Screenwriting : The one thing... by Tom Batha

Hi, Tom Batha. People pay attention to concept. It's really important! I've heard from industry pros who said something similar to that ("You know, this is crap writing, but that idea, that idea has legs"). I've also heard from industry pros who said they want incredible scripts over concept. My advice to writers is write incredible scripts that have incredible concepts.

Execs are just humans and trying to generalise them is just trying to find messages in the clouds.

That said, last year, I had four assignments come my way that were existing scripts that the producers liked the concept of but hating the writing.

The thing is, it wasn't like the concepts were particularly amazing. They just had traction, sometimes because they were based on a true story, sometimes because a valuable actor had attached, or sometimes because an investor was keen on the subject.

I have a producer passionate about making a script of mine at the moment because he feels it's important. Simple as that. He believes the story needs to be told because of what it says. Some say there's movies that make money and movies that cost money.

Concept used to be a great differentiator, but these days it's mainly about IP and talent. A lot of films, particularly low budget films, are bought literally off the cast list and poster.

Concepts certainly matter. Everyone wants a great concept because something great, especially fresh/new or a rare take is exciting and excitement can get people behind your project. People love to bring something never been seen to the table and flip the industry on its head constantly. In my experience, some of the worst scripts to read are the ones that are technically proficient, well written, well structured, solid all around, but are nothing new conceptually. Like the ideas aren't pushing the genre forward, innovating, introducing new philosophies, angles, takes, or points of view. Like they feel well done, but are empty because they have nothing new to say really. I personally see great concepts with average writing get writers reps all the time.

Good points above. And yet -- we humans do keep telling the same concepts over and over with different takes for different times. Researching my book and presentations on: "BEYOND THE HERO'S JOURNEY - Other Powerful Mythic Themes" made that really clear. You can find the principles with examples explained well also in mythologist Joseph Campbell's works, as well as Robert Graves and Stephen Fry. The trick is to well cover those two essential elements of effective story-telling -- Familiarity and Surprise. / Best of luck to all of you re-telling some of our fave myths in many different ways, from different perspectives, with different messages, styles, and such. We're all after better stories and "mythology is where they keep a lot of the best stories".

I'd say don't worry about what an exec feels, wants, believes, and seeks. I believe every writer is different in the way they approach a subject, whether identical or not; just like we're all equipped with a different set of finger prints, is what will make your concept different. I say write about your experience. Write about what you know, about what you see, what you feel, and think...because we're all different in our own ways; and that's when an Exec will find your concept to be different. You and I can wear the same suit, but the color shirt I wear, tie or no tie, pocket square or not, is what will make me stand apart from how we both wear the suit, and how the exec sees us both, identically, different.

Matthew Kelcourse, that's what reading the biographies really teaches you. What's revered now was typically rejected early on. The last chapter of my book is dedicated to critics that slammed the most popular films in movie making history.