The World of High
Concept Ideas
By
Steve Kaire
Steve Kaire has set up 7 deals at
the major studios and is an expert on the high-concept pitch. He is teaching an online
class for us on Monday night, May 10. For more info click here.
"You can't get into Hollywood through
the front door," the saying goes. That being the case, it doesn't leave a lot of entry
points into the business. You can use nepotism to your advantage or be lucky enough to sleep
your way to the top. But for me, I took the road less traveled -- I fell in with the "high
concept" crowd. Those are the people who don't write scripts, instead creating commercially
sellable log lines which can be sold over a phone call or pitch session. I happen to be one
of the exceptions in that I'm a screenwriter as well and have found that each talent isn't
mutually exclusive of the other.
I consider myself to be "the best idea
man in Hollywood," having sold seven projects to date. The first six being ideas I sold to
the major studios without an agent or attorney. My last sale was the screenplay, "Worst Case
Scenario," a forty million dollar action-thriller slated to go into production in 1997 with
Interscope Communications.
I also teach writing classes at the
American Film Institute and Santa Monica College where I have created a class called, "How
to Sell Your Stories to Hollywood." I share my fifteen years of knowledge with my students
in the hopes that they may come up with a great idea and we'd become partners in its sale
and potential production.
Creating "high concept" ideas is a world
apart from writing screenplays. They take years of writing and rewriting. A great idea can
be two or three sentences long. But coming up with a truly terrific idea is no easy task.
The process is a radical departure from conventional thinking and creativity. You've got to
be exact, capturing the essence of a totally original concept in a couple of sentences.
Let's strip away some of the misconceptions surrounding what "high concept" means. My
definition includes three very distinct requirements:
The first is that the idea or logline
must be pitchable in a few sentences. Shorter is always better.
Next, the story must be fresh and
unique. You definitely haven't heard it before. It grabs you and doesn't let go.
Finally, you immediately see the
potential. If it's an action film, you "see" the potential for action inherent in the pitch.
If it's a comedy, comic potential is evident in your storyline.
There shouldn't be a lot of explaining
to do on your part. A story about a man going through a tough divorce who ultimately
reconciles with his wife and returns to his family is not "high concept." It's neither fresh
nor is there any obvious potential. A story about a guy who wakes up one morning to discover
that a tiny alien is living in his head is "high concept." It's a one sentence pitch that
you never heard before, with very obvious potential for comedy and adventure. The easiest
"high concept" genre s to sell are comedies and action-adventures. The response one is
aiming for when pitching is having the listener say, "Why didn't I think of that?" You
should also have a great title which conveys the genre of your project and as much
information as to w hat the story's about as can be conveyed in a title.
As far as protecting the material goes,
"ideas" are not legally protected even if you register or copyright them. Therefore writers
must expand their "idea" into a three or four page treatment and then register them. An
attorney should also negotiate all of your deals.
Click here to learn about Steve's online class.
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