Tuesday, September 1, 2015

MAKING A LOOK BOOK FOR YOUR SCREENPLAY


     If you are serious about seeing one of your screenplays produced you need to start with three things; a budget breakdown, a business plan and a look book.  This is only if you have a well written, highly marketable script to begin with.  Beyond that, without all three of these documents you will be at least one step behind the majority of film proposals out there that do.  This is especially true if you do not have an agent or manager who can send your script out and add credibility to it.

     So what is a look book anyway?  No, it's not a graphic novel with all the words taken out, or a paperback with its own set of eyes.  A look book is a pitch document that is usually 8-10 pages long and uses images and text to show off your project to producers and investors.  It is your main sales tool, so you need it to look great and it should get the point across in a concise and professional way.

     Just like the art of writing a screenplay itself, there are no stead fast rules you have to adhere to when you design your look book, but there are widely known guidelines you should be aware of.  Here are the different sections that every look book is expected to have:

  • The Story
  • Cast and Crew
  • The Look of the Film
  • Comparables
  • Business Summary
  • Contact Info


     Any important information you want to present should easily fit into one of these categories.  One exception would be if you have any awards or note worthy news items that were published about your project; in that case, make a press section and put it towards the end of your document.

     Let's go over each section of a look book, one at a time.  As an example, I'm using pages from my look book for 30 Night Stand; a Romantic Comedy I wrote and hope to see all the way through production.  As with any book, this sales document needs a cover page.  Here is the cover page for the 30 Night Stand look book.  I will have more to say about this image later.

COVER PAGE



THE STORY


It all starts with the script, and therefore so does your pitch.  For this you need to stop thinking about your screenplay as the author and look at it from the perspective of a marketing executive.  The log line is what you hit them with first.  You need to relay the premise, the protagonist, the tone or genre of the story and finally hook any potential reader into wanting to know how this story ends.  All of this is told through one eloquent sentence, no problem right?  If it sounds like a difficult task that requires a lot of careful consideration; that's because it is.  I recommend you test different log lines on your friends and peers from your writer's group.  If there is a movie with a story that is similar to yours, look up the log line on IMDB to get some ideas.

My log line for 30 Night Stand is:

Tensions rise and sparks fly when a woman is cunning enough to turn a one night affair into an opportunity to live with a man rent free.

Next I would include a few tag lines. These are very short, impactful blurbs that could end up on the movie poster or be part of any print advertising after the film is produced. Like the log line, your tag lines should relate to the tone and genre of your story but must also hook the reader with as few words as possible.

Here are the tag lines I included in the 30 Night Stand look book:

Love is hard, so don't play fair.
It's his place, but don't tell her that.
When a one night stand goes wrong.
She came, she stayed, she has to go.

Once I put these story pitches together it looked like this on the first page:

     After your log line and tag lines you have the option of writing a brief synopsis of your literary bundle of joy.  I stress the word “optional” here because I personally never send out a synopsis of a screenplay unless it is requested.  Most writers feel they did all the work to make the script the best it could be, and so, the story is meant to be read in its whole form and not in a one page synopsis.  Instead of a synopsis, you could always state the theme of your story, go into more detail about what is unique in your story or show why this story is important to you and why it would relate to a large audience.  I did not put a synopsis in the pitch document so I chose not to include it here.  You should still have a synopsis written, but hope you never have to show it to anyone.... like that bad selfie you took in middle school.

CAST AND CREW


     Cast and crew is our next section, and rightfully so.  If a well crafted story is going to be told, it will take a team of dedicated and talented people to make it happen.  Start with photos and biographical information of your cast if you have any actors officially attached.  This screenplay got a big boost now that we have two actresses with name recognition attached to 30 Night Stand.  One is the Horror icon Cerina Vincent; she is best known from Eli Roth's debut film Cabin Fever.  The other talented lady is Annika Marks whose credits include The Sessions with Helen Hunt; who was nominated for an Academy Award for her role.  If you do not have any prominent actors who have agreed to play a role, then skip it and list the key crew members you have.  The reason for this is that every piece of information you include in this sales tool must show your project in the best light.






     
     The most experienced and well known person you have behind the scenes should be the first you list here.  It could be a producer; an acclaimed director or award winning director of photography.  No matter what, there is you as the screenwriter, so you have someone to list here.  A word of caution about this; if you plan on directing this opus I would not mention that here unless you are a successful director of feature films.  By this I mean, you have directed movies that made a profit and that other people should be aware of.  I hate to break it to you, but they do not care how many short films you have directed; with the exception of a short that premiered at Sundance or won an award at one of the major festivals.  If you wrote or directed a short film based on the feature length project you are pitching be sure to list that and include a link for them to watch it.

