The story behind script coverage: “Primary and Secondary Genres”
A few weeks ago, I received some feedback about this series: The Story Behind Script Coverage, which I ran in June 2009. The readers suggested I re-run the series, figuring that many GITS readers might have missed the original run. So each day for the last eight days, I have been breaking down one facet of what a script reader does per the actual coverage packet from an actual Hollywood agency. Today’s topic: Primary and Secondary Genres.
As we continue our exegesis of the literary tome “ICM Story Department — Coverage Packet,” today we look at the next section: “Primary and Secondary Genres.”
PRIMARY GENRES
Action
Adventure
Animation
Biographical
Comedy
Drama
Dramedy
Erotic Fantasy
Historical
Horror
Musical
Mystery
Non-Fiction
Science Fiction / Fantasy
Sports
Thriller
Urban
War
Western
SECONDARY GENRES
Afro-American
Airplane
Allegory / Fable
Animal
Autobiography
Biblical
Biker
Bittersweet
Black Comedy
British Flavor
Broad Comedy
Buddy Picture
Caper
Character Study
Chase
Children’s
Circus
Coming of Age
College
Comeback Story
Comic Book
Cop
Corporate
Courtroom
Criminal
Dance
Detective
Disaster
Docudrama
Domestic / Family
Drag Queen
Drug
Eccentric Characters
Ensemble
Epic
Erotic / Sexual
Escape
Espionage / Intrigue
Family
Fantasy
Farce
Film Noir
Foreign
Fish Out of Water
Gamble
Gang
Gangster
Ghost
Gigolo
Historical
Holocaust
Homosexual
Interracial
Jazz
Jeopardy
Kidnap
Love Story
Martial Arts
Medical
Melodrama
Military
Murder
Mystery
Nautical
New Age
Noir
Occult
Opera
Period
Political
Post Apocalyptic
Prison
Psychological
Racism
Refugee
Religious
Revenge
Relationship
Road Picture
Robbery
Robot
Rock and Roll
Romantic
Romantic Comedy
Saga
Satire
Science Fiction
Screwball Comedy
Show Business
Slapstick
Spoof
Sports
Superhero
Supernatural
Survival
Suspense
Swashbuckler
Terrorist
Vietnam
War
World War One
World War Two
Youth
A few comments:
* The lists seem to be a bit slapdash as certain genres end up in both lists (e.g., Erotic, Historical, Mystery, Sports). Also the lists seem dated. For example, the use of “Afro-American” is decades old, replaced by the preferred “African-American.” Plus the use of “Science Fiction / Fantasy” as one category. Granted up until Lord of the Rings, fantasy was all but dead as a genre for Hollywood movies, but now with Harry Potter and all the rest, fantasy is certainly deserving its own category.
* The secondary genres are what I call “Movie Story Types” and you can go here to see brief takes on Bio-Pics, Body Switch, Buddy Picture, Fish-Out-Of-Water (FOOW), Frustration Comedy, Heist, Mistaken Identity, and Road Picture. I’ll be adding to that over the next several months.
* I see two main values in knowing these lists. First, movie studios generally take a ‘mutual fund’ approach to their slate of movies — that is, they want to have a wide variety of projects in development covering a number of genres. So if you track what each studio is acquiring, you can have an idea of the type of movie they may currently be seeking to fill a niche.
* Second, we have talked about genre bending here and here — the practice of taking a story concept and ‘bending’ it into another genre. So let’s say you have a story concept — for example, a guy becomes a dog. You can take these lists and brainstorm possibilities with that core idea to see if you can make it really distinctive: A guy becomes a dog (comedy) is a far different movie than a guy becomes a dog (science fiction) or a guy becomes a dog (horror).
As writers, we tend to make assumptions about our stories in terms of the genre. But if you’ve ever pitched a story before, you’ll know that one of the first questions on the part of the buyer is “What’s the genre.” Knowing that helps the buyer know ‘how’ to listen to the pitch — a thriller or a comedy requires a different set of ‘ears’ — and also tips them off straight off if this is something they’re interested (or not).
For the original post [June 26, 2009] and comments, go here.
Go here to download the coverage packet. Note: It is likely dated at this point. However the basic areas it covers re script coverage still pertain to how readers go about their business on a daily basis in Hollywood.”