A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 7
This is the third year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Several reasons which I’ll work my through during this series of posts. Here’s another one:
The story idea is how everyone in Hollywood short-hands your script.
From the first moment your script enters into submission process, where it’s covered and at the very top there is a logline, through the marketing of your movie, where posters, newsprint, radio, TV spots, and web content all derive from it, your story idea is the touchstone for everything that happens.
So over time, I think it is fair to say that story ideas have become the lifeblood of Hollywood, what people traffic in all day long. The more you can think like that, play to the way Hollywood people interact with stories, the better your chances of success in the business.
Today’s story idea: Beneath a Temple in Southern India, a Treasure Trove of Staggering Riches.
MUMBAI, India — A court-ordered search of vaults beneath a south Indian temple has unearthed gold, jewels and statues worth an estimated $22 billion, government officials said Monday.
The treasure trove, at the 16th century Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple, is widely believed to be the largest find of its kind in India, catching officials in the state of Kerala by surprise and forcing the government to send two dozen police officers to the previously unguarded shrine for round-the-clock security.
The discovery has also revived questions about who should manage the wealth, much of which is believed to have been deposited at the temple by the royal family of the princely state of Travancore, which acceded to India when the country became independent in 1947. Some of the vaults under the temple have not been opened for nearly 150 years, temple officials have said.
Temples in India often have rich endowments, mainly from donations of gold and cash by pilgrims and wealthy patrons, but the wealth discovered at Padmanabhaswamy dwarfs the known assets of every other Indian temple. Such assets are typically meant to be used by administrators to operate temples and provide services to the poor, but they have often become the subject of heated disputes and controversies.
Okay, so we’ve discussed the BRIC phenomenon: Brazil, Russia, India, China. Those are four huge growth areas at which Hollywood is actively aiming business. Here you have a story set in India. An enormous treasure trove: $22B.
Sounds like the basis of a heist movie to me.
I can hear a producer pitching it now: “It’s ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ meets ‘Slumdog Millionaire.’”
Pull together a multinational theft squad a la the team from Inception, enter the amazing world of India, write some choice roles for big name Bollywood actors, and you’ve got yourself the basis of a huge hit movie.
What would you do with this idea?
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