I realize there is a trend toward gender neutral pronouns. But casting a film is not a gender neutral process. Before they even read a script, directors and producers want to know the gender (or trans if that applies) of the main character. So clearly indicate that in the logline.

Failure to provide that information in a logline gives them all the reason they need to not read your script. And since they are very busy people, they are always looking for reasons to pass on a script. Your job in a logline is to give them an irresistible reason to want to read the script.

>>>they have to decide whether

Loglines are not about a decision that has to be made. Loglines are about doing, not deciding to do.

A logline should lay out what follows from a decision that is made; that is, a specific course of action in pursuit of a specific objective goal. This scenario creates an obvious moral dilemma, but the situation must force the character to immediately decide upon a specific course of action. What is that action (right or wrong)?

About the moral dilemma: it’s not a true dilemma if the deck of the plot is stacked so that it’s obvious to the protagonist (and the audience) what the right decision to make is (be loyal to one’s partners or be loyal to the oath the officer took). An authentic dilemma is one where a protagonist believes (and the audiences buys into that belief) that he or she is trapped between a rock and a hard place, trapped between two *equally* valid but incommensurate, conflicting choices.

The plot will force the protagonist to choose one or the other at the end of the 1st Act. It may be the wrong one, but that is one the protagonist will commit to… until the plot forces the character to flip.

Suggested movies to view: “Prince of the City”. One of the better films I’ve seen on the moral dilemmas cops confront in their work. And “Training Day”. In both films, the protagonists are well aware that they are doing the wrong thing — but they rationalize they are doing it for the right reason. The end justifies the means. Loyalty to the group, to the leader trumps other considerations for initially valid reasons.

And then…