Very often the

screenwriter
has picked, Strange Attractor
from the start, by Terry Rossio
a concept that
Okay. Let's get to work.
even in its best As a screenwriter and novice film producer, people send me
form isn't the screenplays. Like everyone else in town, I'd love to find that next great
type of story script, discover that next great talent. And having read and commented
that sells to on several hundred scripts, let me tell you the single most common
Hollywood. problem I've found:
Lack of a good concept.
Very often the screenwriter has picked, right from the start, a concept
that even in its best form isn't the type of story that sells to Hollywood.
It gets frustrating. There I would sit, reading a screenplay in which the
structure, characters, dialogue, and descriptions were all passable...
even, in some cases, very good. And yet, in my heart, I knew that there
was virtually no way the screenplay would ever sell, let alone get made.
It was doubly frustrating because it was hard to explain exactly why it
wouldn't sell. All I could say was that the original idea for the film was
lacking in some way. In what way? I didn't have a word for it --
But now I do.
I made one up. Stole a phrase, actually, from fractal geometry. This
mysterious 'thing' that most spec screenplays need is... the STRANGE
ATTRACTOR.
 What it is -- and why you need it
I know this sounds a bit silly, but bear with me. Put 'strange'
(meaning 'unique') and 'attractor' (from 'attractive,' meaning
'compelling') together and you get 'strange attractor,' or
'something unique that is also compelling.'
Which is just a quick way of saying that the concept of your
movie should be unique -- something that hasn't been done
before -- and at the same time, it must 'attract' people to it.
There must be some aspect that is compelling, enticing, and
intriguing. Some element that is so inventive, so alluring, it has
people in Hollywood kicking themselves for not thinking of it
first. Kicking themselves so hard, in fact, that they're willing to
give you lots of money because you did think of it first.
You could call it a hook, or a gimmick, or a twist. Hollywood
sometimes calls it a 'high concept' -- an idea for a movie that
can be stated in one or two sentences. You could substitute
'high concept' for 'strange attractor,' but I think strange
attractor is more precise. What good is a short, simple idea for
a movie if it doesn't also attract people? For example:
A man wrongly convicted of murder runs his investigation
from the confines of his jail cell.
Okay, this is mildly intriguing. You could use this 'high
concept' to write a screenplay. It might turn out to be the
springboard for a good movie -- but a lot depends on the
execution, all the way down the line. But even granting that a
film did eventually get made, and made well, it still could be a
tough sell to an audience.
What good is a
So from a studio, or 'development' perspective, then, this
short, simple
'high concept' is not likely to generate a lot of excitement... or
idea for a movie
if it doesn't also entre into the industry for the beginning screenwriter.
attract people? An idea that's marginally better (in a purely commercial,
make-a-
sale-to-Hollywood sense) is:
A man wrongly convicted of murder learns to astral-project
himself out of his jail cell; he must locate the real killer in order
to clear his name.
(Hey, you didn't think I could afford to publish my best story
ideas here, did you?) Still, as hokey as this sounds, at least it
has an identifiable strange attractor -- the gimmick of leaving
jail through astral projection. Perhaps it could be done as a
comedy, with nice thematic statements about freedom and
overcoming limitations. You get the idea, even with the above
arguably bad example. Here are some better ones:
"A teenager is mistakenly sent into the past, where he must
make sure his mother and father meet and fall in love; he then
has to get back to the future."
"A group of ex-psychic investigators start a commercial ghost
extermination business in New York City."
"A defense attorney falls in love with her client. As the trial
progresses, she doesn't know if she's sleeping with an
innocent man, or a murderer."
"A rotten kid captures the monster under the bed. He gets
seduced into the dark underworld, to the point where he
almost becomes a monster himself."
"A guy writes a letter breaking up with his girlfriend, sends it
OVERNIGHT EXPRESS. He changes his mind, chases the letter
across country, and falls in love along the way."
There is a certain 'aha' that comes with these last ideas. You
get the feeling that exploring them will lead to interesting
situations, and compelling drama.
A good attractor must do just that -- intrigue people, appeal
to people. The best ones explore a bit of the human condition
that is specific, universal, and (if possible) has never been
done before.
Okay, now. Perhaps you're wondering -- is this really
necessary? When is this guy going to start talking about writing
screenplays? I must emphasize --
YES THIS IS NECESSARY.
Especially for the first time writer. After all, just consider
what you're trying to do. You want:
-- a producer to spend perhaps three years of his life getting
your project made;
-- development people to like your idea, and to pick it out of
the thousands of screenplays they receive every year;
-- a director to feel it's worth being one of the few films he will
direct in his career;
-- a studio executive to risk millions of dollars making the film,
then spend millions more promoting it;
-- critics to think it's good, compared to other films made that
year, and all other films that have ever been made;
-- millions of people all over the world to spend money to go
see the film, maybe even more than once. And to tell their
friends how wonderful it is. And to rent it on video, and watch it
on cable.
To do all that, you'd better design an attractor into your
movie. You need to know exactly what it is. You should be able
to point to it and talk about it, the same way you talk about
characters and theme and plot.
The strange attractor.
Don't start writing a spec script without one.
Next we'll talk about how you can come up with one of your
very own.
 The best film
concepts show
the world to Beachcombing
be a larger, by Terry Rossio
more magical,
The thing I love about good film concepts is how obvious they are -- in
more complex retrospect. Take APOLLO 13. What actor wouldn't want to put on one of
place than is those space suits? A sure sale. INDECENT PROPOSAL -- would you
commonly break your marriage vows for a million dollars? Interesting. Hey, what if
believed... or CUPID couldn't perform his duties because he's fallen in love with one
reveals how of his intended prey? Cool. Regardless of the relative merits of these
much larger, films, the premises have an obvious, clear appeal.
more magical It's as if thousands of people in Hollywood are combing the beach for
and more that next great film idea, magnifying glasses out, checking every facet
complex the on every tiny grain of sand they come across. And then somebody points
human spirit at a big, beautiful conch shell laying right out in the bright sun and says,
is than is "Hey, let's make that!" You look at that big glorious pink and white
commonly crustacean and can't believe you missed it.
In the Strange Attractor column I described a different way of thinking
believed.
about film concepts. I emphasized the importance of choosing a
concept that 'attracts' people.
But how do you do it?
Here's the best help I can give. I think that these kinds of concepts
have some common qualities. And that knowing their common qualities
can make them a little easier to locate.
Like spotting one of those conch shells.
So here's my current list of the attributes for a good, solid, Hollywood-
style salable film concept:
A. Larger World Revealed
Thematically, often the best film concepts show the world to
be a larger, more magical, more complex place than is
commonly believed. Or the story reveals how much larger,
more magical and more complex the human spirit is than is
commonly believed.

