Are Sequels and Franchises Squeezing Specs to Death?

Question

I just read an article about the big summer releases and summer starts early. A lot of sequels and franchises. And almost every one of them is nased on a franchise in another medium. And they will occupy many screens not just one.
All of which is a pretty depressing picture for anyone trying to come up with a marketable spec from outside the system.
We can write a tentpole film. But can we sell it? Hard to compete with the established entities. Impossible, probably.
Anyone have thoughts about this? Neal?

Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.
Alfred Hitchcock

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]I just read an article about the big summer releases and summer starts early. A lot of sequels and ... But can we sell it? Hard to compete with the established entities. Impossible, probably. Anyone have thoughts about this? Neal?[/nq]
Well, what my agent is telling me in respect to specs is that the market is definitely narrowing, and that a spec, by itself, even if it's good, is a hard sell.
What studios are looking for (not addressing the question of indies) is some sort of "real world" link something that let's them sell the spec on some kind of tide that connects it to something that is, for lack of a better word, in the public mind.
For instance, a big recent spec sale was a thing called "Time Code" a thriller that related to a terrorist bombing on a train sort of rode in on the coat tails of that big terrorist bombing on that Spanish train.
Now, you may say how does that work, considering that, at the time that the spec sells, whatever is in the public mind will likely not be by the time the movie gets made?
That would be presuming that this has something to do with logic or sense.
Frankly, it doesn't, really. It no more guarantees that a spec will be marketable, or will make a good movie any more than the fact that something is based on an old movie or a book, or anything else.

What it amounts to is that execs want "something" that is, they want something above and beyond their own sense of whether a script is a good story. That just isn't enough. They want to have some aspect of "pre-sold-ness."
If it was a movie before that says somebody at some point, bought it, watched it, it liked it. There's some public awareness of it. Same thing if it's based on a book. Same thing if it's a sequel. It's already, in some sense, been bought, watched, liked, before.

And in the same way, if it's based on something that's in the news in the public eye, it's a way of saying - people have, in some fashion "bought it" they've expressed a wide public interest in the underlying idea. It has seized the public imagination in the form of a news story. They've responded to it. They're interested in it.

And if they were interested in it once, and responded to it maybe if we make a movie about it, exploring the same ideas they'll spark to it again.
It just provides that extra added zone of comfort that makes the difference in the minds of the people who are looking to buy.

At any rate that's what I'm being told.
You may do with this kernel of information what you will.

NMS

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I just read an article about the big summer releases and summer starts early. A lot of sequels and ... But can we sell it? Hard to compete with the established entities. Impossible, probably. Anyone have thoughts about this? Neal?[/nq]
It isn't just movies. Music as well. It seems that every classic is being reprised as a rap/hip hop re-mix. There's Gwen Stefani's "If I Was A Rich Girl" which ripped off the famous line but none of the spirit (or grammar) from "Fiddler On The Roof".
Then there's Supertramp's "Take A Look At My Girlfriend" which kicked in this morning while I was in the shower. I belted out the refrain along with the radio until it abruptly swerved into some hip-hop rendition that made me wipe the suds from my eyes in puzzlement. They didn't even remake this one so much as rip the first few lines and scotchtape them to some other song.
Why take your chances in a fickle market with anything original - be it movies and music - when people will happily gobble up re-heated leftovers?
jaybee

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I just read an article about the big summer releases ... established entities. Impossible, probably. Anyone have thoughts about this? Neal?[/nq]
[nq:1]It isn't just movies. Music as well. It seems that every classic is being reprised as a rap/hip hop re-mix. ... market with anything original - be it movies and music - when people will happily gobble up re-heated leftovers? jaybee[/nq]
Yeah, but when they remade "A Little Less Conversation" it kicked ***, and gave Elvis a well-deserved post-mortem #1 hit.

Usenet · Answer

For the past 2 weeks the #1 film has been a spec - DISTURBIA, and the
2 weeks before? An original - BLADES OF GLORY.

