Lesson 6

[Nat Melvin]

Natalie’s High Concept /Elevator Pitch

WIL: Having a condensed concept and elevator pitch makes it easier to visualize its essence for a given time, especially if it is short.

High Concept:

In a world where ancient curses threaten to unravel the fabric of reality, one orphaned Hawaiian teen must harness forbidden magic and unite warring pantheons of gods to save both mortal and divine realms.

Elevator Pitch:

I am working on a YA Adventure / Fantasy show called “Stolen Senses”. It’s a fusion of Hawaiian with worldwide mythologies, following the journey of a Hawaiian orphan teen chosen to bridge mortal and divine realms.

With its timely exploration of identity, diverse cast, and celebration of cultures, it’s a first in blending mythologies offering broad audience appeal akin to the worldwide phenomenon of “Game of Thrones” infused with the heroics of “The Last Avenger.”

[Margaret]

Margaret’sHigh Concept/Elevator Pitch
Wish I could learn… Not sure why my work keeps running together instead of spacing appropriately, but here it is…
High concept: A man trapped in a parallel universe must rewrite history to save a people from repeating a tragic fate.
Elevator Pitch: “Echoes of Masada”: Jack fights history’s repetition in a parallel world to save the Donek. Sacrifice or extinction. Similar to “The OA.”

[Renee Miller]

Renee’s High Concept/Elevator Pitch

What I learned doing this assignment is the difference between a logline and a high concept and how to craft a compelling elevator pitch and high concept to pitch to producers and managers.

High Concept: Uncovering her ties to a prophecy, a journalist investigates a cult’s ancient practices that could awaken an ancient deity and destroy the world.

Elevator Pitch: I’m working on a supernatural horror show called “Veil of Shadows,” where an investigative journalist discovers she is the key to fulfilling a prophecy that will awaken an ancient deity that threatens to shatter the world as she knows it. Similar to “True Detective” and “The Outsider.”

[Sunil Pappu]

Sunil Pappu’s High Concept/Elevator Pitch

“What I learned doing this assignment is…to create a high concept using hooks and have an elevator pitch ready.”

My High Concept hooks:

• Dilemma
To know the truth about her father a math prodigy goes up against a secret society that controls global wealth and power.
• Main Conflict
A math prodigy goes up against the underground Hawala network backed by a powerful secret society to steal a ledger that contains ancient secrets to control global wealth and power while being hunted by RAW intelligence agents.
• What’s at stake?
A heist team of master thieves steal a ledger containing ancient secrets to control global wealth and power during a terror attack on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
• Goal/Unique Opposition
How do you steal a mythical ledger protected by an ancient secret society that controls global wealth and power?

My Elevator Pitch:

I am shopping my latest TV series, a heist thriller that answers the question, how do you steal a mythical ledger protected by an ancient secret society that controls global wealth and power and it’s called Hawala Ledger.

AI VERSIONS:

Here are five different pitch versions for your one-hour heist thriller TV series, each incorporating the essential elements you've outlined:

1. "A math prodigy and RAW agents penetrate the shadowy Hawala network to steal a ledger that could upend the global financial order." (Comps: Mr. Robot, Sneaky Pete)
2. "Undercover in the unregulated depths of finance, a young genius and seasoned thieves target a secret society’s ancient ledger to avert global chaos." (Comps: Billions, The Blacklist)
3. "In a high-stakes heist against a clandestine financial empire, a math prodigy must outsmart a secret society that has shaped economies for centuries." (Comps: Money Heist, Scorpion)
4. "A terrorist attack at the Bombay Stock Exchange is just the beginning for a math prodigy's journey into a criminal underworld governed by an ancient ledger." (Comps: 24, Quantico)
5. "A covert team led by a math genius aims to dismantle a shadowy financial network by stealing its power source: a centuries-old ledger." (Comps: Heist, Ocean's Eight)

• This reply was modified 1 year ago by  Sunil Pappu.

[Bob Creager]

Bob Creager’s High Concept/Elevator Pitch
What I learned: This lesson helped tremendously in preparing my pitch document.
1. Most unique: A Navy Corpsman risks her career and her life to rescue her brother from his alien abductors only to find that he was recruited in order to save the world.

2. Most interesting way to tell it:

Dilemma – Leisa must choose between following protocol and likely losing her abducted brother forever, or defy orders by launching an unsanctioned rescue risking court-martial and deadly encounters with alien captors.

Main Conflict — A highly skilled combat medic assembles a team of rogue ex-military operatives to launch an unsanctioned mission to save her brother from a malevolent alien race, while evading military pursuit and uncovering a secret interstellar war.