B. Universal-ness
Many solid concepts in some way have to do with
experiences we all share -- even phrases we're all familiar with.
For example: fear of the monster under the bed. The desire,
when young, to be BIG.
Now, these tend to be hard to come up with, because a)
they're so common they're too obvious to see; or b) they're so
obvious to see they've been done to death.

C. Classic Echoes
Many popular films utilize -- and can even be developed out
of -- themes from classic drama. You know you're onto
something when you start finding echoes of classic themes in
your storyline.
Take BABE, which opened to critical and popular acclaim.
There are elements and echoes of Watership Down, Animal
Farm, Grimm's Fairy Tales -- even Rocky. The story deals with
issues of self-identity, self-worth, class structure, and fate. Not
bad for a talking-pig family film.

D. Implies a Situation
In many cases the concept is a situation... and in resolving
that situation, you get your sequences for Acts II and III.
Say a New York cop finds himself trapped in an L.A. high-
rise, where thirty people are being held hostage. The resolution
of this situation becomes the sequences of the film.
 Another example: the situation of a kid who finds himself
HOME ALONE, and must defend his house against burglars.
The sequences are implied in the concept: forgetting the kid,
the comic defense of the home, the parents rushing to the
rescue, etc.

E. Behind the Scenes

Audiences like to be 'in the know.' It's fun to go to a film, and
come away with some special knowledge; knowledge that
people who didn't go to the film don't get to have.
For example: THE CANDIDATE shows us the inside story
behind winning an election. BULL DURHAM is set in the world
of minor league baseball. TOP GUN utilizes the naval jet-
fighter training center. Other films noted for their effective
utilization of unique settings & subjects: DOWNHILL RACER;
DELIVERANCE; ALIENS; WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?
It seems almost that most good films take us to places (and
situations) where we cannot otherwise go. Your film idea is
probably very good if it takes you into a neat, interesting
place... and then allows you to reveal the 'inside' or 'true'
nature of that place.

