Okay, so here's something to think about and muse over; let's say you have a screenplay which overall would be described as a comedy, but which sets the scene in a fairly serious dramatic way - because we have to understand the main character's situation at the start in order to care about what happens to him and appreciate the fun in the story, as well as the underlying serious message. I think it's perhaps a bit of a cheat to say its a Comedy/Drama or Drama/Comedy...or lately 'Dramedy' but for the sake of argument lets call it a 'bittersweet comedy'. Okay you get the picture, in the first ten pages it's not pure laugh your socks off 'comedy'. So if I pitch this as a comedy, would a reader/listener think, this is supposed to be a comedy but it doesn't seem that funny. If I pitch it as a drama will they be uncomfortable with laughing at the funny bits because they don't already know it's supposed to be funny. Here's my question then, how should this be pitched as a comedy or a drama ? I guess there is no real right or wrong answer, as each project would have to make it's own case to be one or the other, but would be interested in your thoughts and opinions.
Screenwriting : Fun with Genre - Pitching 'biittersweet comedy' - what's your thoughts ? by Dee Chilton
Other topics in Screenwriting:
Check out Trending Discussions
Register / Log In
Hi Stephanie, many thanks for your reply to my dumb sounding question. It stems from my recently having to select either 'comedy' or 'drama' when submitting my screenplay via an online submission system. For me it's a comedy and I always talk about it as such and people do seem to 'get it'. Perhaps I should have said how best to classify it as opposed to pitch it. Having selected comedy, I wonder if the reader will expect a lot of laughs in the first 10 pages where there is in fact more drama than comedy. So how best do I assist expectation management for a studio reader or producer, as it is often advised "if it's described as a comedy you better make sure it's funny" and "hook them in the first 10 pages". I am not so worried about the verbal pitching, fortunately for me I am going to the London Screenwriter's Festival in a few weeks and doing a pitching workshop, and then I will expand my education and get lots of pitching practice I am sure ! Hope your projects are going well too.
1 person likes this
It's rare to find anything classed as one genre these days, though I'm sure there are many examples. Think of most comedies today and you're likely to have a spell (ten, twenty) of pages that are more drama or serious than the rest of the film. The fact that yours happen in the first ten pages shouldn't matter. If you're really concerned about it, is there any way to add a few light moments in the first ten pages? Hey, writing is rewriting, right? Say that three times fast. Best of luck with your project. Cheers, Ian
1 person likes this
Either pitch it as a comedy but emphasize those dramatic moments in your story or... pitch it as a drama and emphasize those lighthearted funny moments in the story. Do not try to pitch a hybrid. You'll confuse your audience and lose the tone of your pitch.
Thanks Stephanie. By the way I just checked out your website and blog, great stuff really helpful. Highly recommended to anyone else looking for pitching advice.
1 person likes this
I agree with Dee -- Stephanie Palmer has a great blog and her book "Good in a Room" is smart and very insightful.
I didn't think holes was that funny. It had amusing elements.But what a great film. Groundhog day, mask, ghost busters, the blue brothers, they weren't that funny either. The films that actually make you laugh- and i'm finding it hard to come up with an example (blazing saddles?laurel and hardy? dumb and dumber?) are quite rare.
Counterpoint makes things interesting! That's the way I look at it, anyway. Look at my opera (well, okay, you'll need a time machine for that, because it isn't finished yet, but still...); it is serious drama - that's its purpose - but it has moments of levity in it because it takes the audience's emotions on a roller-coaster ride. Thing is, if a drama's a constant stream of bad news, crises and what-have-you, all you have left is an audience with slit wrists - and that's the ones who are awake. Introduce levity, and it's like picking an egg up off the floor and then dropping it - which is a damned sight more effective than staring at it and saying "break, ya bastard, break". The obverse is also true. If you have moments of melancholy in an otherwise rip-roarious laughter-fest, then you can get your audience higher than if you just punched one gag after another at them. Like in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas where "the Wave speech" breaks one hilarity from the next, making it more interesting and getting you up there. Of course, whether it wears a comedy mask or a tragedy mask - that is the question. And if Shakespeare had the answer as readily as this, Hamlet's soliloquy would have run to about three words. Basically, it depends on your intent; your intent frames the theme, the theme frames the outcome. Unless your craft needs a bit more practice...
If it's 50/50 comedy and drama, I believe you can call it a dramedy. Little Mrs. Sunshine comes to mind, but it had a lot of dark humor, so maybe a black dramedy in that case? I'm coming up with a whole new category...lol.
Frankly, if it's that serious at the beginning and has an underlying message that is also serious, I'd go with Drama. The lighthearted, laugh out loud moments provide a break from the seriousness of the film and it would need those as a straight Drama anyway.