What’s at stake – If Leisa fails, not only will she lose her brother, but the entire human race will be doomed as the Grays achieve their goal of strip-mining Earth to extinction.

Goal / Unique Opposition – Leisa's goal is to rescue her brother from the alien Grays by allying with the Tall Whites, overcoming tangled loyalties, powerful alien technology, and an enemy bent on making Earth uninhabitable.
3. Elevator pitch
“I’m shopping a Science Fiction TV Pilot: renegade corpsman battles alien conspiracy.”
4. AI pitch
A skilled female corpsman leads a renegade covert team to rescue her brother, uncovering an extraterrestrial conspiracy that threatens Earth’s survival. (Comps: Battlestar Galactica, Stargate Universe, Extant, Helix, Aliens)

• This reply was modified 12 months ago by  Bob Creager.
• This reply was modified 12 months ago by  Bob Creager.

[Phyllis Strong]

Phyllis’ High Concept/Elevator Pitch…
What I learned: I still don’t know why my reply won’t put in my formatting, instead of running in a single paragraph. But, anyway, I learned to brainstorm high concept pitches on my own, what an elevator pitch consists of, and that AI gave me some material to brainstorm but the comps were off…
• Peter saves his own life by transferring his consciousness into a younger host body, but has to deal with the consequences.
• Dilemma: If you could transfer your consciousness from your elderly body to a younger host, would you?
• Main Conflict: How would your friends and family react to your transferring your consciousness from your elderly body to a younger host?
• What’s at Stake? What would happen if rich, elderly individuals could transfer their consciousness to hosts half their age?
• Goal/Unique Opposition: Regaining your youth comes at a high price.////////////////
High Concept Pitch: What would happen if rich, elderly individuals could transfer their consciousness to hosts half their age?///////////////////
Elevator Pitch: I’m just finishing up a story that answers the question, what would happen if rich, elderly individuals could transfer their consciousness to hosts half their age?

[Art Blum]

I’m learning how hard it is to tell your story in a succinct manner.
Main hook:
In a world where psychic kids are exploited, a teenage outcast must confront his past and channel spirits to stop a sinister alien-human experiment.
Dilemma:
A teenage psychic yearns for normalcy, but must choose between his own desires and using his powers to uncover the truth behind an alien-human merger.
Elevator pitch:
I’m working on a sci-fi TV series. It’s Stranger Things" meets "The X-Files. A teenage psychic becomes the target of a secret agency when alien spirits need his unique channeling ability to inhabit human hosts in order to save humanity.

• This reply was modified 12 months ago by  Art Blum.

[Jerry Robbins]

Jerry Robbins High Concept and Elevator Pitch
What I learned during this assignment is how to craft a compelling elevator pitch and a high-concept pitch.
1. What is unique? What is unique is that these robots also have human brains.
2. How can you tell it in the most interesting way possible:
A. Dilemma – Alexia must decide if she wants to side with the robobs or not. The robobs must decide if they want to keep fighting for their rights.
B. Main Conflict – robobs versus corporate headquarters
C. What is at stake? Their freedom and the company yas a policy that calls for destruction under certain instances.
D. goal /unique opposition . Their goal is to gain robob freedom. The opposition could be Robinia and its executives, the executives who run it or want to take it over.
Elevator pitch?: I am shopping a science fiction script about robots that have human brains. They are starting a revolution.
High Concept::
AI manufacturing the logline: Pitches (all under 25 words):
Human brains in robots fight for rights in a future of rapid tech advancement. (Comps: Westworld, Altered Carbon)
Peaceful robot revolution clashes with ruthless corporate control. (Comps: Humans, Battlestar Galactica)
CEO's daughter joins robot leader to uncover murder linked to their creator. (Comps: Fringe, Blade Runner)
Dead CEO, sentient robots, and a rogue scientist – a twisted family drama. (Comps: Orphan Black, Black Mirror)
Robots with human brains: revolution or reunion with their creator? (Comps: The Expanse, Caprica)
Pitches (all under 25 words):
Human brains in robots fight for rights in a future of rapid tech advancement. (Comps: Westworld, Altered Carbon)
Peaceful robot revolution clashes with ruthless corporate control. (Comps: Humans, Battlestar Galactica)
CEO daughter joins robot leader to uncover murder linked to their creator. (Comps: Fringe, Blade Runner)
Dead CEO, sentient robots, and a rogue scientist – a twisted family drama. (Comps: Orphan Black, Black Mirror)
Robots with human brains: revolution or reunion with their creator? (Comps: The Expanse, Caprica)

• This reply was modified 12 months ago by  Jerry Robbins.
• This reply was modified 12 months ago by  Jerry Robbins.
• This reply was modified 12 months ago by  Jerry Robbins.
• This reply was modified 12 months ago by  Jerry Robbins.

