A studio executive speaks
Actually he’s now an executive at Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment, but Franklin Leonard used to be a director of development at Universal. Also the originator of “The Black List,” in this presentation Leonard gives you an insight into how a Hollywood buyer thinks. An excerpt:
The pitch: An oil company lobbyist (Leonardo DiCaprio) is shaken after his girlfriend, a local meteorologist, breaks up with him over reservations of his contribution to global warming. The split is hastened by a massive hurricane thrashing its way toward the east coast of the U.S., which would likely wreak Katrina-like damage from Maine to Myrtle Beach. DiCaprio’s character, feeling guilty, soon discovers that the hurricane’s path will also cross a long-dormant volcano, causing it to erupt and spew so much ash that it eventually swirls into a biological weapon that could mark the end of the world.
Would you greenlight this blockbuster? Would you even consider it?
Franklin Leonard hears dozens of pitches like this everyday, and it’s his job as Universal Pictures’ director of development to sift through these project and find the diamond in the rough.
“So basically you’re pitching me Leo vs. the toxic-superstorm that’ll destroy humanity,” Leonard told the pitch-man. “His response, and I wish I was making this up, was: Well, when you say it like that, it sounds ridiculous.”
Here’s more with Leonard who who spoke recently at Fast Company’s Most Creative People Event:
http://video.fastcompany.com/plugins/player.swf?v=02b8c58c8be27&p=fc_social
Takeaway: When you generate a story concept, ask yourself this question: If I was a studio executive, would I buy this script? Don’t ask the question flippantly, but rather really try to switch hats — from writer to buyer, their world of art as commerce… with an emphasis on commerce.
If I was a studio executive, would I buy this script?
If your answer is a firm or even uncertain “no,” then you have a choice: Pursue your story as an indie-movie project or move on to develop another story concept.
H/T to James Tichenor for sending me this link.