Lesson 2

Jane Alcala

Marketable Components:

What I learned doing this assignment is that I believe I have two of the 10 Compenents of Marketability. Also that playing up these components is very important, and it’s important to emphasize these components as much as possible.

1. Tell us your current logline:

A former sex-worker turned struggling comedian scores a dream spot on a popular TV roast battle show—with one catch: she must convince her ex-parole agent to face off against her. Even as the two bond while prepping for the battle, unfinished business between them threatens to kill their chances of career success and true friendship.

2. Look through the 10 Components of Marketability and pick one or two that have the most potential for selling this script. My assessment:

• A. Unique: a highly unusual, yet somewhat plausible situation between an ex-parolee and her ex-parole agent.
• B. Great Title: My title may be too subtle, but I’ve primarily had positive reactions to it
• C. True. NA
• D. Timely — connected to some major trend or event. Loneliness “epidemic” and adult friendship as current trends.
• E. It’s a first. NA
• F. Ultimate. NA
• G. Wide audience appeal: snarky, comedic, heartwarming.
• H. Adapted from a popular book. NA
• I. Similarity to a box-office success. “Brittany Runs a Marathon,” successful Indie film.
• J. A great role for a bankable actor: Two major roles for women, and possibly women in their 40s-50s. The actors get to show off both their comedic and dramatic skills. An opportunity for two comedian/actors to play off one another comedically. Women comedians are in need of large, feature roles.

Two Components to Focus on: Do a quick brainstorm session about ways to elevate those two components for this script and tell us how you might pitch the script through the two components.

A. Unique: what appears unique to me is that an ex-parolee and her ex-parole agent must overcome a major conflict in their past, so that the parolee can fulfill her dream succeeding as a stand-up comedian, and the parole agent can finally find a tried-and-true friend. Yet, the pair must resolve their prior conflict while practicing how to skillfully tear each other down.

Sex worker and parole agent are both jobs that come with risks in dealing with people, and require an adventurous bent. Both parolee and parole agent are used to scrutinizing each other and trying to outwit the other person. Both of these characters turned to “stand-up comedy” to help them express themselves. The characters’ unique backgrounds/ways the and relationship to one another ups the ante on their conflicts and humor.

J: A Great Role for a Bankable Actor: Two major roles for women, and possibly women in their 40s-50s. The actors get to show off both their comedic and dramatic skills. An opportunity for two comedian/actors to play off one another comedically. Both actors are in most scenes. Film also allows actors to demo a range of emotions. In general, women comedians are in need of large feature roles in film.

Example: If you say your script has a great role, in one or two sentences, tell us how you can emphasize that role as you pitch your concept.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Jane Alcala.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Jane Alcala.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Jane Alcala.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Jane Alcala.

Richard Brooks. Marketable component

Screenplay has similarities to a box-office success. And a great role for a bankable actor.

Christi Falk’s Marketable components

What I learned doing this assignment is that I’ve got a pretty marketable script!

1. Orphaned and penniless, Anne Beddingfeld is thrust into the adventure of a lifetime on the high seas. If she survives, she may just find true love.

2. 10 components of marketability

A- Unique- A PG 13 adventure on a sailing vessel to Greece. An action adventure story of murder, diamonds, strong men, damsels in distress, cross dressing soldiers of fortune. It’s so old it’s new again.

B-Great Title- Relies on a Public Domain IP- I’ve called it, From Christie to Christi: The Man in the Brown Suit. Or I could just drop the first bit and it would still be recognizable.

C-True: N/A

D- Timely- Agatha Christie’s are being reinvigorated, despite whatever Branaghs doing. There is an appetite for her.

E- It’s a First – N/A

F- Ultimate – not really larger than life so no.

G- Wide Audience Appeal – Nothing says KaCHING louder than an action adventure that’s PG13.

H- Adapted from a popular book- Damn Skippy! Agatha Christie’s The Man in the Brown Suit. I’ve taken some liberties and removed a character that’s still under copyright in one of the later Marple stories.

I- Similarity to Box Office Success- I’d say most recently, Uncharted. It had a great story and we didn’t have to be subjected to a sex scene. I actually went to see that in the theatre. Packed house.

J-A great role for a bankable actor. Lets see:

Minks- plays two men and two women- same actor. Written in the 1920s. Take that wokety woke hollywood.

Anne and Harry- can be two young unknowns as it is a Christie movie.

Eustache and Duncan- middle aged men that have meaty roles.

Suzanne- a role for a 50s actress and a southern belle. Yup, they do exist.

3. To elevate just two of them, I’d chose H and J. It’s a public domain Agatha Christie in the US(fine print- everything is free 95 years after publication unless renewed). Guess her great grandson didn’t think the book was worth anything. I’m sure if approached, he would allow it. Or watch in dismay as it can’t be circulated in the UK but literally everywhere else.

