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What I’m Looking for: Short Stories That Sell For Film
If your stories hit 7 out of 7 below I’ll happily read:
1. In a genre that actually gets made in today’s climate: Horror, action, action comedy, grounded sci-fi, romcom, live action family, thriller etc. Pure drama is tough. Period piece is tough. Hard fantasy is tough. Hard far future sci fi is tough.
2. High concept. Do you have the next idea like SPEED? Great. Elevator pitches. Big ideas. Can it be sold on a tagline? Poster? Trailer? Great.
3. Castable. Are there roles that movie stars will want to play? Can this attract talent?
4. Tone. Is there a clear tone and voice to the piece? It should not read like a treatment for a movie. It should be fun to read as a story on the page
5. Is it written cinematically? In other words are we reading scenes that can be imagined on screen? Full on internal monologues or stream of consciousness or super literary and experimental - not likely going to work.
6. You can end on a cliffhanger. But try to at least have a setup. An opening scene, or better yet Act One. You can even have more. See how “Animal Rescue” by Dennis Lehane contained the exciting third act twist that sold the short story as the movie THE DROP.
7. No need for more than 30 pages. I have sold a 9 page short story for film. My 14 page short story sold to Netflix: