Script Frenzy

Every November, there’s an online event called National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Hundreds of thousands of people commit to writing a novel in a single month, starting with 0 words and ending with at least 50,000 by November 30. You don’t “win” anything, per se–just the joy that you completed a novel. It’s basically a great excuse to write that novel you’ve always wanted to write (which, coincidentally, is what Blank Slate Press is all about).

While considering NaNoWriMo this past fall, I learned about something called Script Frenzy. It’s essentially the same as NaNoWriMo, but it’s in April, and it’s for scripts. Namely, movie screenplays.

This really piqued my interest. I’ve talked about writing a screenplay for a long time. And I’m not talking some hoighty-toighty epic literary screenplay. I want to write a romantic comedy (rom com, for those in the biz). You can see how much I think about this genre in my dissertation on the movie Definitely, Maybe. I care passionately about rom coms, and I think I could write a pretty solid one. Maybe a great one.

I’m toying around with some ideas that I’ve come up with over the years, and I’d like your help. Do any of these sound interesting to you? There’s a poll at the bottom that allows you to select more than one screenplay idea. I haven’t fully developed any of these, so I’m just giving you the snapshots I have so far. Some of these actually seem pretty cliche as I write them up!

  • “Benefits”: About a friends-with-benefits arrangement.
  • “Coincidence Engineering”: About a company for hire for creating coincidental meet-cutes. (alternate titles: “Meet Cute” and “Manifest Destiny”)
  • “Focus Group”: Two people meet as part of a product focus group. The entire movie takes place in the context of the group.
  • “Derby”: Follows a group of friends/lovers for a single day as they attend the Kentucky Derby.
  • “Sampson”: About a woman (Kim Sampson) who uses sex for power, but when her head is shaved (cancer? Bubble gum? Locks of Love?), she loses her “power” (Biblical reference!) and learns about herself.
  • “Closure”: An unimaginable number of missiles have been launched at the U.S., and it’s only a matter of a few hours before they strike. The movie takes place in those few hours, attempting to answer the question: What would you do if you knew you only had a few hours to live?
  • “Wake and Bake”: A group of friends honors the passing of a good friend by getting high…on life.
  • “Poker Night”: About a typical guy’s poker night and where it takes them (think The Hangover, but with deeper conversations).

11 thoughts on “Script Frenzy”

  1. Another name to consider for Coincidence Engineering, “Accidently, on Purpose.”

    Along the lines of “Wake and Bake,” check out the 2001 film “Last Orders” (Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, David Hemmings and Hellen Miren). The title plays on the idea of last call at a bar (“last orders” in England aparently) as well as Last Will and Testament. It’s a bit depressing, but a really good film. Let me know if you’d like to borrow it.

    Reply
    • Scratch that, aparently “Accidently on Purpose” is already the name of a) an active television show, b) a film released in 2005, and c) the title of a film to be released in 2011. Sorry chap.

      Reply
  2. First, what on earth is a “meet-cute”? Is that a typo of “meat cube”? I’d watch a movie about shaped meat.

    And as for your “Closure” concept, I’m pretty sure that’s a porno, not a rom com.

    Reply
    • Ha ha…I’m sure some people would take the porn approach if the Closure concept were real.

      A meet cute is how two characters in a movie meet for the first time. Usually it’s cute/funny/coincidental.

      Reply
  3. I wonder what kind of story will it be if you link them together. They are good ideas, but I think some can be mini stories in a big story.

    Reply
  4. Wow! Great ideas. However, I’m a huge believer that the wrong title can sink a very good movie (reference “Lucky Number Slevin”). I’m marginally to very happy with any of the titles (even though I know they’re just off the top of your head at this point) except any of the ones affiliated with Coincidence Engineering. I’d stay away from that entire concept unless you can come up with a good title. Great ideas overall though!

    Reply

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