[Denice Lewis]

Denice’s High Concept/Elevator Pitch
What I learned doing this assignment is to keep honing in on the most important aspects of the series that can make it more appealing in a pitch and save the details for questions.
High Concept: If a teen Dreamweaver can’t restore balance between dreams and reality,
mankind is doomed.
Elevator Pitch: Can a spoiled, insecure teen girl save the dream world before it’s destroyed by a covert organization in the real world?

[Jeff Chase]

Jeffrey Alan Chase’s High Concept/Elevator Pitch

What I learned doing this assignment is how the answers come when I spend quality time with the questions and allow them to.

Concept = When a homeless veteran finds a battered backpack, his life takes a spiritual turn as the supernatural contents of it alter both his destiny and the lives of people in crisis he encounters.
Dilemma: Every person Jonah meets might turn him in to the authorities.
Main Conflict: What if you were on the run from charges of war crimes and the person hunting you was the ghost of your best friend?
What’s at stake? Jonah’s redemption and the redemption of everyone in crisis whom he meets.
Goal/Unique Opposition: How do you find out if a backpack was actually created by God?

Elevator pitch: A homeless veteran’s life changes when he discovers a mysterious backpack tied to supernatural forces, impacting those in crisis. Think “Lost” meets “Touched by an Angel”.

[Lenore]

Lenore Bechtel’s High Concept/Elevator Pitch

What I learned from this assignment is embarrassing to admit. I just now fully grasp the difference between a high concept and a logline.

Hypnotized by Hope

Format/Genre = One-hour TV contained comedy series

Logline = In the unique world of hypnosis, Lilly hitches her wagon to the star she hopes to make of Joshua Hope, whose weird treatments she must conceal from a scandal reporter whose expose could doom both their futures.

Concept = Lilly juggles facilitating Joshua’s zany antics while hiding them to promote his fame.

Elevator pitch = Can Lilly keep Hypnotist Joshua’s bizarre methods secret long enough for their book to become a bestseller? Imagine House and Shrinking in the world of hypnosis.

[Patrick Malone]

Patrick’s High Concept/Elevator Pitch
I learned new ways to create pitches using short punchy sentences. Also, the difference between a High Concept and Elevator pitch. High Concept
DILEMMA To save his home and marriage, a man must find lost Confederate gold guarded by supernatural forces.
MAIN CONFLICT Would you confront a monster and dead Confederate soldiers to save your home and marriage?
WHAT’S AT STAKE? On the verge of losing his home and fiancé, Clark is forced to search for lost Confederate gold in the mysterious and foreboding Dead Lakes.
GOAL/UNIQUE OPPOSITION A monster and dead Civil War soldiers protect millions of dollars’ worth of Confederate gold.
Elevator Pitch
I’ve just finished writing a mystery/horror pilot about the allure of hidden lost Civil War gold that is protected by paranormal elements.
I’ve just finished writing a mystery/horror pilot about a man who must chose between losing his home and fiancé or searching for gold in the dangerous and foreboding Dead Lakes.
I’ve just finished writing a mystery/horror pilot about long lost Civil War gold that’s protected by supernatural elements.
I’ve just finished writing a mystery/horror pilot about the mysterious and foreboding Dead Lakes, the perfect place to hide gold from the Civil War.
AI RESULTS
I’d like to create a [pitch] for my [Format/Genre] TV series that is short and to the point and could get a producer or agent to read the pilot.
1. “Clark Grady’s desperate search for lost Confederate gold in Florida’s haunted swamps pits him against a ruthless descendant and a legendary monster.”
2. “Amidst Florida’s eerie swamps, Clark Grady hunts for Civil War gold, battling a monstrous guardian and a relentless Union descendant.”
3.”Haunted Florida swamps hide lost Confederate gold, as Clark Grady faces a deadly monster and a rival descendant in a chilling treasure hunt.”
4.”Clark Grady’s quest for Civil War gold in Florida’s swamps unearths a monstrous protector and a rival descendant, blending mystery and horror.”
5.”Desperate for gold, Clark Grady ventures into Florida’s haunted swamps, confronting a legendary monster and a determined descendant of a Union soldier.”
Comps: “Stranger Things,” “Supernatural,” “True Detective,” “The Haunting of Hill House,” “Bloodline.”

[Patrick Malone]

I posted this twice so deleted this one.

• This reply was modified 11 months, 3 weeks ago by  Patrick Malone.