you sit up and wonder about it.

I feel that contests, books (not all books mind you, but a large portion), gurus, and magazines do would-be future Hollywood screenwriters a huge injustice when they pick these quirky little scripts that rarely sell as winners... I feel that contests should be somewhat like the minor leagues of baseball... They need to prepare the hopeful screenwriter of what and how they should be writing.

Every time one of these cute little heartwarming scripts wins a contest, other hopefuls see this and figure, "Hey, I have a story like that..." Again, I'm not putting these kinds of scripts or stories down in any way. I've read lots of them in fact... What I am saying is that when one of these scripts wins a contest, it creates a lot of false hope in the minds of other screenwriters.

I will be the first one to say that Hollywood is losing ground with it's cookie cutter, sequel, built-in audience, book adaptation formulas of movie-making.

They suck. Just go watch SAHARA... LOL.

What I would like to impress upon those of you who really know how to write and WANT TO BREAK INTO HOLLYWOOD is to take that great writing of yours and turn it into a HIGH CONCEPT story and when you finally get to that A-List mountain top, go ahead and divert your attention to those cool little screenplays you once churned out and won contests with.

WHY?

Because I think that's the only way we're going to see a real improvement in the films we see... This weekend, I really wanted to go to the movies... In fact, going to the movies USED to be something I looked forward to on the weekend...

Not anymore.

Just one look at the myriad of slop playing here locally gets me back to work on my own script(s).

So what's the difference between the slop and the quirky, cool little scripts? HIGH CONCEPT, pure and simple. No more -- No less.

Almost all use similar structure but the idea just isn't BIG ENOUGH!

I know there's a lot of us out here that have some compelling, character driven story inside of us waiting to get out... That's cool. Do it. Just don't expect that kind of story/screenplay to get you into the system. Take that same technical expertise you have and attach it to a HIGH CONCEPT, and now we're talking... Once you're in the system, then you can make changes to it... i.e., Robert Rodriguez. He went against the grain of Hollywood and made his SpyKids films as well as Sin City... All high concept but done his way. That's how you change things in this world. You can't change shit in Hollywood by writing cool little stories that nobody cares about... I would recommend writing a book with stories like those because I think you would still stand a much better chance of getting your work made if someone publishes it into a book first.

You gotta have a big story. Without it, nobody in Hollywood will care. They KNOW what sells. Small stories rarely do and when they do, they rarely make money.

Like I said... If you're just into making your own films from your own work... No problem. This rant isn't meant for you but if you want to break into Hollywood... Make enough money to start making your own films your own way so you can make some improvements to the system, write HUGE! Come up with those HUGE ideas and write them the same way you write those small, compelling stories you do so well...

filmy
 
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""What was really nice about the experience for me was learning the business and more importantly, learning structure.""

Right on brother. Success is what you learn and become on the way there, not what you achieve when you get there.

About the Query Letters. In rare exceptions you can get someone to read your query letter but it's rare, unless it's a small agency. If you were referred to the person your sending the query to that's fine too. I'm talking unkowns sending out 100's of query letters at once. It's really a waste of money and most people who do that give up after they get no responses. Like I said and I'm sure as you know, you gotta get out there and shake hands. I was in the commercial real estate business so I had a little head start on that. It's in my blood.

Right... Theaters first, video sales second. Agreed =)
 
query letters...

shamrock said:
""What was really nice about the experience for me was learning the business and more importantly, learning structure.""

Right on brother. Success is what you learn and become on the way there, not what you achieve when you get there.

About the Query Letters. In rare exceptions you can get someone to read your query letter but it's rare, unless it's a small agency. If you were referred to the person your sending the query to that's fine too. I'm talking unkowns sending out 100's of query letters at once. It's really a waste of money and most people who do that give up after they get no responses. Like I said and I'm sure as you know, you gotta get out there and shake hands. I was in the commercial real estate business so I had a little head start on that. It's in my blood.

Right... Theaters first, video sales second. Agreed =)

--As I said, these were NOT your typical query letters... Once you start doing what everybody else is doing, it normally fails to work anymore...

Example...

What one screenwriter did was spend some good money and have a couple of hundred professional movie posters made up about his screenplay... the posters contained supposed shots from the film (obviously created for the poster) along with the screenplay's logline and short synopsis.

His mailing to 100 producers/production companies got him 40 plus meetings and several writing jobs and more importantly those infamous questions...

WHAT ELSE DO YOU HAVE? / WHAT ELSE ARE YOU WORKING ON?

filmy
 
Lol...

shamrock said:
I wouldnt attempt that unless you live in LA. Imagine 40 companies call you up and you live in Guam? That would be a nightmare. Ugh.

Isn't that a little obvious? I take at least one or two meetings a month from Las Cruces, New Mexico. I can be anywhere in Los Angeles in 10 hours and most of the time, I get a call and have to take a meeting the very next day. If I fly, it's even faster of course.

Any mass mailing of a query should not be completed without solid preparation as to how and when you're going to be able to take meetings... From my experience, most meetings are LOST at the phone call stage anyway... LOL.

