GroundlingCom
04-20-2004, 11:15 AM
"Tom Laughlin's 9 Secrets to Writing a Hit" (http://billyjack.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=BK9S&Category_Code=BOOKS)
I fully expect a cacophony a cheap hoots and lame snipes aimed at "Billy Jack" when I state that Tom Laughlin has some credible, fascinating and particularly well-articulated points to make about what goes into a "hit" movie. Say what you will about his work, but don't question his knack for tapping into the emotional and psychological zeitgeist of the 70's. Though dated now, anyone who saw those movies back then will recall packed theaters and wild cheering; "Billy Jack" was the first movie to have significant numbers of multiple ticket sales, people seeing it first run 6-7-8 times. Give him his propers; the godfather of the indie movement had something on the ball.
In his book, "9 Secrets to Writing a Hit Movie", he makes a methodic and systematic analysis of BO hits. The grand claim is that virtually every "hit" contains these elements and that their BO totals suffer predictably when any of these are missing. At this point, you'll want to write this off as hyperbole -- and I wouldn't argue that he goes a bit overboard. But he also backs up alot of his claims with credible records and high-profile examples. Even if it isn't a magic formula, there are certainly many things well worth noting. Stuff any writer would want to incorporate into their own projects. Some of the 9 points are common-sense, but others are more subtle and it's handy to have them elucidated in a single source like this.
Is it the Holy Grail? Naw ... that doesn't exist. But it is a nice read with several valid points forcefully argued.
One last thing. Laughlin claims his ideas have a concrete predictive value. At the end of summer, I intend to post a message looking at the top BO draws and notable flops. It should be interesting to see if his notions hold up or not; if the winners contain all of his 9 points and the loser lack them.
See ya then.
I fully expect a cacophony a cheap hoots and lame snipes aimed at "Billy Jack" when I state that Tom Laughlin has some credible, fascinating and particularly well-articulated points to make about what goes into a "hit" movie. Say what you will about his work, but don't question his knack for tapping into the emotional and psychological zeitgeist of the 70's. Though dated now, anyone who saw those movies back then will recall packed theaters and wild cheering; "Billy Jack" was the first movie to have significant numbers of multiple ticket sales, people seeing it first run 6-7-8 times. Give him his propers; the godfather of the indie movement had something on the ball.
In his book, "9 Secrets to Writing a Hit Movie", he makes a methodic and systematic analysis of BO hits. The grand claim is that virtually every "hit" contains these elements and that their BO totals suffer predictably when any of these are missing. At this point, you'll want to write this off as hyperbole -- and I wouldn't argue that he goes a bit overboard. But he also backs up alot of his claims with credible records and high-profile examples. Even if it isn't a magic formula, there are certainly many things well worth noting. Stuff any writer would want to incorporate into their own projects. Some of the 9 points are common-sense, but others are more subtle and it's handy to have them elucidated in a single source like this.
Is it the Holy Grail? Naw ... that doesn't exist. But it is a nice read with several valid points forcefully argued.
One last thing. Laughlin claims his ideas have a concrete predictive value. At the end of summer, I intend to post a message looking at the top BO draws and notable flops. It should be interesting to see if his notions hold up or not; if the winners contain all of his 9 points and the loser lack them.
See ya then.