The Quest for High Concept

This summer has been about getting re-focused on screenwriting. I spent a lot of last year learning film-making and getting a better grasp of the industry while working on a novella instead of a script. Since the end of May, though, I’ve done a complete rewrite on a screenplay, and have now started a program the focuses on selling your screenplay: the ProSeries. This six-month course is all about screenwriting from a marketing point of view, with an eye toward getting a screenplay sold or optioned by the end of six months and often through the company that sponsors the class (bonus for them!).

So far, I’m impressed with the ProSeries. It’s intense - averaging one project per day – but over the course of six months, teaches 300 skills for creating sellable screenplays. It’s also cheap ($850 for the whole six months and then life-long membership in their contacts-loaded ProSeries alum.) This is far more helpful and direct for a student’s career than any MFA program.

I started three weeks ago and thus far, the focus has been concepts, concepts, concepts. While I’m not at liberty to divulge any of the copyrighted course material, I will tell you that we brought into the course a list of ten original ideas – which have now been put through the mill of various marketing formats and other concept elevating processes – to generate anywhere from 50-100 totally new concepts. One of these will hopefully achieve elusive ‘high concept’ status. (I’ve generated 77 concepts total, maybe having three that are close to high concept.)

‘High Concept’ is that thing which, once you really have it, you’re going to sell your screenplay. I find that most people don’t really know what it is, though. It’s not simply a good idea, or an idea that you love, or even a big-budget idea. A high concept consists of three things, regardless of budget:

1. It’s unique.
2. It has a wide audience appeal.
3. You can say just one line and see the entire movie.

A word on ‘unique’: this doesn’t just mean a unique spin on an old idea, or something that’s somewhat different from other movies… Unique means thoroughly, completely hasn’t been seen before, yet can still fit in with the 2^nd and 3^rd criteria above. And, yes – a lot of screenplays that are not truly high concept might still get sold… but not with the same gotta-have-it fanfare that a high concept will.

Most of my original ideas were borderline high concept, but needed a bit more development. After having reworked them, I narrowed my 77 down to a new, higher-brow group of ten. Then the real fun began.

Going through the script consulting/production company that the ProSeries is associated with, my ideas along with my fellow members’ ideas have now been ‘tested,’ meaning that we each got a batch of ideas and had to either call or meet up with trusted friends (people who liked movies but who are not professional writers or actors) to pitch them those ideas in one line and get their reactions.

Results were really, really interesting.

One of the things I found most fascinating was how different people’s tastes are. I knew my clear favorites… but they were not everyone else’s clear favorites. I also had people rank their #1 and 2 choices out of the 10… and if I base my final results off of what got the most ‘likes’ versus what had the most #1 and 2 rankings, I get different results.

My next step was analyzing feedback on my ideas to determine which are my top 2. Then, (this afternoon!) I’m having a call with my screenplay coach with the goal of finding something she agrees can be pitched to production companies as high concept. (Her background: she pitches regularly to 59 production companies out in L.A.) Once we pinpoint that elusive idea, I’ll spend the next couple months writing it.

I highly recommend that if you’re going to spend a few months working on a script to first see if you can’t improve the overall concept and then see if people respond well to the concept before devoting your time… More often than not, your first choice might not be what appeals to others, and if you’re just starting out, you need that first script to SELL! (Write your love projects later.)