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Originally, this article was supposed to be delivered to the Screenplayers’ website on Friday, September 14th. "Keeping It Terse and Active" was going to be the title. I know a bit about economy of language, how to say a lot with a little, how to paint the state of a character’s emotion or the salient points of a physical scene in a line or two of description. I know what professional readers look for, lexical things that scream "amateur" or "professional" to them. I know a few tricks that keep a story moving and guarantee the screenplay’s voice remains active. As I sat down to work on the column in earnest on Monday, September 10th, the words flowed like running water. I had the article about halfway done as I shut down my laptop Monday night. I would finish it Tuesday for sure, proof it Wednesday, add some spit and polish on Thursday, and make the September 14th Screenplayers’ deadline with ease. No problem. Until 8:48 AM on Tuesday, September 11th. Suddenly, "Keeping It Terse and Active" seemed rather silly. I tried to finish that article but couldn’t. The world changed on that Tuesday morning, and all of us spec screenwriters had better be acutely aware of that. What kinds of stories and genres Hollywood and the indies will be looking for in the foreseeable future changed drastically, and I thought it would be interesting to consider what stories might be marketable, and what might be impossible to sell as we move into this strange, somewhat frightening new world. I’m betting ANY script that uses race or cultural differences in even the slightest negative way will be a very, very tough or impossible sell. "A Time to Kill", "The Ugly American", "To Kill a Mockingbird", "In the Heat of the Night", all terrific stories and great films, might be avoided like the plague, at least in the near term. What I think moviemakers will be seeking are stories that show the human spirit triumphing over impossible odds, in no-win situations. Romance, and romantic comedies will be big. Screwball comedies and escapist sci-fi and horror/thrillers probably will be, too. Here’s an idea I’m working on. A Romeo and Juliet story, set in present day New York, about a rich Jewish girl and a Muslim gentleman, both born in the US, she a second generation Israeli, and he a second generation Afghan. Both of them live with big, wonderful, loving families. Let’s say they meet on the internet, fall in love with each other’s words, and agree to meet physically. Plot point one. They’re nonplussed by each other at first. Differences and difficulties abound. But over time, mutual attraction grows. They kiss. The midpoint. They rejoice in the new love they have found, and realize that the differences in their cultures is no match for their love. They will certainly live happily ever after. But then their families find out. Plot point two. Friction builds in act three as the families fight with each other, and with the lovers. The climax? If we stick with Shakespeare, they both die and the families bury the hatchet in their grief. Or we could go with the West Side Story technique and let one of them live, brokenhearted, again causing the families to see the error of their ways. Or, we might try the Patch of Blue twist. The girl is blind, and doesn’t realize the boy is a Muslim until they’re in love. They run away together and disown their families who remain ignorant. The average American moviegoer WANTS to feel better. They WANT to believe that the terrible price paid on September 11th will result in bloodthirsty hatred disappearing from the planet forever. The studios understand this, and the studios’ first rule of business is to give the people what they want to watch. Putting fannies in the seats is, after all, the ultimate goal of any movie producer. So, lets think about it. What stories would work? World War II tales certainly spring to mind, although these have been pretty well beaten to death in the past few years. So what’s left? Well, espionage stories have hit the skids since the demise of the Cold War. For those of you who enjoy research, I’ll bet there are several little true story pearls in the annals of World War II espionage. Little known events that may have changed history and saved the Allied armies from annihilation. Who knows, Bond-like characters may see a rebirth bigger than Travolta’s phoenix-like rise from the ashes after Pulp Fiction. Here’s another possibility. Americans want to feel good about America again. They want positive stories about their heroes doing positive things. What about the Lone Ranger? Too corny, you say? That’s what the post-modern celluloid pundits said about Superman, Batman, etc., etc. A feature story about the Masked Man, with his Native American partner Tonto at his side, thwarting some evil scheme developed by pot-bellied, ruthless, whisky-snorting rednecks could get some big time positive consideration in H-town. I don’t know what the movie rights situation on those characters is, though, so please check that out before typing FADE IN.
And, while we’re on the subject of Westerns, this genre could make a substantial comeback. Not only stories about Americans and Native Americans working side-by-side to defeat evil and ignorance, tales of Americans and Mexicans banding together against some monstrous, super powerful bad guys could be a hot item. And there’s always the possibility of tossing in some interracial romance along the way to help stir the pot. It’s a new world out there, fellow writers, and the projects that get greenlighted over the next few years may well be very, very different than the ones producers invested in during the previous few. I don’t know if my predictions on story and genre shifts will be right, but I guarantee that the feature film storytelling landscape has been changed as surely as the political landscape. Possibly forever.
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James Barrett
is an award-winning screenwriter and longstanding member of The Screenplayers. He is represented by
manager and publisher Eva Peel.
ScreenplayersNet |