A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 3
Here’s another reason you should look for movie story ideas wherever you can: You never know when inspiration may strike. Back in 1986, my only connection in Hollywood saw a news story about a local K-9 policeman and his canine partner. That news item changed his life — and mine — after we wrote and sold the spec script K-9.
There are many ways to generate story ideas. This month, I focus on one: Looking for ideas in news sources. Each of the items I’ll be posting for the next 30 days comes from a news site.
Today’s story idea: She wants her dog, not a stranger’s taunts.
The first call broke Renelle Everett’s heart: Your pet Chihuahua, Comet, escaped through a gate at the kennel where he was boarded and went missing somewhere near Clayton.
The second call turned Everett’s ordinary lost-dog case into a terrifying, two-state whodunit and a wild online clash: I think I’ve got your dog, a man’s voice told Everett, but I’m going to keep him.
Since August, Everett has been haunted by the call and repeated online taunting from a stranger who said he kept her dog for his child, then gloated about giving the animal to a random couple on a beach. It was serious enough that the Johnston County sheriff’s office subpoenaed cell phone tower records and traced the call to Owings Mills, Md. — 300 miles away. Everett said deputies gave her a number and an improbable name: Panamaw Bogitar.
It isn’t certain whether the caller ever had Comet or simply saw the lost-dog posters, month-long newspaper advertisements and daily postings on Craigslist.org, and decided to torment a woman who still cries at the mention of her missing dog. Everett’s case shows the power of anonymity that cell phones and internet postings provide, and the danger of never knowing whom your pleas for help might reach.
Everett believes Comet is alive but held hostage.
“It’s like he was keeping Comet out of spite,” said Everett, 29. “At least I have peace because I know he’s not dead. But it’s torture. Comet belongs home with me.”
Animal movies have a long history in Hollywood — and from Rin Tin Tin to Lassie dogs have been the biggest animal stars.
Re this news story, I can remember two movies which featured kidnapped animals: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) in which the Miami Dolphins’ mascot is stolen and Beethoven (1992) in which the Beethoven and several other dogs are taken by a pair of thugs played by Stanley Tucci and Oliver Platt to their evil boss played by Dean Jones (David Duchovny of “The X-Files” and “Californication” fame is also featured in the movie).
So let’s see what we can brainstorm…
Family comedy: A pair of dognappers snatch a millionaire’s dog seeking a substantial ransom. While authorities search for the dog, the dog turns the dognappers’ lives upside down and the pampered dog gets the chance to see how the other half lives — and he loves it.
Thriller: A strange woman enters a small town, seeking information on a lost dog. Seeing how shattered the woman is by the loss of her beloved pet, the townspeople take her in and provide her some measure of comfort. But then the town’s pets begin to disappear one by one and there are some inconsistencies in the woman’s story who becomes increasingly strange…
Indie Drama: An old man and old woman cross paths as they search for each of their lost pets. Joining forces as they follow clues in an attempt to track down their pets, they explore each other’s lives finding a human connection they thought they had lost forever.
Okay, so not the greatest story idea ever, but this is what the process is like. It’s like panning for gold, sifting through a lot of grit to strike pay-dirt. And again, you just never know what elements of even a seemingly thin news item might suddenly hit you with a sudden inspiration for a great story concept.
What would you do with this story conceit? What would you do with “The Untitled Dognapper Project”?