I'm not sure if this should go in the writing section or the open discussion section of the forum, so I've posted it in both. Hopefully that's allowed.

In any case, I have a movie idea that's...well...really good. So good in fact that I honestly believe that it could easily make for a blockbuster. I realize that people say this all the time, but I truly feel that my idea far surpasses anything I've seen or read about in recent times.

My question is this: if I were to write a synopsis and then pay a professional writer to rewrite it properly for me, to whom do I contact to pitch the idea? Or rather, what steps do I take in hopes of making this idea become a reality?

My apologies for clearly knowing nothing about this sort of thing. I'm a small time producer of sports based content. I know absolutely nothing about scripts and such.

Thanks again. :)

I'm not an expert in the subject but I've had friends do indy films.
There's no simple answer to this. It depends what you're expectations are. I don't there's any place in "Hollywood" where you can walk in and get "blockbuster" support without a track record.

There are past examples (not always blockbuster) to look at.
George Lucas' student short THX1138 later got funding for a a full length feature and decidedly wasn't a blockbuster but was a start to a career that resulted in blockbusters.

There's are extremely low budget films (Blair Witch Project) which certainly became big major successes.

A synopsis, no matter how great, does not a blockbuster make.
A complete script, an Executive Producer who can fundraise, sometimes having "names" attached can help. Producing a short may help. Your past history to deliver can count for a lot too. Sometimes having some success in the festival circuit can help. The result might range from more funding to a distributor for a well made low budget film.

As I pointed out in your other thread (this is actually the best place for your question) you must have an agent or no one will even read your stuff. Also, it's rare anyone will even read a treatment from an unproduced writer, as Craig very accurately points out; you need to have a real script presented by an agent. And with all due respect, I don't even have to know your idea to tell you it's been pitched and rejected countless times already.

Here are some threads which, while not exactly about your specific issue, address the realities of how projects are developed and sold.

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/taking-care-business/145555-selling-tv-ad.html

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/taking-care-business/136648-help-new-tralvel-show-pre-production.html

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/taking-care-business/236907-i-need-some-info-starting-tv-ad-agency.html

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/documentary-techniques/386706-shooting-pilot-travel-channel-need-portable-gear.html

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/totem-poll-totally-off-topic-everything-media/140346-what-exactly-shooting-pilot.html

Read through all of them and then, if you're not ready to kill yourself, good luck with your project.

Nathan,

I have no experience in the areas where you need guidance and assistance but I would like to offer up my opinion regarding your post and other comments made.

First, I don't know if your idea would be a blockbuster or not. Definitely the odds are against you. It's not the writer, producer, acting talent, or movie studio that decides what will be a blockbuster. The paying public really decides. All writers, producers, actors, and studios (even the successful ones) have had bombs. Who is to say what your project would ultimately become?

And, don't be discouraged in the least by reactions such as "your idea (has) been pitched and rejected countless times already," especially when it comes from those admitting to know nothing about the details of your idea. Once in a while, totally new ideas do emerge and usually from those outside the loop who are not stymied by their paradigm.

Keep asking questions. Keep searching for a way to accomplish your goal. This forum is not the only place to get the knowledge and help you'll need. You may never turn your idea into a reality no matter how hard you try. But one thing is for sure. If you don't try, you definitely won't.

Good luck with it.

Jeff

You could go the film festival route. Most festivals have a "screenplay" division. Though your up against tough competition I'm sure and it depends on the readers imagination. Probably your best route if you lack funding, although it's still a long shot.


Jeff gave you some encouraging words, keep plugging away at it. It's been years since I was into the film circuit, but I recall the big festivals Sundance, Slamdance, South by Southwest, and Toronto, among others.

And, don't be discouraged in the least by reactions such as "your idea (has) been pitched and rejected countless times already," especially when it comes from those admitting to know nothing about the details of your idea. Once in a while, totally new ideas do emerge and usually from those outside the loop who are not stymied by their paradigm.Oh, Jeff, that's just so silly and naive... of course there are no "totally new ideas." Well, maybe if you're Stephen Hawking.

As someone who's been on the other side of that desk for a portion of my career, I can tell you there are no new ideas, only new executions. And without a track record, there is no evidence he can execute. In any event, the idea is the single least important commodity in the movie business. It's all about your ability to deliver it in a new and interesting way -- old wine in a new bottle, as one of my ex-bosses used to say.

