What FASCINATES YOU? –continued…
I just sat here writing a response to a comment Jonathan left for me. I sat here really thinking and writing — thinking and writing and by the time I was finished, I had a enough for an entire blog post…
So go read Jonathan’s comment down below and then come back and read my response if you are so inclined…
Jonathan,
I definitely think there is value in writing a NON-HIGH CONCEPT screenplay… Anytime you write anything, you’re gaining valuable experience.
As for focusing on one or the other… I think I made that clear for ME. I certainly wouldn’t advise you NOT to write NON-HIGH CONCEPT screenplays. I might RECOMMEND it but I would never advise it… LOL.
I simply wanted to point out that in my opinion, this is definitely the harder road of an already difficult route to selling a screenplay.
I know several screenwriters who have won and become finalists in several screenplay competitions. Every screenplay was NON-HIGH CONCEPT.
None of these screenwriters have ever sold a script. None of these screenwriters have an agent. None of these screenwriters have any industry contacts but ALL of these screenwriters continue to write NON-HIGH CONCEPT screenplays and submit them to contests.
Is that a bad thing?
Not at all. But everything is relative.
I hate to keep beating a dead horse here but just to let you know… It’s probably MORE DIFFICULT to sell a well written NON-HIGH CONCEPT screenplay to an Indie Producer than it is to sell a well written HIGH CONCEPT screenplay to a mainstream Producer.
That being the case… You have to make a decision. If you like writing small non-high concept scripts and want to enter screenplays into contests and or market to Indie Producers, then definitely go down that road.
If you want to do BOTH… DO BOTH.
All I am trying to do here is dispel the idea that screenplay competitions (except for a handful) help screenwriters break into the business.
I posted this blog in an effort NOT to discourage contest submission but rather to clue those of you in as to how it really works out there.
You say in your comment that the process seems worthwhile. Great. No problem. As long as you realize that the numbers say that the most you’ll probably get out of the exercise is valuable
experience.
Hollywood only wants HIGH CONCEPT stuff. I have yet to meet anyone in the mainstream that isn’t looking for HIGH CONCEPT and as Dave points out in his comment, high concept need not be HIGH BUDGET hence, the reason my blog post says to FIND THE HIGH CONCEPT in your story and then write it into the screenplay.
If you can’t find the high concept or one does not exist and you still move forward, simply be prepared not to make a sale or even get too many mainstream producers to read it.
Nobody I know wants to know that you can write a non-high concept screenplay so they can have you go right back out and write them a high concept screenplay.
Why do that when we can simply read high concept screenplays all day long?
It’s all about numbers, time management, and good writing.
That BROADER net you talk about… Where is it?
Let me explain it in a different venue…
Let’s say you’re a mechanic and you’ve become very proficient working on Porches. Let’s also say that you can only work on one Porsche at a time.
Later, you get to thinking… “Hey, I can make some extra money working on Hyundais.” So you take classes and learn how to work on Hyundais.
Now you get back to the shop and you have a Hyundai and a Porsche to work on. Which do you choose? If you fix the Porsche, you can make $500. If you work on the Hyundai, you can make $250.
Which do you fix first?
Let’s further assume that it takes the same amount of time to fix the Hyundai as it does the Porsche but you can’t mark the parts up as much even though the labor is the same.
Which do you fix first?
Let’s say you fix the Hyundai and get your $250. Great. Now you fix the Porsche and because you know MORE about Porsches and have more experience working on them, you fix it in 6 hours in contrast to having fixed the Hyundai in 8 hours.
See where I’m going?
If you decide to keep working on both Hyundais and Porsches, you’ll get experience on both but you’ll probably work harder on the Hyundais until you are as proficient on them as you are on the Porsches and not only that, making less money doing it.
It takes working on 2 Hyundais to equal the benefit of working on 1 Porsche.
And, since you can realistically only work on ONE of these cars at a time… What car would you want to work on the most? You are in business are you not?
Now the last explanation of my post… LOL.
Let’s say you finally wake up one day and decide to stop working on the Hyundais and focus strictly on the Porsches.
You bust your ass for a few years and you’ve had enough success to hire three more mechanics and you kind of feel bad that you stopped working on those Hyundais so you decide to devote one of your Mechanics to work on those Hyundais while the other two keep working on the Porsches.
You can make this decision now because you’ve achieved some success.
I see this occupation of screenwriting to be NO DIFFERENT from the above scenario. Write several high concept screenplays that SELL and you can pretty much do whatever you want. Produce. Direct. Whatever.
Keep writing non-high concept screenplays and in my opinion, you’ll get really good at writing non-high concept screenplays.
Is that a bad thing? HELL NO! If your PASSION and FASCINATION is to write non-high concept screenplays then that’s probably what you should do I guess. While the prospect doesn’t thrill me, I would never tell someone NOT do follow their passion and fascinaton.
On the other hand, specialize in say… Action, Horror, and Thrillers (or whatever genres you are passionate about) and write high concept screenplays in those genres and you still gain just about as much valuable experience to be able to write a non-high concept screenplay as you would actually writing a non-high concept screenplay.
Unk
Recent script sales…
Latest Hollywood script deals Wed Jul 26, 2006 2:58am ET166
Latest Hollywood script deals Thu Jul 13, 2006 4:34am ET
Unk
By the way…
For those of you out there with your own blogs that link to this blog, send me an email and let me know… I’m a strong believer in reciprocating links.
So far, when I have the time, I just check my stats to see where visitors are coming from… When I find that someone is sending visitors here, I include a link to their site on the right but I know I’m missing some so if you have a link up at your site or blog to this one, just let me know and I WILL return the favor.
Unk