[Watch the video interview on Youtube here]
Film Courage: Why don’t you believe in original ideas?
Steve Douglas-Craig, Owner/Teacher at The New Screenwriter, Financier, Screenwriter and Producer: I do. There’s a lot of ways to put that. I do believe in original ideas. Can you market something toward a broader audience on an original idea, it’s a lot tougher? What I mean by that is when you’re thinking of a screenplay or a project from a commercial perspective, a lot of screenwriters don’t do this when they’re first starting out, the story is all important. For me, the foundation of a good film is still a tremendously inspiring, well-structured blueprint (the screenplay). If it’s not a good screenplay, I’m not sure how you can think it would be a good film. That’s still all important. But the idea of looking at your product and your own ideas and saying Where does it fit? If I’m looking at taking on a project, other than the elements (the actors, the director, who are the producers, the package itself):
-Where does this fit?
-What is the budget range?
-How much money am I going to have to spend marketing this?
-Where do I [market] that?
For me the original idea is still certainly in play but sometimes, especially in markets like horror, those audiences go to those movies and there’s a certain kind of understanding, they know what they’re going to get. But if you can put an original twist on an older idea then you’ve got something. One, I know how to market it and two there’s something original.
Talk To Me recently from the Philippou brothers that came out in the theaters, a tremendous movie, scary, loved it. I’ve seen so much horror, it’s not easy to get scared anymore. But that movie is for me deconstructing it a little too much probably, it’s an Ouija board movie but with a hand. It has the same tropes to a certain degree. It has those same scares but it’s got an original twist on the idea and I hadn’t seen that before. Originality from that perspective is something you can indulge, but also keeping in the back of your mind that someone buying your film has to find a way to market it…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
About:
After graduating from the AFI, Steve Douglas-Craig was recruited by Sony Pictures Entertainment to work as a Story Editor & Acquisitions Executive for the Worldwide Acquisitions team in Los Angeles where he received an induction into story & business development, feature film packaging, domestic & international distribution, theatrical marketing & product acquisition. He helped develop & shepherd film titles including Terminator: Salvation, The Book of Eli, Django Unchained, War Room, Don’t Breathe (Sequel current in post-production), the Insidious horror movie franchise, Manchester By The Sea, The Grudge (reboot), Searching, Arrival, Whiplash, The Call, Attack The Block & many others (including TV releases – The Tudors, House of Cards). Steve’s tenure at Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions was followed with a promotion to Senior Story Editor & Creative Executive at Screen Gems where he was involved in the development & release of theatrical titles like the recent releases of Monster Hunter & the adaptation of James Herbert’s novel – The Unholy. Before that he helped shepherd Black & Blue, The Intruder, Possession of Hannah Grace, Brightburn, & Slender Man. He was also heavily involved in developing content strategies that attracted financiers & talent to specific projects for the studio. Steve is also a professional screenwriter having worked as a freelance staff writer for the hit CBS TV series Hawaii Five-O over a number of seasons & currently has a pilot & several feature films (including a creature feature) going out through his literary managers in Los Angeles.
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