My intent isn't to be discouraging but to make sure anyone entering this path is informed about the realities of this business so they don't waste a lot of time following a strategy that is unlikely to produce returns.

I tend to side with Adam Gold on this.
Speculative material (spec script) is hard to get past the garbage can- an outline or idea, forget about it. Like scripts, everyone has them and has them terribly written.

Here's how it works:

An Agent Validates you as a prospective writer but the script SALE is what really matters.
A past film which made money (sells), Validates you as a Filmmaker.
Hollywood demands validation. That's the catch-22.

My thoughts:
Your best bet is to develop an idea with limited budget and commercial appeal. What are these ideas, you ask? Genre films: Horror, Sci-Fi and Action but executed differently, creatively and cheaply (but looking expensive).

The art house, no budget is dead.
The no budget, genre horror is alive and well (eg, Paranormal Activity).

Last week, I was at the American Film Market in Santa Monica.
Our genre film was represented by a distributor and selling to foreign markets.
It is gratifying and it wasn't easy.

At a DGA function, a director on the acceptance board asked how I expected to get in.
"You have any ideas?" I asked. "Just one. When I hear your name and about your work, you'll get a call from us."

This is in line with how most thing work in Los Angeles.
It's not who you know- it's who knows you in a positive light.
Hollywood asks you to join their party... And until your name is in the trades, its an exclusive event with a mean doorman.

Hope this helps,
-C

It's not necessary to make everyone aware of every possible pitfall, obstacle, difficultly, or adversity they may encounter on their path to realizing their dream. I've found that most times people who insist on pointing out obstacles and reasons for failure are the same people who could never attain success themselves so they try to discourage others by making sure anyone entering this path is informed about the realities of this business so they don't waste a lot of time following a strategy that is unlikely to produce returns.

Stick with it Nathan if you believe in what you are doing. Obstacles are what you see only when you lose sight of your goals.

Jeff

Nathan,


First, I don't know if your idea would be a blockbuster or not. Definitely the odds are against you. It's not the writer, producer, acting talent, or movie studio that decides what will be a blockbuster. The paying public really decides.
Jeff

I would argue that the MARKETING really decides what films will be blockbusters or not. If "Paranormal Activity" hadn't been marketed the way it was, no one would have seen it, The same thing for "Blair Witch". On the flip side of that, we all know of great movies with huge budgets that just weren't marketed well, and became successful only with the DVD release, if at all.

Having said that....and not having any experience in the movie industry, but some in the music industry.....I will agree that to pitch "spec" material, you must have an agent and a track record. In the music industry, in Nashville, unsolicited material will be thrown away, sometime right in front of you. The reason for this is that music publishing houses have songwriters on staff that are constantly writing, and new artists that they are developing. Let's say they have spent a lot of money on Jolene, a new artist. They have a song (written by salaried songwriters), and have produced an album, and even a music video. Now Joe Songwriter comes along with an unsolicited song, that is very similar to the song they have already spent a lot of money on. This is coincidental, but now they may face a lawsuit if they proceed with the song as is. THAT is why unsolicited songs aren't considered, and I'll bet it works tghe same way in the movie biz.

Sorry James but if the public doesn't get behind a product and fork over the bucks for the product, all the latest, greatest, innovative marketing is wasted cash. Nothing becomes blockbuster material unless the buying public makes it so.

Marketing didn't help the Edsel. Marketing didn't help the DeLorean. Just try to find a can of "the New Coke" anywhere. Hhmmmmmmmm, Vista got a lot of marketing.

Jeff

I have no experience in the areas where you need guidance and assistance...Exactly. But I have.

Really, Jeff, you just don't know. Unless you've spent your career working for TV Networks and movie studios in LA and NY -- and I have -- you just don't know.

And it would be a bizarre and inaccurate spin on what I said to accuse me of trying to discourage Nathan. He's guaranteed to fail if he pursues your aimless clueless strategy, while he at least stands a chance if he follows the advice from me and others here who have pointed out that if he at least writes the screenplay, he'll have a tangible product with which to show off his talents. It's called "show business" for a reason.

