[Mark]

Subject Line: My Teenage Grandpa – 10 Most Interesting Things

A. Unique Hero:

• An old school hustler who’s never there for his family forced to navigate a Gen Alpha world.

B. Major hook of your opening scene:

• His grandson’s birthday party is filled with family but not one single friend — and the one person he’s been waiting for most, his grandpa, arrives after it’s over.

C. Turning Points:

• Grandpa suffers a heart attack then bets the Devil his grandson’s soul for more time to become a better man.

• Grandpa wakes up in his 14-year-old body without the ability to state his true identity.

• Teenage grandpa teaches his grandson how to dress, how to speak to girls, how to practice and stand up for himself, and make the baseball team.

• Teenage grandpa throws a party where his grandson closes the deal with the girl and stands up to his bully gaining instant popularity through teenage grandpa’s guidance.

D. Emotional dilemma:

• Teenage grandpa gets caught making out with a student’s mother at the party embarrassing his grandson.

• Teenage grandpa secret advice on women backfires accidentally making his grandson’s girl fall for him.

• Teenage grandpa taught his grandson to drive, got him hooked on alcohol, and he crashes the car while driving drunk without a license

E. Reveal:

• Teenage grandpa finds a way to tell his grandson that he is his grandfather and has bet his soul with the Devil.

• Teenage grandpa transforms back into a 64-year-old man at his grandson’s 16th birthday party.

F. Reversals:

• Teenage grandpa becomes obsessed with his Junior Achievement company ignoring his grandson completely.

• Grant rejects

G. Character betrayals:

• Grandson catches his best friend (who’s secretly his grandfather) about to kiss the girl he likes.

• Teenage grandpa’s develops relationships with a student in his JA company and her mother develop at the same time.

• After his JA company’s success, a huge company offers teenage grandpa a contract without the others in the JA company.

• Teenage grandpa tells the mother that she is his soulmate and she dumps him.

H. Surprise:

• 64-year-old Grandpa reintroduces himself to the mother -they are soulmates.

• This reply was modified 16 hours, 51 minutes ago by  Mark. Reason: it came out in one blob instead of separated the way I put in into the reply

[Mark]

Mark Turner Producer/Manager

Imagine you have two meetings set up — with a producer and then with a manager. What would you say and do differently based upon this model?

Answer two questions:

1. How will you present yourself and your project to the producer?

I would pitch him more of a sales pitch that includes a marketable concept summary containing the “business hooks” as in

assignment 2.

I’d ask him a “what if” question regarding the hook. And I would follow that with a single sentence logline containing the premise hook. And tell them some of the story “set pieces.”

Followed up by some comparable films.

2. How will you present yourself and your project to the manager?

I would present myself as an award-winning writer and let them know my connection with the material. How and why, I decided to tell this particular story.

I’d give them the single sentence logline with the premise hook.

Then pitch what the story is about thematically, using broad strokes punctuated with story examples.

3. Answer the question “What I learned today is…?”

That I’m still uncertain what the right pitch is and why they should be different.

• This reply was modified 4 days, 7 hours ago by  Mark. Reason: it came out in one blob instead of separated the way I put in into the reply

[Mark]

Subject line: My Teenage Grandpa’s marketable components are that it is a unique, timely family story with a self-explanatory title, with great roles for an older bankable actor and bankable child actors, similar to several highly successful films.

“What I learned doing this assignment is…” My script has several marketable components.

Current logline: When a selfish workaholic grandfather bets the Devil his grandson’s soul, he wakes up as a 14-year-old boy on a ticking clock to become a better man or they both lose their souls.

1. Unique: A 65-year-old grandpa is forced back into high school to earn redemption, but as a 14-year-old boy in his grandson’s classes without the ability to tell him he’s, his grandfather.

2. Great Title: My Teenage Grandpa – high concept, clear, ironic, and family-friendly

3. Timely — recently read that family comedies are coming into demand now, because parents want movies the whole family can see together.

4. It’s a first. First time a 65-year-old goes back to high school as his younger self.

5. Wide audience appeal: Supernatural Family Comedy – it’s a coming-of-age story about second chances, generational disconnect and what it means to grow up — no matter your age, and how love — not legacy — defines us.

6. Similarity to a box-office success. Reverse – “BIG:” budget: 18 million. Box Office:152 million.

In the vein of Freaky Friday – Budget: 20 million. Box Office: 161 million;

Liar Liar, budget: 45 million. Box Office: 303 million;

Netflix’s Family Switch – no budget information.

7. A great role for bankable actors:
• Grandpa Mike: 65, Engaging / charismatic / selfish / wounded / regretful
• Grant Paul: same 65-year-old in a 14-year-old body who hated high school 50 years ago
• Drew Tanner: 15, shy / insecure / sheltered / athletic / witty / smart
• Randy Williams 16, brash / insecure / bully / hidden secrets / athletic

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:

My Teenage Grandpa is a supernatural family dramedy about redemption disguised as a body-swap buddy comedy. In the vein of Big, Freaky Friday, and Netflix’s Family Switch, it’s a story about second chances, generational disconnect, and how love — not legacy — defines us. With heartfelt issues, big laughs, and a supernatural twist, it reminds us it’s never too late to grow up — even if you have to do it all over again.

• This reply was modified 4 days, 8 hours ago by  Mark. Reason: it came out in one blob instead of separated the way I put in into the reply

[Mark]

Mark Turner – MY TEENAGE GRANDPA – Managers/production companies
Genre: Supernatural Family Comedy
Concept: Grandpa/Grandson buddy comedy, with coming-of-age and redemptive themes where the grandpa is turned into a 14-year-old boy because of his bet with the devil.
I learned the way I’ve been pitching my be incorrect

[Mark]

Mark Turner
I’ve written 10 pilots and 9 feature scripts and comic books
Looking to better my sales/pitching/finding producers and using AI skill.
I’ve had minutes to live 3 separate times, and was a Story Consultant to Johnny Depp’s company.,

[Mark]

I, Mark Turner, agree to the GROUP RELEASE FORM
As a member of this group, I agree to the following:
1. That I will keep the processes, strategies, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class confidential, and that I will NOT share any of this program either privately, with a group, posting online, writing articles, through video or computer programming, or in any other way that would make those processes, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class available to anyone who is not a member of this class.
2. That each writer’s work here is copyrighted and that writer is the sole owner of that work. That includes this program which is copyrighted by Hal Croasmun. I acknowledge that submission of an idea to this group constitutes a claim of and the recognition of ownership of that idea.
I will keep the other writer’s ideas and writing confidential and will not share this information with anyone without the express written permission of the writer/owner. I will not market or even discuss this information with anyone outside this group.
3. I also understand that many stories and ideas are similar and/or have common themes and from time to time, two or more people can independently and simultaneously generate the same concept or movie idea.
4. If I have an idea that is the same as or very similar to another group member’s idea, I’ll immediately contact Hal and present proof that I had this idea prior to the beginning of the class. If Hal deems them to be the same idea or close enough to cause harm to either party, he’ll request both parties to present another concept for the class.
5. If you don’t present proof to Hal that you have the same idea as another person, you agree that all ideas presented to this group are the sole ownership of the person who presented them and you will not write or market another group member’s ideas.
6. Finally, I agree not to bring suit against anyone in this group for any reason, unless they use a substantial portion of my copyrighted work in a manner that is public and/or that prevents me from marketing my script by shopping it to production companies, agents, managers, actors, networks, studios or any other entertainment industry organizations or people.
This completes the Group Release Form for the class.