As a continuation from his talk at this year’s London Screenwriters’ Festival, development executive Steve La Rue brings us us one of his regular updates and encouraging news from Hollywood about the superheroes and personal stories finding their ways to our screens and encouraging you to write your own original works. Over to Steve..
Santa Monica, CA – Hey there, Delegates. Lots to report from Hollywood where the Business of Show is in full swing. So, make yourself a cuppa and settle in..
First, let’s talk Film. The Academy Awards approacheth (Feb. 22nd). While I thoroughly enjoyed BIRDMAN, my fingers are crossed for BOYHOOD. A Best Picture win would really open the floodgates for those Personal Stories I advocate. Also, this would mark the first time a film that premiered at Sundance won the Oscar for Best Picture.
On #Boyhood, writer/director Richard Linklater, told the LA Times:
“With my fingers on the keyboard, the film that would become “Boyhood” struck me. This novel could be a movie – one where all the characters aged in real time. I had solved my storytelling problem – we could shoot it over a dozen years and cover it all…
Why am I still thinking of that junior high camp-out, or the year I received a Bible and a shotgun as gifts, and what does it mean all these years later? I’m not necessarily sure, but I hoped an audience might find the universal in these specifics, and come to care for these people moving through time.”
Remember, BOYHOOD is a personal story that is creatively produced and has become a commercial success. These rare ingredients bode well for future personal stories, so keep at it. Be brave!
Certainly, the audience will be scrambling for personal stories in between all the super-hero movies coming its way. This year alone, we have the next AVENGERS, HUNGER GAMES and STAR WARS, etc. which will most certainly dominate movie screens.
In Television, Pilot Season is in full swing, and there is much to report.
The buzzwords this year are: Medical Dramas, Spinoffs, Re-boots, Pre-Sold Titles, and yes, Super Heroes. I’ll add two more: Ethnicity and Entrepreneurship.
Every major network has a medical drama ordered to pilot.
Many are trying to re-boot old series (The X-Files, Twin Peaks, 24, Prison Break, Heroes). And some are trying a spin-off of a successful show: CSI: CYBER, CRIMINAL MINDS, and CHICAGO MED.
First and foremost, Television continues to be influenced by Film. Subsequently, the Super Hero genre is well represented across all networks.
ABC just launched the latest Avenger-inspired AGENT CARTER joining MARVEL: AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.
AMC has PREACHER.
CBS has greenlit a pilot for SUPERGIRL which has a series commitment behind it.
The CW is developing ATOM, another spinoff of ARROW and THE FLASH.
Fox is working on a TV version of X-MEN.
NBC is re-booting HEROES in Heroes: Reborn….
Netflix has JESSICA JONES and DAREDEVIL.
SyFy has KRYPTON. And, TNT is working on TITANS.
Yikes! That’s a lot of heroic television that may or may not be coming our way. Ignore this trend completely, Delegates. Those bases are covered. However, realize that each one of those characters will more than likely be grounded in some type of reality requiring Personal Stories.
A great writing sample is what will get a writer a staff job on those shows. So, get cracking on those stories that only you can tell.
There’s also a big trend in single-camera half-hours thanks to TRANSPARENT, and ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK. You won’t be seeing many new traditional multi-camera sitcoms in the near future. There’s a trend to note.
Television will undoubtedly cycle back to the traditional multi-camera sitcom like FRIENDS or BIG BANG THEORY in the following year. So, get to work on your original sitcom ideas. Heads up, Playwrights! This is your area of expertise. Writing a sitcom every week is just like writing a play…only faster!
Another trend to watch and a (bandwagon to hop on) is the effect of surprise hit, EMPIRE, an African-American family drama set in the world of Hip Hop. Co-created by BUFFY alumnus Danny Strong (and Lee Daniels), EMPIRE will open the floodgates for scripts targeting ethnic audiences but with settings that have broad appeal. This show is a Personal Story that only Lee Daniels could tell, which is one reason why it is resonating: Authenticity.
Tell your own crazy family’s story. Just move it to a new setting we haven’t yet seen. That’s what Lee Daniels has done with EMPIRE. The result: Break-out Success.
Speaking of Success…
Amazon Studios, the distributor behind TRANSPARENT, continues to blaze trails in television development by making pilots available to screen online for free. This is a very enterprising way to do business that also builds awareness for shows.
(TRANSPARENT just won the Golden Globe award for Best Comedy.)
You can vote for which ones you would like to see get ordered to Series. Very cool. One of the pilots this year, “Salem Rogers,” originated as a Spec Script submitted through Amazon’s open submissions program. Super cool!
This is an amazing opportunity, and I encourage each and every one of you to go to AmazonStudios.com, screen all the pilots, and check out their Open Submissions program and take advantage by submitting your script.
Television is a Writer’s Medium. Remember that. I am sure the winning humor of SALEM ROGERS is what put it over the top among its fellow submissions. So, kudos to writer Lindsey Stoddardt.
Finally, the networks are really hedging their bets this year by relying heavily on adaptations of well-known feature titles like MINORITY REPORT, UNCLE BUCK, etc. These are known as “pre-sold titles.” The audience, more than likely, knows what they’re getting.
This is a smart move to balance out their more risky development in an era where it’s simply near-to-impossible to launch a new series without some type of Name Recognition or built-in Marketability. I predict most will not succeed past their initial orders, provided they make it beyond Pilot.
The sheer quantity is staggering, though. Here’s the list:
UNCLE BUCK (ABC)
RUSH HOUR (CBS)
BIG (FOX)
HITCH (FOX)
MINORITY REPORT (FOX)
FRANKENSTEIN (FOX)
BEOWULF (ITV)
JEKYLL & HYDE (ITV)
THE OMEN (LIFETIME)
CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR (LIFETIME)
SHANNARA (MTV)
MARLEY & ME (NBC)
PROBLEM CHILD (NBC)
THE MAGICIANS (SYFY)
CHILDHOOD’S END (SYFY)
All these pilots, if ordered to series, though, will require writing staffs. The writers hired for them will be those individuals with the clearest, most authentic voices.
I realize this is a lot of information to digest, however, that’s great news because there’s a tremendous amount of film and television being produced.
So, keep writing. Tell those personal stories.
More later.
Posted by a member of the London Screenwriters’ Festival team.
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