Screenwriting : Two pronged question. by Craig D Griffiths

1) Horror... The genre always puts ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. When done right, the protagonist must face her fear of death, which enables her to become a stronger version of herself. And only after that occurs, can she defeat the antagonist and survive.

I think this is something that 100% of the human race can relate to, and I think that is why the genre always has a very good shot at finding its audience... Even when it isn't popular, even when it's a microbudget, non-union production with an entirely unknown cast, even when it's shot in some small town you've never heard of, even when production values are barely competent at best, even when distribution doesn't go beyond VOD, or Blu-ray pre-orders on Indie GoGo, or DVD sales at horror conventions, it still has a fairly decent shot at finding its audience... Which means it can build the careers of those involved.

2) I'm no expert, so I might be completely wrong. Hollywood will always do whatever it has to do to reach the widest audience possible, because studios need to make money, and executives want to keep their jobs. I'm not an executive in Hollywood, so I'm not really concerned about the next big thing. I'm sure they know more about what that could potentially be than I do anyway.

But at the indie level, whether it's horror, or comedy, or drama, or noir, or fantasy, or whatever, I think we should focus on producing stuff for a specific audience. And then maybe if we succeed at that, Hollywood will take notice... But the four-quadrant movie, or whatever they call it, the next big thing, is Hollywood's business, not mine. And it probably never will be.

1. I like to watch fantasy, but I have only wrote fantasy shorts. I have conceptualized a couple fantasy features but they never make past the development stages. Most of my work almost always evolves into a drama of some sort. That's because character and relevance are my strong suit, so there is a lot of depth in narrative in my work.

   2. The next big thing will be something none of us can name yet. There have been enough remakes and sequels to force the industry into doing something radical. Technological advancements within the industry has rendered the medium limitless, and I feel that more and more screenwriters are writing with that mind. Anything can happen...

Drama, because of the gritty authenticity and relevance to life.

Next big thing: Films expected to get butts in seats and make megatons of money. What is that? How good is your psychic?

I think star wars-like movies.

I like thrillers and dramedy. I have no idea what the next big thing will be and I'm pretty sure no one else does either. As the quote goes, "Nobody knows anything".

Fantasy--because life sucks. Next big thing: plastics.

I am an action/drama person. I enjoy the Marvel world, anything Nolan or Coen and BBC seems to be doing good TV. With Manchester by the Sea, Hell & High Water, even Logan to a point all being about broken people and their struggles. I think we may see more drama/thriller spec sales. I think it may be like the RomCom thing. They can be cheap and make great returns. Plus they attract great actors, sometimes cheap.

Fantasy (Comedy 2nd). More along the lines of Anime really. I love cartoons and the boundaries can be pushed further on crazy things happening.

The next big thing? Once we get past Superheroes, Star Wars and "reboots"? Most likely the same thing again and again. At least in terms of movies. - Chris

I write sci-fi and would like the next big trend to be big budget blockbusters that aren't necessarily based on an existing intellectual property, rebooting, remaking etc.

As humans we need a word to allow us to have a shared understanding. I have only heard this once a "requel" a retelling of the story in the same universe. Not a reboot and not a sequel. A retelling in the same universe. May never hear it again. But it may be an attempt to avoid reboot fatigue. New Spider-Man didn't show the death of Uncle Ben etc.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=requel - Chris

Becca I'll have to get the full definition and update it.

Fiona write or watch. I tend to enjoy watching the type of things I like talking about (writing). I enjoy quality so a great anything I'll watch (may be not a musical). Watching swings by mood, I'll bring out the Billy Connelly DVDs when I need a lift. Lately I've been watching euro cop stuff like Lavafield.

Favorite genre, drama, stories about real human beings in real life situations/conflict/struggles. The next big thing? Same old, Marvel, Dc Comic, now there bringing back (Universal Studios) remakes of their horror classics, "The Mummy" then "Frankenstein" "Bride of Frankenstein", " The Wolfman". Jesus! Why don't they just re-release the originals in IMAX or 3d, like they did with, "The Wizard of Oz" ? It was sold out at theater company I worked, and it looked amazing. Thank heavens for Academy members who still vote for films like, "Moonlight". There's still hope for writers like myself.

Jorge hopefully awards start to translate to dollars and we get those stories as well. I am a sucker for a hero pick ( I am writing this waiting for Logan to start ).

I absolutely love writing Sci-Fi and fantasy adventures and I think they will dominate the scene because of their wider reach. Horror will always be there but I am not good at all when it comes to scaring people.