Reports of the death of ‘high concept’ have been greatly exaggerated

During the 80s and 90s, high concept reigned supreme. [If you’re unclear what ‘high concept’ means, you can go here and read a lengthy conversation about it.] Consider these titles: Top Gun, Home Alone, Jurassic Park, Beverly Hills Cop, Speed, Twister, Armageddon, Ghostbusters, Liar Liar, War Games, Tootsie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Back to the Future, The Terminator, Die Hard, Predator, Coming to America, Fatal Attraction, Independence Day, Kindergarten Cop, Bad Boys, Pretty Woman, Jumanji, Basic Instinct, Rush Hour, and those are just off the top of my head movies I could recall from those two decades.

The last few years, you tend to hear the term ‘high concept’ bandied about less nowadays in Hollywood, more likely someone will say, “We’re looking for a story with a really strong concept.” There’s a lot of merit to thinking that way as a high concept may not necessarily mean it’s a strong one.

However at least on the comedy front the last few years, there have been some movies released which could have just as easily been produced 20–30 years ago: The Nice Guys, The Intern, Pitch Perfect, This is the End, Neighbors, Horrible Bosses to name a few. And now there’s this:

From Twentieth Century Fox:

Over the holidays, Ned (Bryan Cranston), an overprotective but loving dad and his family visit his daughter at Stanford, where he meets his biggest nightmare: her well-meaning but socially awkward Silicon Valley billionaire boyfriend, Laird (James Franco). The straight-laced Ned thinks Laird, who has absolutely no filter, is a wildly inappropriate match for his daughter. The one-sided rivalry-and Ned’s panic level-escalate when he finds himself increasingly out of step in the glamorous high-tech hub, and learns that Laird is about to pop the question.

Tagline: Of all the guys his daughter could have chosen…

Here’s the movie trailer (Note: Red Band for profanity):

This movie is about as high concept as you can get. Hell, the title almost sells the movie by itself. And the one-sheet? You see it, you get it.

So high concept ain’t dead in Hollywood, not just yet anyway, and here’s one big honking reason why: When the success of original movies today relies as heavily on marketing campaigns as they do, with sooooo much competition for consumer attention and dollars, when a studio can convey the essence of a story in 5 seconds or less, that can serve as a hook to reel in the potential moviegoer to watch the rest of the trailer, and end up with their fanny in a movie theater seat on opening weekend.

Takeaway: As you generate story ideas — which you should be doing like every single day — don’t neglect high concepts. Reminds me of how Seth Lochhead got a manager with an email which simply read: “New spec script: Girl trained to be an assassin. Interested?” That became the movie Hanna. Yep, high concepts still have a place in today’s Hollywood movie business.

Question: What are your favorite high concept movies? I’m kinda partial to this one: “An unruly cop gets a new partner. A police dog.”

Comment Archive