Do you really believe that "it's not necessary to make everyone aware of every possible pitfall, obstacle, difficultly, or adversity they may encounter on their path"? Really? You'd really rather not know where you're going or how to get there? You must be fun to go camping with. Obstacles are what you split your head open on when your eyes are closed.

And for the record -- not that I need to post my resume for you or anyone else -- I've actually written, produced and directed a feature as part of my rather bizarre career. Not a good one, mind you, but we got it finished on time and reasonably on budget. Just in case that nasty shot about people who "could never attain success themselves" was aimed at me.

My definition of success involves doing what you love, not making money -- and by that measure I'm reasonably satisfied.

Quite honestly Adam, all I've gotten from your postings here and at other sites is that no matter how knowledgeable you may be in an area where someone poses a question, you very often dilute the value of your expertise by finding a way to be condescending.

You're the kind of person who has to get the last word and to have people agree with your philosophy.

You basically imply the OP is a reject because his idea has been pitched and rejected countless times already. How could you possibly know what his idea is? You don't know. You just don't know.

You call me silly and naive. Why? Because I don't share your opinion? Because I offered the guy some encouragement?

Those are rhetorical questions. You don't need to respond... but I know you will.

I'm sure with your vast knowledge of everything hollywood, you could write a book. Why don't you? I'd certainly read it as I'm sure others would too.

fine

Verbally. To them, in a room.

Ask them to "imagine if ...." and then paint a picture with your words. Engage their minds to do the pre-visualization for you. 2 to 3 minutes max.

Andrew

Before 'Blair Witch' people were saying every kind of movie had already been made. Before Nirvana people said music was done & nothing new was out there, before 'Survivor' people felt reality TV was only for The Real World, before Google internet companies were thought of as dot bombs & could never generate revenue. Heck a guy who was in charge of US Patent's back in the 1920's or so once said "There really is not much use anymore for the patent. Everything that will ever be invented already has been." Really? So the calculator, PC, Ipod, TivO were all invented in the 1920's?? Great!

There's always exceptions to the rule, and there's always a new idea waiting out there to explode. Timing, luck & execution all play a role in it as well. Is it hard? Of course. You can't just call a director & tell them your idea & they're infatuated with it & jetset you out ot LA. But if you see your vision & can afford to put the time & effort into it, then go for it. Consider it a learning experience as well. However if you have a wife & kid, career and a mortgage depending on you, you might want to let it go.

My advice, try your best to write the script yourself. Or a rough draft, then pay someone to fix it up & better it for you. I say go the festival route. It's hard, and the odds are against you, but every now & then these things succeed, and as I said, learn from the experience as well.

I'd almost recommend NOT going to film school.

If you did, you'll end up being handed yet another set of blinkers by the academy. That is, your education will mold your mindset to their way of thinking when it comes to how things are done and what not to do. You'll be restricted in your thinking in the same way that style isn't something that you inherently have ... but is actually more a reflection of what you can't do.

Real genuine innovation always comes from the outside.

Andrew

PS. With all this, you'll still have to stick with what is effective. Common sense rules in the end.

PPS. I didn't go to film school. And I haven't made a film yet either.

No one here has suggested that Nathan not pursue his dream, only that just having an idea isn't enough.

Nathan, by all means you should pursue this, but to increase your chances of success you must approach this like the business it is. If you don't feel comfortable writing the screenplay yourself then it is, in fact, a pretty good idea to team up with a more experienced writer, and then knock on every door possible to find an agent (it's not impossible, just difficult). Once you have an agent then he/she can shop your screenplay around.

But the odds of being able to get a pitch meeting when all you have is an idea are pretty slim. Not that it has never happened, just that it's pretty rare.

There's a reason you can't copyright an idea, only the tangible expression of it.

Sorry James but if the public doesn't get behind a product and fork over the bucks for the product, all the latest, greatest, innovative marketing is wasted cash. Nothing becomes blockbuster material unless the buying public makes it so.

Marketing didn't help the Edsel. Marketing didn't help the DeLorean. Just try to find a can of "the New Coke" anywhere. Hhmmmmmmmm, Vista got a lot of marketing.

