Now, that you've gotten
your pilot written,
it's time to start putting together
the materials to get it read.
"Well,
I don't know about the rating.
We didn't discuss the rating."
Today, we're going to
focus on the logline.
The logline is a sentence that
encapsulates what your pilot is about.
There are a lot of
theories and formulas
about how to write a logline.
"- What did you do today?
- I got up and came to work.
- There's a show,
that's a show."
But we've looked
at the best ones
and develop two options that we
know will work for every show.
"If you want to just keep
doing the same old thing.
Maybe this idea is not for you."
For our first formula,
there are four key elements
that make a great logline.
An Inciting Incident.
A Protagonist.
An Action. And Antagonist.
An inciting incident,
it`s what happens to your protagonist that
ends the normality of their first story
and begins the next
chapter in their life.
Setting off the main
plot of the show.
The protagonist is
your main character.
If you're writing
an ensemble show.
It's the catalyst character
that everyone revolves around,
like JD in "Scrubs."
Or Michael in
"Arrested Development."
The action is what
protagonist has to do.
Like how Michael wants
to keep his family
from spending corporate
money on personal things.
"- We throw away banana
for every buck we take,
so no one finds out.
- I think you should
do that math again."
The antagonist is what's standing
in the way of their action,
like Michael's mother Lucille spending
money on everything they don't need.
"Luce, that coat cost
more than your house.
Oh, that's how we joke.
She doesn't even have a house."
So, for example,
in "Stranger Things"
the disappearance of Will is the inciting
incident that kicks off the story.
The whole town rallies around the
cause including his close friends.
But they quickly find out
that in order to find him.
They have to fight this guy.
There you have it.
An Inciting Incident.
A Protagonist.
And Action and Antagonist.
Our second version is similar,
but adds two elements
and removes one.
As you can see,
the inciting incident is gone.
Instead, we have Protagonist.
Action.
Antagonist.
Goal.
Stake.
Similar to action,
our goal is the reason for
the protagonist action.
Action, therefore,
becomes more specific.
The protagonist does an
action to obtain a goal.
"Star Wars" for example,
we have an orphan kid
who joins Rebel forces,
to fight Darth Vader,
and rescue a princess from
the hands of certain death.
But here's the thing.
Studio Executives read
hundreds of loglines.
Adding personality,
color, texture and tone,
go a long way to
writing a great logline.
For example, instead of just
calling Luke "an orphan boy"
but "a spirited farm boy"
gives us an image of him.
He joins Rebel forces to
fight the evil Darth Vader.
Just adding that four-letter
word and spirit and purpose.
Here`s another.
It's one thing to say,
"A Sheriff,
Biologist, and Sailor
have to team up to fight a
shark that terrorizes a beach."
It's another to say, "A local
sheriff, a marine biologist,
and a salty Seafarer
form an unlikely team
that must stop a
Great White Shark
from taking more lives and
ruining an entire beach community.
You already know the relationship
between the characters
and the importance of their job.
And you haven't even
read the script.
Not convinced?
Look at what we just have
for "Stranger Things."
Now, watch as we apply specificity
to the other logline option.
When a young boy disappears,
his mother, a police chief
and his three closest friends
must confront terrifying
forces to get him back.
Using specificity allows
for personality and tone.
It creates the small details that
we relate to more personally.
See, you have two options for how
you want to approach your logline.
Go ahead and download
our logline template,
so you can perfect the version
that works best for you.
Subscribe and then comment with your
favorite character from "Stranger Things."
I'm going with Steve and yes,
it's because of the hair.
"- It's not about the hair,man.
Faberge.
- What?
- It`s faberge organics?"
