Ice Cold Genres?

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  • Ice Cold Genres?

    A popular screenwriting publication recently listed genres or subgenres that have been deemed ice cold spec-wise by a handful of reputable agents.

    Drumroll, please.

    The Mob Movie (understandable)
    The Western (understandable)
    Fantasy (surprised me a little)
    Sports (suspect, unless the spec is based on a true story)
    The Female Driven Rom-Com (needs a second wind, I agree)
    Scripts Based on Movie Industry (we've heard that warning before)
    Ensemble Dramas
    Period Pieces (no surprise there)
    Animation (mostly written from within)

    But apparently Kids Adventure Movies (Spy Kids, Goonies) are hot.

    If your current script falls into any one of these, willya change up your game plan based on this info or simply take all this with a grain of salt and keep writing?
    "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."
    -Maya Angelou

  • #2
    Re: Ice Cold Genres?

    On the other side of the spectrum, what is considered 'Red Hot' right now?
    Never mistake motion for action. ~Ernest Hemingway

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    • #3
      Re: Ice Cold Genres?

      Taking a guess, but I'd say..

      Slacker Comedies.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Ice Cold Genres?

        Originally posted by Bellabell View Post
        On the other side of the spectrum, what is considered 'Red Hot' right now?
        Ninja Gerbils.


        ...........................It's not?



        .................................................. ........................S#!t!.

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        • #5
          Re: Ice Cold Genres?

          Huh... are they talking fantasy as in Lord of the Rings or do they include stuff in that category like Click?
          "Forget it, Jake. It's Hollywood."

          My YouTube channel.

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          • #6
            Re: Ice Cold Genres?

            I think it's all about execution. You can sell virtually any common genre as long as you execute a good idea in a compelling fashion. People will say "horror is dead" or "the teen comedy is dead" until someone comes along with Scream or American Pie. Execution trumps genre. A genre is only "cold" until someone comes along with a good movie in that genre.

            Right now horror is cold, but sooner or later some kid working his tail off will come out with the next Exorcist or Blair Witch. It will become a huge hit and horror will be "hot" again until the studios kill the momentum by releasing a slew of copycat tripe.

            I wouldn't bother trying to identify a hot genre. My advice is to write who you are. If you're hilarious and you love to be funny then you should write comedy. If you're a morbid bastard and you like to watch Vincent Price movies and poke dead cats with sticks then you should write darker stuff.

            Choosing your genre is not an arbitrary decision. It's a matter of letting your natural instincts and inclinations guide you in the most appropriate direction. It takes a very good faker to produce compelling work outside his natural range. You're better off focusing on what truly inspires, excites, and interests you.

            So what's hot? What's cold?

            Who cares? Those aren't the questions that matter.

            That said, it is important to be realistic. You're probably not going to sell your 600 million dollar historical epic trilogy or your 4 hour sci-fi musical. My advice to write who you are assumes that you're writing movies that fit somewhere in the broad spectrum of the type of material Hollywood actually produces.

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            • #7
              Re: Ice Cold Genres?

              Originally posted by DaltWisney View Post

              So what's hot? What's cold?

              Who cares? Those aren't the questions that matter.

              That said, it is important to be realistic. You're probably not going to sell your 600 million dollar historical epic trilogy or your 4 hour sci-fi musical. My advice to write who you are assumes that you're writing movies that fit somewhere in the broad spectrum of the type of material Hollywood actually produces.
              It's just a discussion. Obviously we're not going to write our next script based on what is selling. It would be old news by the time it's done.

              Anyways, back to the question...
              Never mistake motion for action. ~Ernest Hemingway

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Ice Cold Genres?

                What is hot is what some exec can do second and make money. Westerns were out until Unforgiven. Gangsters were out until Goodfellas. Horror was out until Scream!

                Bought the T shirt.
                http://wasitsomethingiwrote.blogspot.com/

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                • #9
                  Re: Ice Cold Genres?

                  Building on that, horror was dead until Scream. Then after a rash of like-movies, it died.
                  Then Saw came. Torture porn was the new horror. It died (thankfully imho). Now they say horror's dead. But I'd bet, as E.D. and Dalt suggest, someone will come out with a great script, and it will be reborn again.

                  So I think you should write what you want to write, what's closest to the films you watch.
                  Last edited by seh; 10-15-2007, 02:18 PM.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Ice Cold Genres?

