High-Concept Movies: How to Write High-Concept Screenplays

High-concept films are heavily plot-driven, and their high-stakes nature generates immediate interest from the audience. High-concept films usually have a central idea writers and producers can summarize quickly to communicate the project to financial backers and the audience.

In Hollywood, high-concept films contrast with low-concept ones. While high-concept films have a simple, catchy, and vivid premise, low-concept films rely on less dramatic plots and focus instead on character development. Character studies are an excellent example of low-concept films. Historical dramas and romantic comedies also depend on the audience’s interest in the characters over an obvious hook.

Many of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters have been high-concept movies, and some have lingered in the public imagination for years, becoming beloved classics. Consider these examples:

1. 1. Groundhog Day (1993): Harold Ramis’s high-concept comedy follows a shallow, emotionally shutoff man who must live the same day repeatedly until he learns both decency and love.
2. 2. Jurassic Park (1993): In director Steven Spielberg’s action-adventure blockbuster, humanity develops the technology to clone dinosaurs.
3. 3. Liar Liar (1997): Tom Shadyac directed this comedy, which stars Jim Carrey at the height of his fame and imagines a scenario wherein a successful but dishonest lawyer is suddenly unable to lie, complicating his professional career but ultimately bringing him closer to his family.
4. 4. The Truman Show (1998): This high-concept movie from director Peter Weir blends melodrama and comedy with science fiction elements, riffing on the then-novel phenomenon of reality television. The premise explores the concept of a man who is the star of the world’s most popular reality TV show but doesn’t know it.
5. 5. Snakes on a Plane (2006): This film by director David R. Ellis begins with the absurd-but-catchy premise its title encapsulates. Audiences immediately know what to expect from this film starring Samuel L. Jackson: something scary, tense, and ridiculous.
6. 6. Inception (2010): Director Christopher Nolan’s work illustrates an impressive knack for the high-concept premise, including this box office smash in which professional thieves use sci-fi technology to infiltrate other people’s dreams to steal valuable ideas.

Writing a high-concept film can be a fun and rewarding exercise, and if successful, it can be a lucrative job for screenwriters. When writing a high-concept film, follow these steps:

1. 1. Brainstorm big ideas. Start with simple brainstorming sessions of high-concept story ideas on your own or with collaborators. See how many high-concept ideas you can come up with in a set amount of time, then rank them for simplicity and mass appeal.
2. 2. Do your research. Before writing a logline for your idea, watching high-concept films for reference can be helpful. Come up with your own loglines for high-concept movies like Star Trek (1966-1969), Star Wars (1978), and The Matrix (1999) as a writing exercise.
3. 3. Prepare your high-concept pitch. Ideally, a high-concept film has a simple logline of up to three sentences. This summary sets up the concept and the stakes in a simple and attention-getting manner to excite studio executives.

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