So as most of you surely know, longtime GITS reader Jeff Messerman approached me several weeks ago about starting a peer review adjunct to the blog, which has resulted in The GITS Club. When I drafted this post on Sunday afternoon, there were currently 117 members and a lot more activity and interest than either Jeff or I imagined would happen this quickly (less than a month online).

One of the things Jeff and I have discussed is to spotlight something from TGC here on the blog every other week or so (hopefully more frequently once my work schedule settles down a bit). So for the inaugural post, we’re spotlighting this logline from writer Terrance Ellis:

Desperate for cash to save his family home, a slacker sets out to collect on all his childhood IOUs from his now adult debtors.

Yesterday we considered either movies that have already been produced or projects currently in development to see if the idea is ‘similar but different’ enough. If a story concept passes that hurdle, here are three more important questions to ask about its viability as a mainstream movie property.

The first question is: Who is the target audience for this story? This is an important question to ask for two reasons. (A) To define the core demo group the story can appeal to — because at the end of the day, that’s precisely what a buyer will ask: “Who is the audience for this movie?” In fact, I know a screenwriter who searches through magazines to find a photo of someone they feel represents the person who will want to see this movie, cuts out the photo, and tapes it up on their writing desk – to keep them laser focused on who they’re writing the screenplay for. (B) Defining who you think the core audience is for your movie can also help you shape the way you approach it as a genre-piece, the story’s tone, and your stylistic choices (which starts to get into developing your narrative voice).

The second question is this: Are there 10 million people who would be excited enough about this concept to get off their ass, drive down to the movie theater, and drop an average of $6 per ticket to see the movie? The form of that question is a paraphrase of what the current head of a major movie studio told me when he was involved in producing a Burg & Myers project. Obviously a buyer needs to be able to answer “yes” or else it makes no sense for them to acquire the script.

Third question: Will a person in The Biz (agent, manager, producer, studio exec) immediately get the idea? This speaks to the fact that nearly everyone in The Biz is so damn busy, they have the attention span of gnats. Your story has to grab them immediately or they’re off to the next thing.

So re “I.O.Lou”:

* Who is the target audience? The concept itself feels like a comedy. Kids? I don’t think so because the story’s characters would all figure to be adults. Besides, the core conceit — trying to get repaid for I.O.U.s — strikes me as a tough sell to children. Teens? It depends upon how you shape the material and what tone you take, but it’s not inherently clear from the concept that it would appeal to teens. Young adults? Same thing. Date movie? Probably not. Anybody older than 30? Hollywood really doesn’t care much about them. So per this question, I raise a yellow flag because the target audience is not clear to me.

* Is there a big enough audience to justify a studio buying this property? On the one hand, I do think the concept is pretty fresh and I suspect it could lend itself well to a marketing campaign. However the concept itself doesn’t answer this question, therefore, it will depend upon the execution of the script.

* Will a buyer immediately get the idea? Here I feel a bit more confident. First, it is a high concept. Second, it does conjure up some sense of where the story might go (more on this tomorrow). And third, my guess is a buyer would probably be able to imagine a generic set of “and mayhem ensues” possibilities to think a script would be worth the read.

So after mulling over “I.O.Lou,” if it was my idea and I was considering whether to write it on spec or not, I would say that I’m not convinced it’s there yet. I really want to know if I’m dealing with a strong story concept or not. And so, one last set of questions tomorrow to drill down into the heart of the viability of this logline.

BTW, per an observation I made above, I can hear some of you grumbling, “Well, when isn’t a story concept dependent upon how well it’s executed? There can’t be story ideas that sell themselves just based on the concept.” Wrong! The Hangover is such a fantastic comedic conceit, it could’ve been written in crayon and in Aramaic — and still sold. Hell, I was sold on it as far back as September 2008, so I’m not just piling on to what turned out the biggest grossing R-rate movie of all time.

More on what makes a strong story concept tomorrow. And please post your thoughts re “I.O.Lou” in comments.