                    Originally posted by Signal30 View Post
                    Huh... are they talking fantasy as in Lord of the Rings or do they include stuff in that category like Click?
                    they mean original specs, not adaptations from exisiting material, but who the hell has the bankroll do do that on their own?
                    "you have to write right, right?" -- Todd Gordon

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                    • #11
                      Re: Ice Cold Genres?

                      I will proudly ask an ignorant question, because I think comments like "this genre is ice cold" is a statement that people too often repeat and buy into ... when the statement is basically the product of tea leaf readings. As others already said: a genre is "cold" until someone says "this cold talk is bull****" -- and ignores it -- and then rebels and creates the movie that makes the genre "hot" again (then the imitators jump on the wagon, and pile dung on the wagon until the axles break and it goes cold again)

                      Anyway, here's my ignorant (but sincere) question:

                      Why is a genre "cold" to specs only? If the genre script will work because Joe Famous Writer writes it, shouldn't the SAME SCRIPT sell if Jill Spec-Writer offers it too?

                      I understand why they won't buy a $100 million budget epic ... that those things arise from a combination of packaged stars and directors and bestseller novels etc ... But that's not "the cold genre" preventing it, it's the "huge budget" or (animation) necessary tech-expertise and skillz-set.

                      I suggest it's not about genre, it's about stars-involved and other non-genre issues.

                      "Westerns" are ice cold? I was under the impression the Western was on its way back, on the 3:10 From Yuma.

                      So ... why would a genre be cold only to specs? Such things reek of self-fulfilling prophecies of failure, to me, imo.
                      They're "cold" because people in the Biz accept that they're "cold" ...

                      But theose people may not really know what people really want to SEE.

                      I suppose everyone here has seen THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE ...

                      Boy. The Bizness people don't know much. Everybody thinking THE GODFATHER sucked. Anybody thinking Ali MacGraw was all that.

                      MIA FARROW was all that. Bob Evans was the man (okay, the Man, played by a creepy looking wax mannikin)

                      Hollywood knows nuthin except their own roadblocks to creativity.
                      sigpic
                      "As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world -
                      that is the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves."
                      -Mahatma Gandhi.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Ice Cold Genres?

                        Originally posted by DaltWisney View Post
                        If you're a morbid bastard and you like to watch Vincent Price movies and poke dead cats with sticks then you should write darker stuff.
                        I think that person should write a romantic comedy.
                        "Forget it, Jake. It's Hollywood."

                        My YouTube channel.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Ice Cold Genres?

                          I'm not obsessed with what's "hot" & what's "cold".

                          But the thing is, I like all types of movies, I'll watch just about anything. Consequently, I write (or have attempted to write) scripts in many genres.

                          Given that I like to write in various genres & subgenres, I like to know which genres have (or might have) a better chance in the marketplace.

                          I have no doubt that some genres are a tougher sell, some easier.

                          I love period pieces: Shakespeare in Love, Amadeus, Elizabeth, Sense and Sensibility, The Name of the Rose, Gladiator etc... Not gonna write a period spec, for obvious reasons.

                          And If I have two comedy scripts I'm thinking about writing, one about college buddies & one about mobsters, you bet I want to hear that everyone is sick of mobster stories before I sit down to write.

                          "Trust your stuff." -- Dave Righetti, Pitching Coach

                          ( Formerly "stvnlra" )

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                          • #14
                            Re: Ice Cold Genres?

                            Originally posted by tabula rasa View Post
                            Why is a genre "cold" to specs only? If the genre script will work because Joe Famous Writer writes it, shouldn't the SAME SCRIPT sell if Jill Spec-Writer offers it too?
                            because 99% of those jobs are assignments, not Joe Schmo doing them on their own... I think we need to discern from the literal meaning of spec script from first draft of an assignment
                            "you have to write right, right?" -- Todd Gordon

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                            • #15
                              Re: Ice Cold Genres?

                              From the articles I've read on various films, "cold" doesn't solely apply to specs. If the money is not flowing as smoothly, if at all, into a particular genre, development of project of that ilk will cease. Even high-profiled ones.

                              But it's not just box office failures that could make a genre "cold." Political climate can also have studios shying away from some genre and sub-genres.

                              If you do see films at the multiplex that belong to a currently "cold" genre, realize that it may likely be an adaptation of a previous work, had the support of a-list talent (i.e. actor or director) from the get-go, and was an uphill struggle to get the film financed and produced, taking years in the making.
                              Stupid tv. Be more funny - Homer J. Simpson

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