Steve Kaire - 8/18/07
August 18, 2007
Screenwriter/Producer Steve Kaire, who has sold or optioned eight projects to major Hollywood studios, addressed members and guests of the Scriptwriters Network at CBS Radford on Saturday August 18, 2007. Kaire opened his Seminar Series talk with a brief run-down of both the bad news and the good news: Bad News/Good News
According to Kaire, the discouraging thing about being a screenwriter these days is it’s harder to sell; harder to get read; and harder to get representation. Among the reasons for this are the increase in legal restrictions (studios fear getting sued), and the fact that “Everybody thinks he’s a screenwriter. The market is flooded with material. 90% of scripts that go into development never come out. We need to get rid of all the junk. If you look at what’s being made it’s clear that Hollywood is bankrupt in the idea department. Ocean's 12 and Ocean's 13 are sequels to a remake! And the caveman in the Geico commercial now has his own show. Studios feel safer going with a proven commodity.”
However, the good news is there’s more independent money out there than previously so screenwriters have more than just the major studios to sell to. The trick is to “maximize your chances of selling your script – even before you’ve written one word, and you can do this just by your choice of your material.” What writers need to do is get good at (and most writers aren’t) picking high concept material.
The 5 Requirements of a Slam Dunk High Concept Idea
We’ve been hearing about “high concept” scripts for years, and the usual definition of high concept is that “it’s a script that’s pitchable in a sentence.” Wrong! Kaire says. It’s more complicated than that. “To be a slam dunk – and in twenty-five years I’ve come up with only four slam dunks – it has to meet 5 requirements. 95% of scripts pitched have a weak concept or it is high concept but executed in a weak way. “All five requirements must be present. Here they are, listed in order of importance and difficulty -- #1 being the most important and most difficult:”
#1 (Most important, most difficult): Your premise has to be original and unique; or it must at least have an original hook, a “high concept” hook. For example, kidnap movies are generic, but RANSOM with Mel Gibson had a high concept hook. Instead of using the ransom money to free his son, Gibson uses the ransom money to put out a contract hit on the kidnapper.
#2: Your idea has to have mass audience appeal: “Most writers just don’t know what will work and what won’t work,” says Kaire. “So give yourself the acid test. Ask, ‘Would you pay $12 to see this movie?’ After asking yourself, ask your friends and your family. I always ask my sister who’s a housewife, but has a good innate sense of what will or won’t work. If your script idea doesn’t pass the test of would you pay $12 to see it, then you don’t have a movie. When you’ve got a slam dunk idea you’ll know it because people’s faces light up and they say, ‘Why hasn’t this been done before?’ That’s how you know you’ve nailed it.”
#3: Your pitch has to be story-specific: Details are important. A generic idea isn’t enough. For example, years ago I pitched a script called “Worst Case Scenario.” This was before 9/11 and before all those “worse case scenario” books hit the market. The phrase was fresh at the time. I based my pitch on a newspaper article I’d read about the fact that the U.S. government has a special department that comes up with worst-case scenarios. I came up with a twist which is what made it a slam dunk. Here’s the twist: The most brilliant member of that department turns traitor and uses the information against the United States in the biggest terrorist act in history. It sold it immediately -- and then the studio I sold it to changed hands and that was that. No go. But that was a slam dunk.”
#4: The script’s potential should be obvious: In pitching your script, listeners should be able to see the set pieces and laugh at the comedy. Just the title and a brief “what if…” sentence can do that.
#5: Have your pitch come in short: Your pitch should be four or five sentences only. Tell what your story is about; not what happens in the script. And tell what it’s about in an exciting way. See if you can tell your story in just one sentence incorporating the 5 essential elements.
Some examples of high concept films are: Click; Bruce Almighty; Liar! Liar!; Conspiracy Theory; Ruthless People; Mrs. Doubtfire; Some Like It Hot; Tootsie; Insomnia; Speed and The Rock.
Advantage of High Concept Scripts with Good Titles
“High concept ideas are easier to sell; sell for more money; and have wider audience appeal, especially for foreign markets – fewer words and more action,” says Kaire. “And don’t under-estimate your title. Writers spend years on scripts and twenty minutes on their title! A good title should suggest the genre and the subject. Examples of good titles are: Wedding Crashers; Racing Stripes; Monster-In-Law. Bad titles, in Kaire’s opinion, are: Spanglish; Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind; I (Heart) Huckaberry; Lucky Number Sleven; and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
Easiest Genres to Sell (Easiest to Hardest)
Kaire advises sticking to one genre, or at least a hybrid, such as an action/comedy. Be aware of which genres are the easiest to sell – “and then make your own decisions.” Here’s the list (and keep in mind that often there’s overlap):
1. Action movie (easiest); 2. Adventure; 3. Thrillers; 4. Comedy/Romantic Comedy; 5. Crime adventure; 6. Horror; 7. Fantasy; 8. Science fiction; 9. Musicals; 10. Westerns; 11. Period pieces (hardest)
You Can’t Pitch a Drama
“You’ll notice that dramas are not on the list,” Kaire added. “That’s because dramas will not work with high concept. Dramas are about serious subjects – illness, death, divorce, abuse, attaining personal goals, social conscience. Turn on Lifetime and you’ll see drama. Drama is entirely execution-driven. It’s all in the writing.” What if you write dramas? “The best thing to do is place in the top ten in screenwriting contests. Dramas will get you there.”
In concluding, Kaire re-emphasized one single point: When it comes to high concept films, “learn the information and then make your own choices about what to write.”
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* Sylvia Cary, MFT, has been an active member of the Scriptwriters Network for over a decade. Also a licensed psychotherapist, she is a screenwriter and the author of 4 published books, 5 produced educational videos and numerous articles in national magazines. She has a “book-doctor” business called Therapists Who Write which is focused on helping psychotherapists and others in the healing professions get published. Contact at: SCary@scriptwritersnetwork.org or www.TherapistsWhoWrite.com.