If you cannot or are not prepared to summarize your screenplay in 3 minutes or less, rarely will they follow through with an actual meeting. You should practice talking about your screenplay over the phone so you can always be ready... Luckily, I get more emails about setting up a meeting than I do phone calls so I feel pretty confident when it comes to writing a reply.

filmy
 
Yeah I don't like to rehearse at all. I don't want to seem mechanical. I just try to make sure to make my pitch exciting, like I'm telling a best friend about a great movie I just saw. Most of my correspondence are through email as well. Love that.

I like chatting with you FilmJumper, but don't think I'm trying to challenge you in who knows more. You seem like a cool player cat like me. Are we allowed to post links in here? Heres a link to my movie site. No storyline on there. I took it down. People who need to know the storyline have read the screenplay. I'll put one back up there sooner or later
www.towniesmovie.com
 
Like you said...

shamrock said:
Yeah I don't like to rehearse at all. I don't want to seem mechanical. I just try to make sure to make my pitch exciting, like I'm telling a best friend about a great movie I just saw. Most of my correspondence are through email as well. Love that.

I like chatting with you FilmJumper, but don't think I'm trying to challenge you in who knows more. You seem like a cool player cat like me. Are we allowed to post links in here? Heres a link to my movie site. No storyline on there. I took it down. People who need to know the storyline have read the screenplay. I'll put one back up there sooner or later
www.towniesmovie.com

LOL. But like you said... You were in the real estate game so you probably have everything you need to know in your head and can easily come off unrehearsed... And, I didn't mean practice in the sense of practicing with a script... Just practice talking about your script over the phone. It's a different experience than in person... And a HELL of a lot different than in a meeting where everyone WANTS to say NO!

I'm actually lucky in that respect myself... My last stint in the Navy was as a recruiter... LOL. Very into the meet and greet, handshake deal... I was also lucky enough to have the Navy end up sending me to General Motors and Xerox sales training courses where I learned way more about sales than I ever wanted to know... LOL.

So having to WING IT at a moment's notice isn't too difficult.

In fact, I have another high concept script for the future about recruiters in the Armed Forces... Now's not the time to write it or sell it but it's definitely on the back burner...

I checked out your site... Great wish list... Hope that works out!

Keep us posted...

filmy

P.S. I'd love to read your script!
 
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I'll check it out...

shamrock said:
http://www.towniesmovie.com/TOWNIES.pdf

I'm sure the script will be messed around with alot more before production but this is what we got so far. Let me know what you think. =)

I'll try to get it read over the weekend and let you know... Thanks!

Also... Back to this thread...

Just found this information that should explain HIGH CONCEPT a little more...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most people feel that producers are unapproachable and even if you get in touch with one, they'll refuse to hear your pitch.

And they're right... with one exception that you can use to break into this business.

That exception is the High Concept script.

If you call a producer and give a long meandering character-piece pitch, chances are the conversation will end right there. But if you pitch a single-sentence High Concept, you have a 50% chance they'll listen to you and a 30% chance they'll request the script. That's quite a claim, so let me back it up with logic.

First, what is a High Concept? A true High Concept has three components:

A. The concept can be told in one sentence and you immediately see the movie.

B. It is unique in a significant way.

C. It appeals to a wide audience.

Why is this so important to a producer? Because High Concepts are easier to sell to Studios, easier to get financing for, and easier to market to the movie-going public. So a High Concept translates into Box Office success. When a producer hears a High Concept, they hear money.

Seriously consider brainstorming a High Concept before you start writing. It will give you a strong advantage in the marketplace and it will make you much more attractive to do business with.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

filmy
 
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A lot of good info here. I'm particularly interested in the thoughts expressed about Query Letters. Sounds to me like you both are saying that we have to think of new ways to Query, but I am always reading things that say "don't try to reinvent the process, do what works becuase it works."

Placing it next to the argument that if you want to sell a script, you have to go along with the Hollywood High Concept rule, I don't understand why you'd say to break one of the other rules. Basically, if you're gonna play by the rules, shouldn't you play by all the rules?

Poke
 
Poke,

I wouln't recommend sending out mini movie posters. As a rule, any envelopes with stickers, drawings, bright colors are put in the trash. I think his friend sent the mini posters out to production companies for film funding, not to sell a screenplay. Only send out query letters if you have a referral or if it's a small agency. It's best to say "I'm a friend of so and so", that might get you in the door. Don't re-create the wheel. Just make it a nice letter, be professional.
 
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Posters...

shamrock said:
Poke,

I wouln't recommend sending out mini movie posters. As a rule, any envelopes with stickers, drawings, bright colors are put in the trash. I think his friend sent the mini posters out to production companies for film funding, not to sell a screenplay. Only send out query letters if you have a referral or if it's a small agency. It's best to say "I'm a friend of so and so", that might get you in the door. Don't re-create the wheel. Just make it a nice letter, be professional.

Actually, that's INCORRECT... LOL.