Second to that are the roles: A meaty role for a man as a cross dressing government agent and soldier of fortune. Crying game anyone? Also, it’s time we got the next generation of actors. Find some twenty somethings that are willing to work and save buckets of money not having to de-age them.

Finally, it’s Agatha FREAKING Christie. I really shouldn’t have to explain it further than that.

Isti Madarasz Marketable Components

What I learned doing this assignment is how important to highlight the details that are important from a sellability point of view and organize the story around that (or at least the pitch). These may not be big changes, sometimes just shifts in focus, but from a production point of view they can make a huge difference.

My current logline: The story of KONTRAKT is set in a world where the laws of nature can be reshaped through contracts, written by supernaturally skilled contractors. Social inequalities are of course even more pronounced in this environment, and the gaps between the privileged and the oppressed are even deeper. SIMON, one of the most powerful contractors, is about to close the biggest contract of his life in an oppressed country when he unexpectedly finds himself up against a mysterious and powerful opponent. In the course of their battle, this tightly regulated world is slowly turning upside down, and when the life of Simon’s little daughter is threatened, the rules of the legal system are slowly replaced by a chaos of emotions.

My 10 Components of Marketability

A. Unique – I think the main concept of the film is a high concept – a world where the laws of nature can be overwritten is quite exciting

B. Great Tile – maybe not great but at least it’s unusual: the spelling KONTRAKT instead of CONTRACT suggests something different

C. True – no, it’s not

D. Timely – Exploitation of poorer countries and unequal distribution of wealth is a very topical issue today

E. It’s a first – I have never seen such a story

F. Ultimate – The WHOLE WORLD can be changed, even the very laws of nature!

G. Wide audience appeal — Doesn’t everyone think that about their own story? 🙂

H. Adaptation – Well, it IS an adaptation of a book but although this is a novel by a multiple award-winning author, since it’s only known in Hungary, I don’t think it carries much weight. Perhaps a little testament to the quality of the source material.

I. Similarity to a box-office success – I think it’s a lot like Children of Men or Arrival and I will explain that

J. Great role? Oh boy, it is! For at least 3 actors

It’s ULTIMATE – Although it’s a science fiction story, its world is exactly like ours, except for one thing – you can mess with the most basic laws of nature (like in Inception!). So the dramatic turning points will be MASSIVE – a snowstorm in the middle of summer, a terrorist attack that turns gravity off and then back on again to unleash a massive destruction on the city – but you can even save a dying man with contracts – only in this world, every change comes at a HUGE PRICE.

SIMILARITIES – In ARRIVAL, humanity faced a huge, unprecedented threat, but the protagonist was not a soldier or an action hero, but a linguist. And people loved the fact that the fight was not with guns or fists, but with completely different methods, but the stakes and the excitement were just as high. Well, here we have a lawyer as the protagonist… In CHILDREN OF MEN, the world was very similar to our own, except that women couldn’t have children – and that changed everything. Especially when this strange status quo was suddenly upset and a woman became pregnant after all. Here, our protagonist, a powerful contractor used to everything happening the way he organises it, suddenly finds himself up against a previously unknown adversary.

1. Logline:

An aspiring
jester’s life is turned upside down when a menacing wizard tasks
him with impregnating the princess of a neighboring kingdom … with
the wizard’s semen.

2. Look through the 10 Components of Marketability and pick one or two that have the most potential for selling this script.

• A. Unique. A wizard injects his semen into a guy and tells the guy to go make an evil princess pregnant.
• B. Great Title Jester
• C. True. N/A
• D. Timely Though it takes place in medieval times, there are inferences to modern folly.
• E. It’s a first. I can’t think of anything like it.
• F. Ultimate.
• G. Wide audience appeal. The humor pokes fun at woke culture so it will appeal to right-leaning sensibilities.
• H. Adapted from a popular book. N/A
• I. Similarity to a box-office success. ?
• J. A great role for a bankable actor. A reader said he/she could see Adam Sandler in the lead.

3. Do a quick brainstorm session about ways to elevate those two components for this script and tell us how you might pitch the script through the two components.

Two components: Unique, Timely

I think I would pitch it first to right-leaning producers and comedians. I would draw attention to “Jester” being unique, it’s irreverence, and I would emphasize it’s right wing humor.

I don’t necessarily see it as a Hollywood movie. I consider it more as (and hope it becomes) the first fiction movie made by proponents of a parallel economy.

R Whitney

Logline: A Woman discovers her eccentric parents are poisoning homeless people and that they believe they are doing so as their civic duty.