     In this section you want to show how these key crew members are a perfect choice for this film while you give their biographical information and list their credits.  Do they have elements from their lives that relate to the subject of this movie?  If they have credits that deal with similar themes or are the same genre as your project; mention those credits first.  We our fortunate enough to have Sylvia Caminer attached as a producer of 30 Night Stand.  Sylvia has worked steadily as a filmmaker for over ten years and has won an Emmy Award in 2004 for directing Great Hotels.  It is for that reason that I listed her at the top of the crew section.  As you can read in the pitch document excerpt below; I also highlighted how Sylvia Caminer and Annika Marks have a successful history of working together.  Sylvia produced the drama Grace, in which Annika Marks played the title role.  Remember, it is your job with this document to build the confidence that any financier may have in your film.



THE LOOK OF THE FILM


     Now it's time to make your look book live up to its name.  In this section you will feature images to sell the look and marketable elements of your film.  This is when it helps if you're an artist or have someone on your team who is talented with a pencil or a brush.  I have been drawing and illustrating for as far back as I can remember, so I created my own concept art and storyboards for 30 Night Stand.  You can see these illustrations below.  What you want is an image that could pass as the movie poster for this story.  It should relate to the theme and title of your story while also grabbing the viewer's attention.  If you are not able to get a hold of high quality, original images you could always use stock photos that you can buy from a web site like Shutterstock.com or Gettyimages.com.  I would suggest you only use stock images as a last resort, because you want your look book to be like your screenplay; bold and original.

     Do your research; look up movie posters and promotional artwork for movies that are similar to yours. Not only will that give you some ideas, but it will help you make sure you do not repeat what others did. Two movie posters that helped inspire my concept art for 30 Night Stand are from The Break-up and Two Night Stand.  As you can see in these posters below; the two main characters are in bed together and yet they are divided.  The body language of these characters and how they are visually represented, show a great deal of sexual tension, all in one still image.  I did the same thing, but in a different way.

















     It also helps that this poster image is something that we would see in an early scene of 30 Night Stand.  The tag line of 'Love is tough, don't play fair' was also included with this image.  I made this poster concept the cover page of the look book, so I needed some other images to represent the look of the movie.  For this, I picked three of the most interesting shots I could dream up from the script and drew storyboards of them.  As you can see below; the first two drawings are of the main characters flying around on water powered jet packs while on a date.  The other storyboard is of that same couple in a funny scene; It's a grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony, but instead of using the giant scissors to cut the ribbon, Sheila pretends to use them on her boyfriend.


COMPARABLES

We often feel the need to compare things don't we?  Timmy got a “B” in math, but Suzy got an “A”.  I like apples, but I prefer oranges and the movie Sudden Death is like Die Hard but it's set in a hockey stadium.  It is human nature to compare things and that is why your pitch document has a section devoted to that.  On this page I gave three examples of movies that had a similar theme and then listed three more that were produced for the same budget range we are proposing for 30 Night Stand.  The important thing to consider for this is that the examples you give are recognizable movies that made a profit.  It is widely know that film making is a risky investment, but it is also exciting and can be highly profitable, that is what you are selling them.  If you use images to help get your point across it is always better, that is why I put the posters of the films I mentioned in the comparables page.  As you can see below, this is more interesting then just typing the titles of these movies and their budgets like some million dollar grocery list.




THE BUSINESS


     Then you have to get down to business.  This section is like a very brief summary of your business plan.  Here you will give your strategy for how the movie could be sold, how you plan it will be released and turn a profit.  I am not providing anything in this article that is or should be considered as legal advise; you should seek professional legal counsel before making documents related to seeking investments or contacting entities to finance any business proposition.  I have seen some pitch documents actually go into details about how much they hope to get from each investor and what their share of any grosses will be in return.  I decided not to do that because it seems like getting ahead of yourself.  You only have to get them interested in investing first, and those details should be in your long form business plan that you would also send out to people.  It is common to give an estimated budget you hope to make the movie for and how that works into your business strategy.


THE CONTACT PAGE


      Last but not least, you need a contact page.  After all, how else are people going to find you so they can throw handfuls of money at your dreams?  You cannot afford to make this page look boring.  You have to wow them in the end. Just like your cover page, this must grab the viewer's attention.  It must relate to the tone of your story, the overall design of your look book and above all, it must continue to be inspiring, it must give them a reason to give you a call.









- Curt Wiser is a Filmmaker and writer.  His credits include writing-directing the Thriller Cam-Girl and being the author of the suspense novel Box Cutter Killer.  Screenwriting is his main focus and a guide book to writing high concept screenplays is in the works.