Query Letter Strikeout (Part 2)

Well, Christopher Lockhart read my post yesterday, Query Letter Strikeout, and had this email response that he agreed to let me post:

“I think it’s important to understand that agencies don’t abhor “small” movies.  Compared to THOR or the BATMAN franchise, your pitch is for a “small” movie.  Yes, those kinds of projects can be tougher sells.  But they can also be used as writing samples – a way in introduce the talents of a new writer.  Those kinds of scripts are valuable to agencies in  many ways.  For instance, they can be great ways to launch new talent or  allow established talent to try something new (like an actor who directs) or they can be magnets for awards. 

I didn’t pass on your pitch because it wasn’t CAPTAIN AMERICA.  I didn’t pass on it because it was a “small” movie.

I passed on it because you bungled it.

If a writer pitches an intriguing dramatic story that allows the reader/listener to SEE the movie, then he has succeeded.  

Your pitch didn’t allow me to see the movie. 

Most new writers fail because they do not conceive an idea that’s appropriate for a film (and the logline and screenplay often prove that out) or because they do not successfully communicate their movie idea.

If a writer doesn’t conceive a functional movie idea, then he can almost never communicate it.  That would explain why most new writers have a hard time with loglines. 

However, when writers have an idea that is naturally a movie concept, it can almost always be presented in a concise, dramatic and exciting way.

But great movie ideas – big or small – are rarely shut out.”

For more on loglines, check out Christopher’s post Loglines Revisted Revistited (not a typo) on his blog “The Inside Pitch.”

To keep with the baseball metaphor of pitching that’s used in the DVD The Inside Pitch which features Christopher, one of the many things I’ve learned in the last week or so is it’s a lot different to be in a batting cage taking battling practice and to step up to the plate in the big league. And for all the books out there that state that structure is most important, or character is most important, or plot is most important, or even theme is most important in a screenplay—just maybe concept is king of them all.

Because you can weave great exposition into your story, have engaging dialogue, interesting story twists and all the other things in your screenplay, but if you can’t get people excited about your concept they probably won’t even get to your script.

Scott W. Smith