What genres sell best?
Charles
are released in U.S. theaters each year?
Skip Press
"Charles" <ctsa...@home.com> wrote:
> Does anyone have a breakdown of how many dramas, comedies, action flix,
> etc. are released in U.S. theaters each year?
The Hollywood Reporter in an issue that came out mid-December. They'd
probably sell it to you, or you can pay to access their site.
--
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-- Thomas Jefferson
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Brian Anderson
>
> Does anyone have a breakdown of how many dramas, comedies, action flix, etc.
> are released in U.S. theaters each year?
I wouldn't use this as a gauge of what sells best. None of the period
pieces you see in the theaters are likely to have started as spec
scripts. Remember that only a small percentage of what you see on the
screen actually started out as specs. If you want to know what genres
sell best, you're better off looking at a site like Done Deal
http://www.scriptsales.com/ -- this listing still includes a lot of
assignments, but at least you can tell which were sales specs and which
were not.
Adam Fulford
that you are asking for a breakdown of what kind of spec scripts sell best?
I, too, would find such a breakdown interesting, but, just keep in mind,
epidemiological analyses can say very little about individuals. I'd reckon
that for a spec, ultra-expensive sci-fi's would have the least chance of
selling. And, chances are, that a newbie is more likely to break ground
with small prodco's and such companies tend to have limited cloud in raising
finances, so the best bet would be a great, gripping story that could be
shot with a modest budget. Just my modest take on it.
I've got a less-than-modest priced thriller with a tiny prodco and, well,
chances are iffy that it'll be made, though still within the realms of
possibility. My morning analogy, pre-coffee and going off tangent, is
arranging to go on a date with a someone who may or may not exist, never
mind show up, at a bar that may or may not be constructed, depending on
who-knows-what.
"Charles" <ctsa...@home.com> wrote in message
news:1Jph6.148613$df5.4...@news1.crdva1.bc.home.com...
WhistlerKnows
>Does anyone have a breakdown of how many dramas, comedies, action flix, etc.
>are released in U.S. theaters each year?
>
I think I recall seeing that broad comedies tend to sell best, followed by
action pieces, probably. Look at your cineplex and that's what's selling at the
moment.
Though "Scary Movie"-style flicks are gonna be dead in six months, when it was
No.1 at the box office folks were buying up similiarly themed stuff.
But scripts like "American Pie" and "Down and Under" (the new Scott Rosenberg
project) always seem to sell. At least for now.
But your best bet is not worry about what's selling and write what you want to
write and let it be honest and true. Hopefully, eventually that will shine.
Hudson Hawk
Disturbed42
phant...@my-deja.com
> What genres sell best?
This isn't genre related, but it's something to consider.
From: "500 Ways To Beat The Hollywood Script Reader" by Jennifer Lerch.
# 175 (page 77)
-------
In using characters to write a screenplay the Hollywood Reader will
recommend, tailor-make a character for an actress in her 40s, 50s, 60s,
70s+. Even marginal screenplays offering proactive, interesting roles
for this age group get consideration at talent agencies - the ladies we
loved when they were in their 20s and 30s want to keep working and they
have few roles from which to choose! Be the one to write that beloved
star the role that will bring her back to the screen and win her an
award in the process.
-------
Jennifer Lerch worked for the "William Morris Agency," as a Script
Reader for eight years. This book is full of useful information.
From reading scripts in contests, like "Project Green Light," I've
noticed an overabundance of "R" rated action wannabes, very few
character driven scripts, and almost nothing for families.
The following are only my opinions.
In the last six months, from reading various magazines and sources on
the internet, it would appear to me that comedies and romantic comedies
have the best chance to sell as a spec script. I have seen ads from
production companies specifically requesting submissions for these types
of scripts.
As far as I can tell, unless you're a Coen brother, avoid scripts with
the "F" word every time a character speaks. It's like using an
exclamation point at the end of every sentence. It also limits your
potential audience. I downloaded the script for "THE BIG LEBOWSKI,"
after several people recommended it, and got bored out of my skull by
the fifth page. My only entertainment consisted of opening it up in a
word processor and counting how many times the "F" word or words
containing the "F" were used in the dialog. (251 times, by the way.)
I'm sure the Coen brother worshippers will be agitated, but then the
Coen brothers movies aren't exactly blockbusters, are they?
In my opinion, write scripts that would be cheap to make, and write for
as general an audience as possible.
Sent via Deja.com
http://www.deja.com/
Brian Anderson
> I downloaded the script for "THE BIG LEBOWSKI," after several people
> recommended it, and got bored out of my skull by the fifth page.
The Coen brothers write scripts that they know they will direct and
produce, and that is evident in the writing. They do things on the page
that only writer/directors can do, because they know everything that's
going to go into the scene even though it's not written on the page.
The Sam Elliot introduction in The Big Lebowski is an example of that --
I wouldn't open a script with a long rambling voice-over because it
doesn't work well on the page. It worked on screen, though.