Jeff

But that is exactly my point.....TRADITIONAL marketing may not be the answer, but "grass-roots" style marketing is what is making the success stories today.....in all media.
Marketing can take many forms. Many of us are marketed to everyday in ways we may not even be aware of. If you don't think the movie companies (or any company that needs to market it's product) is unaware of, and is not actively utilizing, these "new" marketing techniques, you are dead wrong.
"Paranormal Activity" was marketed on the premise that "your movie theater may not be showing this....so ask for it!".......even though Paramount was already planning on giving it a wide release. How do you think "the buying public" gets behing things? Marketing!

But all that is not really what the OP was asking about. I'll bet my analogy about the music business fits the movie biz as well. Our OP has a "spec" movie idea....he didn't elaborate on whether it was an outline, a treatment, or an actual script.
Now, let's say he shops it around. And, it just so happens that Sony Pictures is actually preparing to shoot a movie that is similar. They have attached a producer, and a lead, etc. Sony has already spent quite a bit of money on this similar movie. Now, if they never accept the "spec" script our OP submits, they have no problems. But, the minute they open his script, they might be liable for infringemnet. And NO movie house is going to take that chance. Although, they might buy the script for a small fee just so they can shelve it. Either way, our OP hasn't gotten his movie made.
A lot of people tend to forget the "business" part of the music (and movie) business. Essentially, when an artist approaches a company to help him to produce or distribute his art, he asking them to invest money, sometimes a very large amount. To expect to get anywhere with unproven, unsolicited material is unrealistic. I may have a great "idea" for a new soap...but without spending some of my own money to produce a sample, test it, and have something to show my "investors".....all I have is a great idea and no way to make any money with it.

Marketing didn't help the Edsel because people thought it was ugly. The DeLorean was plagued by late production and not being able to be sold at it's original intended price. New Coke was ill-conceived from the beginning. And Vista...well, c'mon....I never intended to suggest marketing would overcome a shoddy product to make a success. But, many good products are unknown to the general public because of ineffective marketing.

I'm just glad to see that people feel strongly about their opinions and hold fast to their beliefs. Whether I agree with you or you with me, I still respect your right to have your opinion.

I look forward to the next hypothetical topic that can be discussed or argued back and forth with no party being able to prove or disprove one theory or another. It's like riding a fast train to nowhere.

Jeff

... until Nathan tells us what his idea is so that we can discuss it in more detail. :-P

Andrew

Ideas, on their own, are worthless.

You can't copyright them, you can't patent them, you can't do anything with an idea on it's own.

An idea, plus years of hard work (be it script development, business development, whatever), might be worth less than the years of hard work that was put into it, or it might be worth many times more.

And idea, in essence, is only a multiplier. Great ideas multiply the success of great work.

A multiplier, without anything to multiply, is worthless.

Before you pursue your great idea, decide how much great work YOU personally want to put into it. That will determine your chance of success, not the idea (even bad ideas have become success due to enough hard work.).

The idea only multiplies the amount of success that might come from that work.

This is an awesome thread. Probably it's going to be deleted soon but I've enjoyed reading both sides of the story. Reminds me of that old quote, "In any good argument both people are right."

If you don't like the ride, get off the train.

When it comes to negotiating, you always want to be negotiating from a position of power. That's the ideal situation to be in.

For your idea (just as it is in business) you have to be prepared for the possibility of just walking away. The idea of your movie idea not happening has to remain a realistic possibility.

Otherwise you may have an unintended detectable desperation, and the "it must somehow happen" mindset will affect your otherwise clear rational thinking.

Andrew

Adam, Jeff - play nice, or I'll unleash the hounds...

I would have done it already, but have to agree that you both are presenting both sides...which is necessary to hear. Just keep the fangs out of each other's necks and don't bring it to a personal level...y'all are getting a little too close.

Key points -

1. There are no new ideas, only new executions - about 99% true

2. Good scripts are hard to find - 100% true

3. Once you go overcome the huge hurdle of pulling together a script, you are about in inning 2 of a 9 inning game...are you ready for the huge investment in time and money that lies ahead?

4. Since you're posting on DVinfo, you probably either shoot or are interested in production issues...someone wise once told me, "the EASIEST thing about making a movie is the production" - 100% true - and this is far, far, far from an easy thing...

