Professional SPEC Screenwriting, Part 10: THE LOGLINE

?As a screenwriter who is actively involved in networking, I am a member of dozens of professional writer’s groups, forums, and networks that discuss a multitude of screenwriting topics. A day rarely goes by where someone does not post a request for help with their logline.

This is when the fur begins to fly.

It would help if you were to start with the definition of what a logline is. The definition I use is:

“A logline is a one or two sentence description that captures

the unique & conflicting elements of your screenplay”

Now that you’ve defined it, what exactly does it consist of?? I try to include certain elements of my screenplay into the logline, then edit from there. I include the protagonist, the antagonist, the goal, the “inner conflict” (or personal issue for the protagonist to overcome), the “outer conflict” (or issues that threaten the antagonist), what’s at stake, the genre, and the “hook” (what separates my story from others in this genre). If I hit on all, or most of these elements, then I know I have a strong logline.

In fact, as part of “The Script Mentor” screenwriting mentoring service, I established and copyrighted a fool-proof logline formula that not only HELPS you remember the essential elements but will help you devise the perfect logline for your project!

What is often the basis of the arguments is the number of words that should be included in these loglines. There is documentation on just about every amount, but in most respects the following is considered Hollywood standard- “twenty-five words or less, thirty at the most.” They may be in one or two, even three sentences, if necessary, but still within the 25–30-word mark. I’ve heard arguments for the standard changing towards 20 words or less, and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before the Twitter standard of 140 characters will be the rule. Some argue still that word count doesn’t matter, since many a screenplay had been sold with a logline exceeding these standards. This is probably true, but since time is money, time efficiency is premium, so word efficiency should be as well.

In this case, I believe “the shorter the better”, if it still contains the elements.

Obviously, the key to the logline is making it the most accurate and effective logline you can. Keep in mind that the purpose of the logline is to attract enough interest from an industry professional that they’ll request to read your screenplay.

What a logline isn’t, is a tagline, and should NOT be confused with that which is often found on movie posters.

“In space, no one can hear you scream” is not a logline, but a highly effective tagline for “Alien”. The tagline contains none of the elements.

In 2003, I was the stage manager for the Saturn Awards, and found myself backstage with Steven Spielberg, who had come by personally to accept his award for the movie “Minority Report”. He had arrived a few minutes earlier but waited in the limo until just before the announcement for his category. I had about forty seconds- a lifetime, actually- of quiet and uninterrupted seclusion with him as my captive audience- my filmmaking idol and “secret mentor”. I certainly had enough time to throw him one of my well-developed, thoroughly enticing, loglines and garner the meeting that would launch my screenwriting career!

The moment came, and…

…instead, I thanked him for appearing, congratulated him on the award, and proceeded to trip him as he walked up onto the stage from the rear curtain.

Opportunity lost, but it instilled an important rule that I follow to this day:

Keep the logline short enough in case you are stuck behind a curtain with the likes of a Steven Spielberg.

WRITER'S BIO: Mr. Scala spent 24-plus years in the Hollywood community and was the Executive Director for the?72nd Annual Academy Awards,?as well as The Soul Train Awards,?The Grammys,?The Blockbuster Video Awards Show?and?The Saturn Awards Show. With three produced features- "Assassin 33 A.D.",?"Black Easter"?and?"The Tombs" (all are currently available on Amazon Prime and Tubi).

The Script Mentor continues to mentor over 550 new writers and authors and is available-for-hire for original screenplays, adaptations, ghostwriting, or rewrites.

This article series is sponsored, in part, by TSM Screenplay and Novel Marketing Services. Recently, The Script Mentor partnered with Erica Starr Enterprises (Social Media Marketing Business Plan - Erica Starr Enterprises) and created TSM Screenplay and Novel Marketing to help screenwriters and authors publicize and market their projects and themselves.

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