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This issue sponsored by
BreakingIn.net
~ Where Screenwriters Go to Break In! ~
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Dear Screenwriter:
Has anyone ever asked you for a logline of your script? Of course they have. Loglines help sell scripts and successful screenwriters know how to create bombproof loglines for their screenplays.
Sooner or later you will need to devise a short but captivating way to tell your stories in order to convince other film professionals (agents, managers, producers, actors, directors) to read them. This issue features some guidelines to help you create dynamic (and irresistable) loglines for your scripts.
On with Script Market News...
SCRIPT
MARKET
NEWS
July 25, 2003
IN THIS ISSUE...
TUTORIAL: BombProof
Loglines
MARKET TIPS: Sizzlin' Summer Contests
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Find out how...
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Tutorial
Creating
Bomb-Proof Loglines
Copyright
(c) 2003, Lenore Wright
All screenwriters use loglines to sell their scripts.
=> We use loglines in query letters to impress agents we've never met.
=> We enter loglines in script competitions to entice judges to read our screenplays.
=> We post loglines in script registries to attract producers who live thousands of miles away.
We ask a lot of our loglines. We need loglines that ROCK!
THE FIRST STEP TOWARD A SCRIPT SALE
In some situations, loglines work better as a sales tool than screenplays do. Agents and producers look for easy outs when dealing with unproduced writers. Loglines provide LESS for them to say no to than a detailed synopsis or a complete script does. This can be a plus.
The logline introduces the story to them, offering a taste of the movie without forcing them to devour the whole script. As they become familiar with the movie idea, they exercise their own imaginations. This brings them a step closer to asking to read the script.
CREATING
A DYNAMIC LOGLINE
Logline techniques vary among screenwriters but most will agree with this warning from the American Association of Screenwriters, "If you can't say it in three sentences, you don't know what your script is about."
~~ Some writers simply summarize their movie: setup, conflict, and resolution.
~~ Other writers create a one sentence TV Guide style logline emphasizing both the external storyline and the internal one. An example would be this logline for E.T.: A shy, alienated boy bonds with an extraterrestrial child who's been stranded on earth; the boy defies the adults to help the alien contact his mothership so he can go home.
~~ My suggestion: Don't limit yourself to the setup or the plot, emphasize the unique elements of your script that enable audiences to connect with the situation and identify with the hero. Think of the logline as a commercial for your movie. Include the elements you would use if you created a short trailer for the movie.
CHECKLIST FOR YOUR LOGLINE
- Reveal the star's SITUATION
- Reveal the important COMPLICATIONS
- Describe the ACTION the star takes
- Describe the star's CRISIS decision
- Hint at the CLIMAX - the danger, the 'showdown'
- Hint at the star's potential TRANSFORMATION
- Identify SIZZLE: sex, greed, humor, danger, thrills, satisfaction
- Identify GENRE
- Keep it to three sentences
- Use present tense
How can you pack all that into three sentences? You might not include all these elements each time you create a logline for a new script but try to touch on most of them. If you think of your logline as a commercial for the movie you've seen in your head as you've been writing the script, you'll breathe life and personality into those three sentences.
Try it. Your logline will ROCK!
Next issue I'll show you exactly what I mean by creating loglines for two popular movies. If you can't wait... You can read this complete mini-tutorial on Loglines here =>
www.breakingin.net/logline.htm
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HELP YOU BREAK IN!
Bombproof Query Letters =>
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Freebie
Script Format Tutorial =>
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Reserve Your Copy:
Sizzlin'
Summer Script Contests
=> NEW CENTURY WRITER AWARDS
Creative writing prizes in several genres: screenplays, stage plays, novels, short stories and poetry. Screenplay prizes: $3000, $1500, $500.
This popular contest has been around for five years. Check out their impressive sponsors online.
INFO => www.newcenturywriter.org
DEADLINE => August 31, 2003
=> SCREEN ARTS FOUNDATION PRIZE
This script contest is restricted to writers who haven't optioned or sold a screenplay for more than $5,000 US Dollars. The Grand Prize is $5,000.
Early deadline: August 31, 2003.
Final deadline: October 1, 2003.
INFO => www.screenartsfoundation.org
=> ZOETROPE SHORT FICTION CONTEST
All entries must be unpublished stories of 5,000 words or less. The history of Hollywood movies includes dozens of great short stories that made unforgettable movies. To name a few: ALL ABOUT EVE, BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK, CHARLY.
Francis Coppola sponsors this well-publicized contest. Celebrity Judges: Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jane Smiley and Thomas Keneally, author of SCHINDLER'S LIST.
DEADLINE => October 1, 2003
INFO => www.all-story.com/contests.cgi
=> 2003 IFP FILM FUND (CHICAGO)
Attention, Windy City writers! Win an in-kind donation of production equipment and services (valued at up to $85,000.) for your next short film from the IFP/Chicago Production Fund 2003. Applicants MUST BE IFP/CHICAGO MEMBERS and the film must be shot in the Midwest region.
The Winner of the 2001 Fund was one of 11 shorts to be chosen for competition in the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. NOTE: This is a production fund not a completion grant.
DEADLINE => September 20, 2003
E-MAIL => infoifpmw@aol.com
=> INDEPENDENT PRODUCER SCRIPT CONTEST
The winning screenplay receives a money prize ($1,500.) plus a staged reading at the Writers Guild Theatre in Beverly Hills, California for 500 top film industry professionals.
INFO => www.indieproducer.tv/
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Get your copy of Harry Potter V
...and check out our BOOKLIST for
Emerging Screenwriters...
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