What Separates High Concept from Boring

One of the first things you learn as a screenwriter is that you have to write something that can sell. That your script should be as marketable as possible, and one of the ways to do that is to create a "high concept" script. You know, a script that has an idea so simple and catchy it can be summed up in one sentence.

For example: A journalist lacking romantic experience goes undercover to a high school, where she falls for her English teacher -- Never Been Kissed. A blonde sorority president from LA enrolls in Harvard Law School when her ex-boyfriend dumps her for a more intellectual old-money girl -- Legally Blonde. Two single guys crash weddings to pick up girls -- Wedding Crashers.

These movies' premises seem simple enough. But there's more to them than just a good concept. Too often, I read scripts that have great hooks, are high concept, but lack the extra edge to get them pushed toward a recommend. That extra edge is soul, heart, a universal theme. It's like when your friend tells you a funny story -- it's either great, or it's the kind of story that begs you to respond "And then you found five dollars, right?" Too many scripts fall into that latter category.

A script needs to be about something. A charming concept is a great start, but it needs to be backed up by a story that the audience can relate to, with characters that transport them. It seems obvious enough, but most of the scripts I read lack this simple element. They focus on plot, on getting the concept from point A to point B – but since the beauty of a high concept script is that we kind of already know what to expect (hence it’s salability, because the audience knows they’ll like it), following a plot along gets tedious. It’s especially problematic with comedies that lack this element, because they wind up becoming too-long sketches. No one wants to watch (or read) two hours of the same joke. But a joke that accompanies growing characters and a universal theme is golden.

Let’s explore some of the earlier examples I gave. What is the universal theme or the heart in Never Been Kissed? Well, Drew Barrymore’s character Josie has always been the nerd, always been a few steps behind in her life, but when she gets the chance to live through high school again, her brother helps boost her popularity, and her teacher falls for her sexy intellect. It all starts to crumble when her secret is discovered, and she winds up being humiliated – as humiliated as she was back in high school when the hottest guy in school stood her up for prom. The only difference is, this time she has the confidence to face the humiliation and the courage to make things right. The audience can relate to her, and to the movie, because everyone’s had those moments where we feel a few steps behind of everyone else. Everyone’s been humiliated, been heart-broken – so when Josie stands up there on the pitcher’s mound, finally taking charge of her life and leaving her bad memories behind, we’re right there with her.

Or take Legally Blonde. The joke of a superficial sorority girl at Harvard Law would get pretty old pretty fast if there wasn’t something more to the story. Legally Blonde is a story about standing up for yourself in the face of adversity, believing in yourself when no one else does, and trusting your instincts. This theme is all over the movie – in Elle’s sunny declaration that she’ll go to Harvard; when Elle helps her manicurist Paulette get her dog back and win over the UPS guy; when Elle believes Brooke is innocent and sticks her neck out to prove it; when Elle walks away from the case after Callahan puts a move on her, but swiftly returns because she believes she can win the case; when she uses her Cosmo knowledge to win the case. The movie is funny, and the concept brings the audience in, but it’s the message of the movie that gives it its soul – and its Golden Globe noms.

And Wedding Crashers? It’s more than just an outrageous comedy filled with quotable dialogue and memorable provocative scenes (who can ever forget the hand job at the dinner table?). It’s a story about friendship. About friends who are so close they do everything together. They’re the perfect single buddies, living the bromantic life until they fall in love, and have to deal with the complications that will inevitability change their friendship.

Pick any high concept movie and you’ll see that it’s about a lot more than its simple premise would suggest. A script with a funny hook that fails to convey a message to the audience, a script that plods along its plot without characters that are beautifully and wholly human, isn’t going to make it past a reader. Before you sit down to write a script, tune in to yourself to find what it is you want to tell the world, what inner universal truth you’re committed to spreading. To paraphrase Jewel, if you could tell the world one thing, what would it be? Answer that in your high concept script, and you’ll have an audience hooked.