My friend simply looked up contact addresses and phone numbers in the Hollywood Creative Directory Online. Some studios he called and asked if he could send a query -- some he just sent out. He then sent out 100 queries but NOT the standard query letter. He sent out the movie poster of his screenplay. He was NOT trying to get funding for a film... He's not a filmmaker, he's a screenwriter.

With that mailing, he received over 40 callbacks for meetings... He didn't sell the script but picked up 6 writing jobs... 2 were very high paying.

As for breaking the rules...

There is no definitive rule when it comes to query letters... Whatever works is GOOD!

Having said all that...

I sent out 10 query letters on my last script along with even more query emails... Of the actual letters, I got 2 callbacks, 1 meeting. 10% which, in my humble opinion isn't bad... However, never send out a blind query... Always do your homework and research the prodco. See what they make. Does your script fall into that category? If not, find another one that does... That's simply my own rule of thumb because it is such a numbers game. But why send a thriller script to a prodco that has only done romantic comedies? You can always send a query to them as a last resort anyway...

And shamrock... By the way, I read your script. I haven't had time to write down anything about it and wasn't sure if you even wanted anything like that... Let me know. Unfortunately, I'm on my way to Los Angeles in an hour and won't be back till after the weekend...

filmy
 
the rules...

Poke said:
A lot of good info here. I'm particularly interested in the thoughts expressed about Query Letters. Sounds to me like you both are saying that we have to think of new ways to Query, but I am always reading things that say "don't try to reinvent the process, do what works becuase it works."

Placing it next to the argument that if you want to sell a script, you have to go along with the Hollywood High Concept rule, I don't understand why you'd say to break one of the other rules. Basically, if you're gonna play by the rules, shouldn't you play by all the rules?

Poke

Just to reiterate...

There are no rules when it comes to querying prodcos. Just because some author wrote something about how to write up a query letter in a book means NOTHING. I had a screenwriter friend and author of a fairly well known book tell me to NEVER EVER send out anything but a standard query letter in a plain envelope and plain white paper...

With my first script, I purchased stationery at Office Max that looks like the paper and envelopes have been crumpled up and straightened out and then sent. The query letters I sent out with that stationery went over very well and at least half the callbacks I received mentioned the stationery. I still use it today and it seems to work so so much for RULES... LOL.

My friend's movie poster query was totally professional. He paid professional actors (nobody you would know) to pose for the pictures. The design was flashy and slick. It looked like a regular movie poster (although small in size). The poster had all the information printed on it. The logline, the synopsis, photos, contact information, etc...

So I guess what I'm saying is to yes, reinvent the wheel if you can. In general, you shouldn't send a package of any kind and again, generally speaking, you should call first and ask if you can send a query. Let them be expecting it. Blind queries very often do get thrown out.

Blind queries with a HIGH CONCEPT pitch work best... Never send an unsolicited script!

Hope that clarifies a bit...

filmy
 
"" However, never send out a blind query""

That's what I was trying to say.

Yes, I'd love to have you send us your comments. Good hopefully? haha. I know the word "Outa" was used a few times in action lines. Damn Find/Replace! Please send your comments to my email address and I would love to add them to our review page.

http://www.towniesmovie.com/reviews.htm

mikebos781 |@| gmail.com
 
FilmJumper said:
However, never send out a blind query... Always do your homework and research the prodco. See what they make. Does your script fall into that category? If not, find another one that does... That's simply my own rule of thumb because it is such a numbers game. But why send a thriller script to a prodco that has only done romantic comedies? You can always send a query to them as a last resort anyway...

Any websites that are good for research?

Poke
 
I need your opinions on my high concept/logline for my animation, 'Marilyn (x9) is my Mother'.

Here it is: Even though Lulu Deren, at 8 1/2 heads tall, quite literally personifies the Greek idea of perfection, she still doesn't measure up in the eyes of her beautiful mother.

The character of Lulu is actually an 8-headed construction, with a neck[ the half] and I'm wondering if that fact is evident in my description.

Thanks.
 
Not sure that logline really does it for me. Does she have 8 heads? In that case, it would be more simple to say:
8 headed woman tries to gain acceptance of her mother.

It seems as if you really have to boil it down to it's most simple essence.
 
This is a great thread - best I've read in a while. It touches on the elephant in the room with most screenplays: A screenplay can be well written, have funny quirky characters, etc. but the important question is: why would anyone give a ****?

I like exploring zany invented worlds , but in two screenplays I've gotten to page 70 and thought: okay, it's funny, I'm sure people would like it if they saw it, but why would they care enough to see it in the first place (as opposed to all the other films out there?) Check out my 20min script Mincove for what I'm talking about. Don't get me wrong, I think it would make for a funny film, in the style of "Delicatessan", but "high concept" films seem much easier to explain and sell.

I admire high concept films like "Shallow Grave": Housemate dies and leaves behind a bag of cash that corrupts the other housemates.
 
Good suggestion, thank you Spatula. Think I'll try...'8-headed women tries to gain acceptance of her 9-bodied mother'.

It's a satirization so I want to keep a campy feel in the logline.
 
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