...you have no idea what the gaps are in your knowledge base, until you start looking at the "everything else" that goes into doing this successfully.

...Adam is trying to tell you what some of these things are, and those of us who are committed to these types of productions would do well to listen to what he is saying...he's not raining on anyone's parade, he is telling it like it is.

Having said that, everyone who gets involved in making movies is a dreamer, of a sort, trying to realize the product of their imagination by spinning nothing into something....it's from the void of the mind that movies emerge...

So dream away, that is how these things get done. But they only get done successfully when you have built out your knowledge base of the business end of things.

The easiest thing about a production is the production. That's my zen koan of filmmaking...

Nathan, I'm going to bump this thread back up. Consider writing the script yourself, just do it. Grind it out.
Go to this website: Celtx - #1 Choice for Media Pre-Production (http://www.celtx.com)
Download their free script writing software, it works great, makes the process way easier.
Look at some sample screenplays on-line at: Drew's Script-O-Rama: free movie scripts and screenplays, baby! (http://www.script-o-rama.com)
Here you'll find hundreds of screenplays for just about every movie that you've seen.
Start slow or fast, but start the process of writing your idea out. Chip away at it, a page a day, a page a week, a paragraph a day, whatever you can squeeze out, just do it and you'll be suprised at the progress. Even huge novels are written a little bit at a time.
If you have an idea, you have an outline in your mind. Flesh it out on paper, fill in the edges.
Don't make too big of a deal out of it, or it won't get done. The journey is more important than the destination. Remember, just chip away at it and enjoy the ride.

Thanks for the advice and kind words everyone.

Let me just clarify a few things though, as a few people made assumptions that weren't exactly accurate.

First off, although I am a producer, I have no intent to produce this movie. I do not have the experience, budget, or knowledge to pursue such an endeavor. I simply have a concept that I want to pitch (and hopefully sell).

Secondly, this is not a dream of mine. I've never contemplated such things until this idea instilled itself in my imagination a few months ago. The idea was so good that I felt compelled to pursue it, based solely on my confidence in its potential.

Plainly put, I just feel that my idea is so good that I'm obligated to pursue it. My career is headed elsewhere at the moment, but I still want to pursue this on the side. I'm just looking for the easiest, most cost effective way of going about it. From what everyone has said, it doesn't sound very feasible that anyone will even read my idea....yet it seems shameful considering how much potential it has.

Thanks again everyone.

In any case, I have a movie idea that's...well...really good. So good in fact that I honestly believe that it could easily make for a blockbuster. I realize that people say this all the time, but I truly feel that my idea far surpasses anything I've seen or read about in recent times.



A lot a bad info and negativity in this thread. I know a guy that sold a pitch for 40k. He had no script -- one of the conditions of accepting the 40k was that he NOT write his own idea. It does happen, but it's rare, but heck, so is a script sale.

If I were you, I'd come up with a good logline, a one or two sentence summation of your concept that *really* says, "Buy my movie idea!". Google loglines, I believe John August's site has some good info on them. Entrepreneurs use them when they approach venture capitalists, here's the one that got Cisco Systems its funding: "We make networks for networks". See? original, descriptive , concise, compelling. They got the money. So you have this great idea and cool logline. Now what. You can't get an agent because you need a great script. Which you don't have. You don't even have a bad script. From this point on it's all about relationships and your ability to sell. It's who you know, who who you know knows and if you can sell them. You've got to get the ear of a player or someone close. This is why many advise living in Hollywood if you want to work in Hollywood. Getting your idea the right exposure is so hard. But not as hard as writing a great script, and writing a great script is not as hard as coming up with a great idea. So in a sense, you've done the hard part.

So I don't suggest hiring some hack to write your script. It'd take you about 1 second to find someone to do it. Yeah, it's that desperate. Instead, use the money to buy a landline and cell phone and start working the crowd. First place I'd go? Probably some schlock film festival, mingle with the wannabees, talk shop, and start swimming upstream. Coffee Bean on Sunset Plaza is another idea. In fairness, I have known people that have leapfrogged right to top of the pyramid, but those stories always feel like one in a million, but on the other hand, the particular individual in question had a concept no one had ever heard of before, in 1980, no one in Hollywood knew what a Ninja was. Now they do.