Reader Question: Does a logline constitute “unsolicited material”?
From Courtney:
Could you clear up the mystery that is those infamous words…
“No unsolicited material.”
A PDF of a script blindly sent… a big no-no… I get that. I’ve never sent one out without permission and a release form.
But…
Is a logline sent via email… to spark interest… considered, “material?”
I would say technically, yes. If I’m Producer A and one of my projects is about a zombie superhero who takes on a coven of vampires, I would be extremely disinclined to read anything further if you queried me with, “My script is about a zombie superhero who takes on a coven of vampires.” I would not allow your script past my virtual gate because if I actually get my zombie-vampire movie made, I don’t want to open myself up to the possibility of a lawsuit from you claiming I stole your idea.
However I see what you’re thinking, Courtney, that it’s more likely you will get a favorable response to a query if you tease them with a great logline. So while a logline may technically, even legally be considered “unsolicited material,” I think it’s worth the risk. If someone does have a similar project in development, they would simply respond “no.” On the other hand, they may find your logline interesting enough that they do request your script.
More broadly speaking, a good logline can be hugely helpful for a writer. I am reminded of a story I heard years ago about how the movie Predator came to be produced. It seems the original Thomas brother script went all around town and got a pass everywhere. Producer Larry Gordon had his people assimilate a weekly list of scripts that didn’t get picked up, each script with a logline so he could quickly scan them to see if anything piqued his interest. As he perused this particular list, he saw something like this following logline:
“A team of commandos journey deep into a Central American jungle to track down a vicious killer — an extra-terrestrial warrior.”
By the end of the day, Gordon was meeting with the Thomas brothers, optioning the script, and getting them started on a rewrite, eventually leading to Predator getting produced — and the rest they say is history.
So summing up, if you have a great script with a great logline, why not use the latter as a means of hooking the interest of a potential manager, agent, producer, etc?
And in general, it’s a good idea for you to work up loglines for each of your scripts because you never know when you’re going to have an opportunity to do an elevator pitch.
BTW I’ll be offering a new course through Screenwriting Master Class called “Story Summaries: From Loglines to Beat Sheets,” a comprehensive look at 6 different ways to summarize your script. It will run for one week (April 4–10) and costs $95. It’s the first of many 1-week Craft courses Tom and I will be rolling out starting in April. For more information, go here.