Whether the writer focuses on TV or features, we all have one question in common. “How do we get industry professionals to read our scripts?” Getting them to agree to read the script is just the first battle. Getting the script to the top of their pile is the next. The real question is how do we motivate the reader to pick up that script and actually read it?

Let’s assume the writer has crafted a quality script, one that is polished and professional. The script must do more than stand on its own, it must stand out from the crowd. From the perspective of the industry professional, there will always be too many good scripts to read, and too little time to read them. Reading is an investment of valuable time, if not actual money. 

The writer is not helpless in this process. There are strategies that can influence the potential reader. Aside from the motivation of being paid to read a script, we will review four other factors that can get pages turning. We will refer to them as promises as they point to this particular script as the one they should read next. And, like all promises, it will be disappointing all around if they’re broken.

The four promises are

• reputation
• recommendation
• premise
• the logline

The Promise of Reputation 

Reputation is the promise that comes from the prior experiences of the writer. Reputation is more than just having a film listed on IMDbPro, or winning a festival or contest, or winning an Oscar. Although that certainly helps. Having a good reputation with the industry professional means the writer has earned the right to be read.

The industry professional may have loved a previous film or another script by the writer. That’s good news. Then again, the opposite can be true. It must be understood that the writer risks their reputation whenever they go out with a script. The writer is constantly building up their own reputation – or razing it. 

The writer must be sure that what they deliver is top shelf. This starts with peer review. A small writer’s group that offers quality feedback is a great way to develop one’s reputation, organically. Friends will hold up an honest mirror to the writer, in a safe space. 

With a professional-grade script in hand, and a reputation at least among their peers, the writer is more likely to move on to the next promise. 

The Promise of Recommendation

Recommendation is the promise of prior vetting. A script improves its odds of being read when it is recommended by another trusted professional. Someone other than the writer is staking their reputation when they recommend a script. It is most likely someone in the professional ranks (agents, managers, producers, story editors) whose opinion will hold weight with the potential reader, especially as it moves up the food chain.

Professional recommendations ought to be organic, developed from established relationships. Asking a new connection for a recommendation is a good way to create the wrong kind of reputation. Create value for others and most will gladly reciprocate. However, recommendations don’t have to come just from people the writer knows. Winning an elite screenwriting contest or landing on a prestigious list can become a solid recommendation. 

Unfortunately, even the most glowing recommendation may only be enough to open the door to a short pitch. The writer must be ready with the final two promises: a kick-ass premise and an enthralling logline. While the aspiring writer may not have much control over their recommendations, they can and must master their premise and logline.

The Promise of Premise

The premise is the promise of a story that will excite the audience. It describes the central conflict without the specifics of character or plot. The concept might be the first idea the writer had about their story. Like genre, concepts are very broad. They lack goals and stakes. The concept might follow the question “What if?”

For instance, Liar, Liar: What if a lawyer couldn’t lie?

Transformers: What if vehicles could transform into robots? It might also be a new setting for a familiar story, such as

Titanic: A Romeo and Juliet love story set on the famously doomed ship. The concept is the story’s hook. Simple, easy to comprehend.

The “premise line” develops the concept into the potential for conflict. In a single sentence it allows the audience to imagine the framework for a story. It includes stakes, but not the specifics of character or plot. The premise line answers the question, “What’s it about?”

Returning to our examples, Liar, Liar: When a lawyer misses his son’s birthday, the boy wishes his father cannot lie for twenty four hours.

Transformers: Alien sentient robots disguise themselves as vehicles to save the universe.

Titanic: A couple from two social classes fall in love on the ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic. 

Still without the specifics of character or plot, we get a sense of a conflict including potential stakes. One might think of the premise line as a hook – with bait. This is a powerful tool. A great premise by itself might even motivate the industry professional to read the script. If it’s not, then there’s one more promise. 

The Promise of the Logline

The logline is the promise of a story that will engage the audience. The logline uses the elements of the story, including character, plot, and stakes, to describe the narrative conflict. A logline is much more than a one sentence summary of the writer’s story; neither is it a description of the whole story. The logline is meant to describe the story’s central conflict as clearly and concisely as possible. For the busy industry pro deciding what to read next, the logline offers a simple solution. They can easily scan through dozens of loglines in search of a story that hooks them. 

For the writer, a kick-ass logline is more than a good first impression, it is a promise to the potential reader that they are in good hands, story-wise. The logline is often an indicator of professional-grade writing talent.

To an experienced reader, a problem with the logline jumps out as a potential problem with the script. The logline allows them to hone in on the elements of the story, making any issues obvious. Breaking down a story into its core elements may lead to other unintended consequences. Sometimes struggling to construct a logline can reveal problems in the story itself. In previous articles I discussed some of the elements, such as the main character, the opposition, the goal and stakes. Other important elements found in the logline are context/setting and a triggering event or events.

Let’s return to our three movies for examples of loglines.

The logline for Liar, Liar (Comedy; 1997, written by Paul Guay and Stephen Mazur) “When a pathological lying lawyer misses his son’s birthday, the young boy wishes that his father couldn’t lie for 24 hours, now he has to win a career-defining court case with nothing but the truth.”

The logline for Transformers (Sci-Fi/Action; 2007, written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman) “A civil war between sentient machines has come to earth, where both sides can transform into vehicles. Now the fate of the universe depends on a human teenager who must help the noble machines prevent their evil enemies from acquiring a powerful cube.”

And finally, the logline for Titanic (Historical/Action/Romance; 1997, written by James Cameron) “Aboard the ill-fated Titanic, an idealistic young woman, whose mother demands she marry for money, falls for a poor artist, but when the ship hits an iceberg their new love is threatened by more than their class differences.”

Describing a TV Series & Pilot

There is a paradox when writing a logline for a TV pilot. We’re taught that a logline describes the central conflict, which we understand will be resolved in the climax. While the conflict in the pilot may resolve, it simultaneously establishes the conflict for the entire series. It would seem the logline for a TV pilot is being asked to do too much. 

How then should the writer describe the pilot within the context of the entire series? Thankfully, the answer can be found within two of the four promises. Simply let the logline describe an episode and, separately, allow the premise line to describe the series. 

The premise line explores the potential conflicts within the bigger concept, a description of the series as a whole. It can do this because it doesn’t contain the specifics of any one episode. It’s the glue that holds the series together, the connective tissue between the episodes.

For instance, The Brady Bunch, “When a divorced father of three boys marries a widowed mother of three girls, their idyllic middle-class house becomes ground zero for endless family-friendly friction.” Breaking Bad, “A high school chemistry teacher with lung cancer becomes a drug dealer to provide his family with some financial security.”

This frees up the logline to do what it does best. Without the burden of describing the premise, the logline can better describe the central conflict for each episode. The combination of the logline and premise line is a one-two punch in a pitch. 

Wrap Up

To be sure, it will likely take more than one of these four promises to get the script read. Within the limited scope of this article, we could not review all the ways a writer can influence their reputation or garner a recommendation. The reader is encouraged to explore their own unique alternatives. The writing of a premise line and the logline are as much technical as they are creative. Learning how to expertly craft them can unlock the writer’s career.