F. Good Roles (and Good Titles)

Many times a good film concept will imply a good role for an
actor. If Tom Hanks reads your script, wants to play the role of
the guy who falls in love with the fish, you're in great shape.
Also, strong concept tend to be fairly simple, and so they often
can be implied in their titles: GHOSTBUSTERS, BIG, BACK TO
THE FUTURE, etc. It's of crucial importance to have a good title
-- a subject I'd like to cover at length in a future column.
Sometimes the concept is to do a reversal on some aspect
of an established genre ('only this time, the ghosts have to
exorcise the people!'). Then again, sometimes an entire genre
is re-worked with a series of new ideas ... thus 'updating' or
'reviving' the genre for a whole new generation of filmgoers.
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, BODY HEAT, and STAR WARS all
 You're not going fall into this category.
to stumble on A word of caution: this sort of attractive concept is very
that career- difficult to do, takes a massive amount of inspired work, and
making concept demands a huge amount of talent.
if you keep
revising the same
pet idea for five H. Concept Cannot Be Done Again
years.
Science fiction writer Harlan Ellison pointed out that one of
the defining attributes of a good 'high concept' was that once it
was done, the idea was fully defined and explored, and nobody
could do it again.
When SPLASH was in the works, it precluded anyone from
doing a mermaid romance for a while. When Jan De Bont's
TWISTER went into production this summer, that noise you
heard was the collective THUMP of the thirty other tornado
projects in town being dumped into the trash.
(Actually, different films can be made with the same basic
concept -- BIG, VICE-VERSA, LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON, and
EIGHTEEN AGAIN, for example -- but only, it seems, if they all
go into production at once!)

I. Known Elements
Good film concepts tend to utilize elements that already
exist within the awareness of the audience.
For example: a writer was pitching a story to me recently,
along the lines of: "Magical chimney fairies steal a child's
favorite napkin, and take it to the lost land of Maypole. The kid
travels on a backwards bicycle to the magical land, and gets
his napkin back."
I was trying to figure out what was wrong with this. After all,
Winnie the Pooh has elements just as fanciful, as do films like
MARY POPPINS and STAR WARS. Then again, those weren't
spec script sales. It finally hit me -- none of those elements
pre-existed in my mind, which made connecting to each one
an effort.
I've heard of fairies, but not any that live in chimneys. Since
when do kids fall in love with their napkins? This falls outside
my realm of experience. Similarly, the 'Lost Land of Maypole'
and the 'Backwards Bicycle' are unknown elements.
In contrast, consider the individual elements in the film
LIAR, LIAR: A kid (I get that) makes a birthday wish (okay) that
his father, a lying untrustworthy lawyer (that's easy to believe)
has to tell the truth (uh-huh) for twenty-four hours. Each of
these elements is familiar -- they already exist in my head,
ready for the filmmaker to manipulate. The overall concept can
then be easily promoted, marketed, or advertised, as there
exists in the audience an awareness that can be reached. (This
may be what executives mean when they say they want
something new and different, but also time-tested and
proven.)

Knowing these attributes, I hope, should help in discovering that

next great film idea. If you already have an idea that fits most or all of
the above, great, you're probably on the right track.
If you've given it some effort and still don't have a film idea you're
happy with, here are some more tricks you can use:

Read.
Seriously. Read lots and lots. Reading leads to knowledge of a genre.
And it's knowledge of the genre that allows you to create variations
on the genre -- variations that haven't been done before. And it
allows you to potentially --

Option material.
This seems obvious but is commonly overlooked. If you do locate a
book or article to adapt into a movie, already you've set yourself
apart from 95% of the aspiring screenwriters in the world. Reason
enough alone to do it, perhaps. Keep in mind that studios are more
comfortable if your concept has already proven itself in book form.

Juxtapose genres.
Take the very successful drama X-Files and imagine it as a comedy,
and you get something along the lines of MEN IN BLACK from
Columbia, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld.

Transpose/update settings.
OUTLAND was pretty much HIGH NOON in outer space. Steve
Martin's ROXANNE was a wonderful re-telling of the CYRANO story.
If he can do it, so can you.

Push your idea all the way.

Many screenwriters come up with just half an idea, then stop. Most
spec scripts which end on page 110 actually should end on page 35
-- because that's all the story that's really there; it's just been
dragged out to fill the page requirement. Try telling the story you've
told in 110 pages in 35. That'd be thirty five great pages! Then keep
going at that pace. Going past the obvious ending can sometimes
leads to that unique twist.

Kill your babies.

All writers have pet ideas. The trick is to not get stuck on one. Write
the damn thing, get it out of your system. If it's great it will sell, if not,
then get onto the next thing. You're not going to stumble on that
career-making concept if you keep revising the same pet idea for five
years. (I've seen this happen.)

Write from love and passion.

Forget what you think are commercial considerations. What do you
love? To do, to study, to think about, and talk about? Whether it's
cave-diving or model trains, cross-dressing or particle physics, your
passion is often the best guide to your most unique and powerful
work. Ironically, the unique, non-commercial aspects of a project
are often what make it commercially valuable.

Okay. That should help get you started.

So. How do you know when you've actually got that great concept,
and are on the right track?
Here's a clue: other writers hear your idea, and give you black
looks. You get several offers to co-write it.
Another clue: producers return your calls.
Still another clue: agents return your calls.
And best way to truly know that you've got a good film concept:
Your screenplay sells!