Sorry you were bored out of your skull. I was laughing out loud by page
five.
> I'm sure the Coen brother worshippers will be agitated, but then the
> Coen brothers movies aren't exactly blockbusters, are they?
And yet the Coen brothers can make anything they want to. Doesn't that
tell you something?
phant...@my-deja.com
> And yet the Coen brothers can make anything they want to. Doesn't
> that tell you something?
Yeah, it tells me they have that limited market sewn up, and that the
Coen brother wannabes, trying to break into the business ought to try to
write scripts for a less limited audience. (Or maybe get money from
someone that loves them, and make it themselves.) Because they have
less than one chance in a million of getting someone else, with money,
to back it.
I assume that Charles wanted to know what to write as a spec script that
had a chance of selling. But if he has unlimited resources, he can make
any damn thing he pleases.
ADR
distu...@aol.com wrote on 12/2/01 3:57 am:
> The good kind.
I tell you which genre does well. Here's the plot points:
FADE IN
-Historical drama with a lot of fictional accounts.
-Male protagonist says goodbye to his family at the beginning and we wonder
whether they will ever see each other again.
-Some big natural disaster or war occurs and the male protagonist is
separated from his family for a long time or in some cases his family/wife
dies and he vows to take revenge.
-The villain speaks perfect upper-class English while the hero speaks
Californian or tries to sound like Mel Gibson in Braveheart.
-The hero has a tendency for looking far into the distance a lot (as if he
has vision of a better future)
-A princess is due to marry a prince she does not like. She runs away and
meets Aladdin in the Gobi Desert.
-There's a fight scene every 8-10 pages whether it is necessary or not.
-There's a moving score which sounds the same as any other moving score
you've heard in the past 5 years.
-There's a conspiracy on both sides, one to kill the hero and another to
kill the villain.
-The hero has an affair with the villains daughter and makes her pregnant.
-The hero is captured in battle.
-The villains daughter visits the hero in prison and they have a moving
dialogue together. He shouts at her and tells her to leave.
-The final fight scene between the hero and the villain's son.
-The hero dies. A sad ending. He sees his dead wife in the after-life or
moving through a crowd as he takes his last breath. He shouts something like
'freedom!' or 'republic! republic!' and passes out.
-The villain dies of a heart attack or has his head crushed by his own 'I
want more life, fucker' son.
-the princess throws herself off a bridge.
-Tom Hanks loses weight and reminds me of the good ol' days.
FADE OUT
ROLL CREDITS
Personally I think Unbreakable was the best original screenplay of the past
year. Traffic looks set to win the Oscar though but to me Traffic is a
docu-drama about the way things are rather than an inventive, creative and
original story. Best movie? Out of those two I can't decide. They were both
very good. But I would like to see Del Toro win an Oscar for his acting. Who
was the main protagonist in the movie, Del Toro or Douglas?
Eskimoto
Horrigan
>>are released in U.S. theaters each year?
>>
>
>I think I recall seeing that broad comedies tend to sell best, followed by
>action pieces, probably.
And of course US theatres are not the only market. You got your home video,
your pay cable TV, your basic cable TV, your over the air TV, etc. Then you
got your foreign markets.
My uninformed guess is that low-budget romantic comedies make the most money in
the long run on the average--- although the biggest blockbusters tend to be
scifi, costume dramas, or action flicks. the biggest film of all time was
Titanic which encompassed all four of those genres.
*****
Tim Horrigan <horr...@aol.com>
*****
SPAMNOTch...@onix.com
>... the biggest blockbusters tend to be
>scifi, costume dramas, or action flicks. the biggest film of all time was
>Titanic which encompassed all four of those genres.
Horrigan...
One guy running around with a revolver for five minutes hardly adds up
to the action genre, in my book--and I have *no* clue what the
"sci-fi" elements in TITANIC were.
Enlighten me.
--Christopher
Remove "SPAMNOT" from address to reply.
Gary Pollard
news:3a92090e...@news.onix.com...
> One guy running around with a revolver for five minutes hardly adds up
> to the action genre, in my book--and I have *no* clue what the
> "sci-fi" elements in TITANIC were.
I tend to agree. For most of the most devoted fans I think "Titanic" is
spelt R O M A N C E
Gary
SPAMNOTch...@onix.com
<gpol...@netvigator.com> wrote:
>... For most of the most devoted fans I think "Titanic" is
>spelt R O M A N C E
Absolutely, Gary.
As far as the actual historical elements were handled, the pic felt
more like THE POSEIDEN ADVENTURE than the fine British pic based on
Lord's book A NIGHT TO REMEMBER.
Romance/Disaster pic?
Maybe.
Still waiting to hear about TITANIC's "sci-fi" content...
douglas...@hotmailnospammy.com
>Still waiting to hear about TITANIC's "sci-fi" content...
Yeah, but those *were* aliens in the icebergs, right?
Doug
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that,
you've got it made. -Groucho Marx
