Yes, Les, your first comment is correct. Of course, they are not going to give YOU nor anyone else $100 million for a logline ever.

But when they hear a logline — if it’s a big movie — they are wondering whether they can see spending a $100M budget… and making a multiple of that.

Of course… the summary is that most writers are just looking to see if their script is worth X dollars… but a producer sees it as one part of the whole budget. And if they can’t get the movie made, the script is worthless and just cost them whatever they paid the writer.

And yes…. gotta start somewhere. Fun to see the 11-year-old boy get excited about your movie! That’s a great start right there!

When I was in the middle of my first big script a few years ago, I had a pre-Christmas dinner with my neighbours and their 11-year-old grandson. Just the four of us. We got to talking about my upcoming film and the kid was keen to know what it was about, especially when I told him it included 30 children. He wanted to know if there were any people getting killed in the film. I told him there was no killing, but there were two dead bodies. That seemed to satisfy him. Then he asked “Is it going to be big…or just a play?” I said, “No, it’s going to be really big.” His eyes lit up and I knew I had my first customer.

You gotta start somewhere.

Nice!

Thanks, James. I love that example: “Therapist!”

To save her (adjective)_________ father’s life, a (adjective)_______ female steeplejack must retrieve a stolen check from a time-traveling thief, by moving through dimensions. (23) words.

Yes, good point on the reduced time you have. The time keeps getting shorter and shorter that you have to catch someone’s ear.

Regarding the $100 million dollars questions, you actually made my point, David. Screenwriters typically only think of what a producer pays them…. whether it’s $40K, $250K, or $1 Million. But from a producer’s point, when they read a logline… and then the script… they are not thinking, “Is this worth the $250K?” They look at the entire project and ask themselves, is this story worth the $100 Million that it will take to make it in its entirety.