You know I've read really a lot of posts here and found some comments where you mention 'if you know what Hollywood wants' or 'you need to know what producers really like' or what the trend is and so on. Is there really a trend? I mean most films and tv series want to be more than politically correct or want to show they care about all problems which is already too much and sometimes ridiculous. Like when in one family there is one son who's gay and has a boyfriend with a different skin color, the daughter is a junkie or has an alcohol problem, one sibling is adopted and the mother is secretly jewish while the father's family has kind of a nazi past. I guess you know what I mean and I fear THIS is really a trend. But how can we know what gets sold easily to a producer or director? If there really are new trends each year - like in fashion industry - then, who creates them? And why isn't it a question of individual taste anymore? They need what gets sold, what people run to theaters for so that it pulls in sales - but is it always true? Who thought Dirty Dancing would become such a cult film, such a success? Anyway, what do you think what screenwriters should write to get their stories sold faster to production companies?
Screenwriting : What Producers really want by Elisabeth Meier
What Producers really want
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The audience decides the trends in film when they buy tickets. Probably similar in television with # of viewers (ratings), but I don't work in TV so that would be a guess.
There may be trends, but people will notice something original and well written. Whether they make it into a movie is another thing.
Yes, this is what I thought too up to the moment when I read here somewhere about which stories would sell best where the expression 'topics that producers really want' and the magic keyword 'trend' were used.
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Yes, CJ, this is what I meant when I mentioned you have to trust your inner voice, your feelings and instincts.
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There are trends, but you can't write to them. When Wedding Crashers was a big hit, everyone was looking for the next Wedding Crashers. If you happened to have that at the time, great. If you spent 6 months churning out the next Wedding Crashers, by the time you finished the trend would be something else. It's foolish to try to anticipate what's going to be the next big thing.
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Thanks, Kerry.
For writing to be authentic and real, I believe the story has to be one you are passionate about. Trends come and go, and are unpredictable. What experiences/talents do you have that make you uniquely qualified to tell a particular story? Don't worry about what is selling, channel your efforts into what you love. Films take years to be made--you need to adore your story so you can be a passionate advocate for your script. You'll be together for a long time!
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Specific trends come and go, but there are genres that sell tickets now and genres which are dead or dormant now (and those are like turning a battleship: takes a lot of time). Every time someone says the Horror genre is played out, another film comes along and keeps it going. It may be on a gradual decline now, but it will still be an active genre when you finish your screenplay. If you look at Buddy Comedies (like WEDDING CRASHERS) those will still be around by the time you finish your script. I have no idea whether HOT PURSUIT will make money, but I've seen it and it's pretty good... so it has a good chance of sparking more films like it and those films will spark more films like it if they are successful. I always say to write the type of movies you see in the cinema every week... that way you know it's something you like plus something enough people like to fill the other seats in that cinema (and the thousands of others around the world).
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Don't chase trends, start them. When you chase them you will always be late to the party.
@Kevin: Yes, this is my way of thinking and I love people who think alike. I only was irritated by this 'what producers really want' when I read it in an article and wondered what this might be. :)) Actually it always is a question of the vibrations between people, because if someone likes your idea and the way your wrote it he suddenly would even accept that you wrote to many or too less pages and are not quite correct in your formatting as both can be changed before you start filming. It is as Albert Einstein said: All things are relative.
@William Your last sentence makes me smile as it reminded me to what I (me, myself) REALLY want. I have a fellow director and producer in Los Angeles who also writes his own scripts and watches the Academy Awards each year while he wishes so much he would win his own Oscar one day. I told him I wouldn't wish for any Awards, but for that the people worldwide can't wait to watch my next film in cinema. That would make me happy as will then know I really created something good. Something which makes the people dream or helps them to forget their sorrows for a moment and makes them feel a little happier. This is what THIS SCREENWRITER wants.