• A. Unique. Somewhat unique in the number of murders committed.
• B. Great Title: Apricot Nectar or Apricot Cyanide.
• C. True. N/A
• D. Timely — connected to some major trend or event. N/A
• E. It’s a first. N/A
• F. Ultimate. N/A
• G. Wide audience appeal. Appeal to any one with nutty parents
• H. Adapted from a popular book. In the vein of Arsenic and Old Lace.
• I. Similarity to a box-office success. N/A
• J. A great role for a bankable actor. Felica Day with her mumbling to herself style.

Have the brother in the story also be a murderer and brings dead bodies to the yard to be buried.

ROBERT R. SMITH’s MARKETABLE COMPONENTS

CURRENT LOGLINE: Until stopped by her unsolved death, Brandy Crofton’s desire for an acting career took her from stripper to centerfold to a porn actress who filed a landmark sexual harassment lawsuit against her employer, a mob-connected skin magazine and film making mogul.

2. Look through the 10 Components of Marketability and pick one or two that have the most potential for selling this script.

A. UNIQUE: Sex Worker files a landmark sexual harassment lawsuit against her mob-connected skin-magazine mogul.

B. GREAT TITLE: “The Complainant.”

C. TRUE: The script is inspired by real events.

D. TIMELY: The culture is aware of high profile sexual harassment suits and we are conscious of what is meant by “hostile workplace” and the “Me, too!” movement.

E. IT’S A FIRST: One of the highest profile Sex Workers files a Sexual Harrassment lawsuit against her sex industry employer.

F. ULTIMATE: The Ultimate Sex Goddess files an ultimate sexual harassment lawsuit against the ultimate King of a Sex Empire and then she dies the Ultimate unsolved death. Was it suicide or murder?.

G. WIDE AUDIENCE APPEAL: It’s a soap, a courtroom thriller and an erotic thriller. All marketable.

H. ADAPTED FROM A POPULAR BOOK: No, but it is inspired by real events.

I. SIMILARITY TO A BOX OFFICE SUCCESS: It’s “The Accused” meets “The People vs Larry Flynt.”

J. A great role for a bankable actor: Yes, the mogul Doug Giuliano and the Sex Goddess Brandy Crofton (principal roles). Likewise good supporting roles: Boris Osipo, who is Brandy’s live-in abusive Russian mobster lover and possible killer. Also, the narrator of the story is Jim Willis, an old high school sweetheart who has remained a lifelong friend and confidant of Brandy and is invaluable to the crime investigators.

The two components of Marketability that have the most potential for selling his script are, above, F and J.

3. DO A QUICK BRAINSTORM SESSIOIN ABOUT WAYS TO ELEVATE The Three great strengths that would sell the script above are F and J..

A. Elevating F (The Ultimate Sex Goddess files an ultimate sexual harassment lawsuit against the ultimate King of a Sex Empire and then she dies the Ultimate unsolved death. Was it suicide or murder?

This is to be elevated by the criminal investigation of her unsolved death and the various conclusions that might be drawn.

An added element is that her lover, Osipov may well have been Brandy’s killer with a hardly traceable toxin Aconitine, but he was shot and killed by Brandy’s daughter when her mother was discovered dead.

The landmark lawsuit also will have intense courtroom testimony and evidence that has an ultimate far-reaching impact for laws related to workplace hostility and abuse.

B. Elevating J (A great role for a bankable actor: Yes, the mogul Doug Giuliano and the Sex Goddess Brandy Crofton (principal roles). Likewise good supporting roles: Boris Osipo, who is Brandy’s live-in abusive Russian mobster lover and possible killer who is shot in revenge by Brandy’s teenage daughter, Courtney.. Also, the narrator of the story is Jim Willis, an old high school sweetheart who has remained a lifelong friend and confidant of Brandy and is invaluable to the crime investigators.)

All characters are complex and nuanced as they are living in high-stakes situations are rich in subtext and they each have a past.

BRANDY and DOUG GIULIANO: She was a stripper called “Bubblegum Pink.” She wanted an acting career but met Doug Giuliano who made her sign a contract of servitude in which he controlled her life and forced her into a pornographic role that he claimed would enhance her acting career, it resulted in mainstream entertainment rejecting her and Giuliano pimping Brandy out to Mob figures.

DOUG GIULIANO before starting a skin magazine, was a Harvard student and ‘boy wonder’ creator of erotica through AI. Then he ventured, with Mob investments, into starting a sex empire of his skin magazine and film making.

4, “WHAT I LEARNED DOING THIS ASSIGNMENT IS…”

I learned the 10 Marketable Components, their use, and importance.

(Laurie Brown’s) Marketable Components

What I learned by doing this assignment is that I have many marketable components with my script. Hard to say which are really the best but I chose the following to work with here

Current Log Line

The true story of a grief stricken advertising executive who sues Pfizer for the wrongful death of her husband, Woody, and in the process of discovery, delivers hundreds of unsealed documents to Congress that uncover a conspiracy to spare the multibillion dollar antidepressant market by hiding the suicide risk of the drugs meant to lessen it.

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