So summer may be filled with #s, but they still seem to be buying and making specs.
And with a potential strike? They'll probably be stockpiling some specs.
- Bill (working on specs)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I just read an article about the big summer releases ... established entities. Impossible, probably. Anyone have thoughts about this? Neal?[/nq]
[nq:1]Well, what my agent is telling me in respect to specs is that the market is definitely narrowing, ... coat tails of that big terrorist bombing on that Spanish train. Now, you may say how does that work,[/nq]
Not really, because it has always* been easier to have a spec picked up if it is in some way tied to *current events. And when that happens, it's just about always synchronicity. By the time a writer thinks of a scrpt and gets it written, whatever the event was is no longer current, so if you're writing about an invastion of purple elephants that destroy Central Park, you'd better be praying that Bronx Zoo is doing some sort of wild experiment breeding purple rogue elephants behind some very weak fences!

It has ALWAYS been difrficult to sell a spec script. ANY sort of spec script. And it has ALWAYS been "in" to talk about how the market for specs is the worst it has ever been. And there has always been a suspicion in my mind that the people who write those articles have a few spec scripts in their own back pockets and are praying they scare off a goodly number of the competition. Further, I would also like to see the statistics. There are more movies being made today than ever before, so what is the ratio of spec scripts to movies being made from bought spec scripts? Is it the same as it was in 1980? 1970? 1994? Who knows?
And most imprtant of all, does it matter? I suspect that everyone writing a spec script, myself included, does so knowing in our heart of hearts that we have as good a chance of beating the odds as any other human being on this planet!
Write on..! '-)
Caroline
Life is about being exceptional.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]And most imprtant of all, does it matter? I suspect that everyone writing a spec script, myself included, does so knowing in our heart of hearts that we have as good a chance of beating the odds as any other human being on this planet![/nq]
You mean, about nil?
Hey, but I figured out the glass half full/half empty riddle last week. It's obvious when you think about it. A half full glass is half full when you're filling* it and half empty glass is half empty when you're *emptying it. It was a "like, duh" moment.
But what if you come up to a glass that's half full/empty and you just don't know what's been happening to it? Then, of course, it's half empty. Dehydration at work. But I supposed it could be sitting beneath a very slowly leaking faucet... Dammit this isn't getting me anywhere.

I felt fairly smart for a while there.

RonB
"There's a story there...somewhere"

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Then there's Supertramp's "Take A Look At My Girlfriend"[/nq]
Gosh, I hate to be nitpicky, but I believe that song is entitled "Breakfast in America."
I agree with everything else you said in your post.

Dena Jo
Email goes to denajo2 at the dot com variation of the Yahoo domain.

Plonk the ********: http://www.panix.com/~mwsm/trolls.html

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]We can write a tentpole film. But can we sell it? Hard to compete with the established entities. Impossible, probably.[/nq]
Not at all impossible. Our appetite for new material is INSATIABLE, so a good spec, as my manager always says, will find its audience.

Don't try to second-guess the market. Be aware of what's selling, but keep writing anyway. No one knows what's going to take. If your idea is solid, executed well, and resonates with an audience, it's got a great chance. As long as we look to storytelling as a way of figuring out the world around us, there will be a need for storytellers. That's never going to go away.
Good luck, and keep writing!
Pamela Schott
myvisualpitch.com
Make it. Pitch it. Sell it.

Usenet · Answer

ou sa
[nq:2]We can write a tentpole film. But can we sell it? Hard to compete with the established entities. Impossible, probably.[/nq]
[nq:1]Not at all impossible. Our appetite for new material is INSATIABLE, so a good spec, as my manager always says, ... That's never going to go away. Good luck, and keep writing! Pamela Schott myvisualpitch.com Make it. Pitch it. Sell it.[/nq]
Everything you say is encouraging but in practice we all know that the odds of breaking in with the best work are long indeed...

That said, I do like your web site. It's a very cool way of getting past the gatekeepers.

Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.
Alfred Hitchcock

Are Sequels and Franchises Squeezing Specs to Death?

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