A week before Christmas terrorists invade the North Pole and take Santa hostage, and the only cop that can save him hates Christmas more than Ebenezer Scrooge.

Hi Tim,

I just want to say first up that I think this is a snappy, intriguing, well constructed, and by going off most of the comments, well liked logline — but I do see some potential issues with it:

I’d have to assume, by going off the title and the fact that TERRORISTS have jolly ‘Ol Santa Claus hostage that this would not be targeted towards a FAMILY audience. As a parent, I wouldn’t want to put my kids through seeing that. A Christmas Carol has some terrifying elements, but still works for kids because at the end, apart from being a happy joyful ending with a great message, you can tell your kids that ghost’s don’t exist. Terrorists on the other hand…

The other issue I see, is that while the idea of smashing up the Xmas Fantasy and Action genre’s is what gives your logline a uniqueness, the first two installments of Die Hard take place on Christmas Eve, and every time I read your logline I see Bruce Willis as John McClane… (a 6th is currently in development…) — which renders it’s potential distinctiveness possibly mute…. Of course, just IMO… As dpg mentioned, this might also have something to do with his current Occupation…

So, if not family I’d assume the target audience would be the elusive 15-under 30’s… But do they go to see Xmas themed movies? Maybe — if done right. IMO, it could work if it was done with a Gothic modern day fairy-tale twist — and I’m reminded of Lincoln Vampire Slayer for some reason (not that that was particularly successful…), and in that light I see Tim Logan’s idea of making the hero Ebenezer possibly a good one. Also, putting this in the logline tells the prospective Producer/ Prodco/ Agent/ Reader what-have-you that THIS is the way you’re going — this is NOT a family movie, but can work… big time. Again, this is just one route I see it going. On the other hand — I could see it working as a family movie if done as a Comedy in the vein of something like ‘Elf’. All in all the logline ticks a lot of boxes, but there is some risk in terms of getting the genre(s) right… and I’d love to know which you were aiming for… (Yippee-ki-yay St Nicholas!) 😉

Good Luck.

…and just FWIW (even though the original logline ticks most boxes…):

‘To save a wealthy toy manufacturer from a group of terrorists in the north pole, a cynical special task force leader must first come to terms with the targets true identity… Santa Claus.’

Over 30 words, I know, and absent a ticking clock… but just thought I’d give it a shot.

Hear hear… But isn’t also the key function of a longline to get someone with either the power and or money to read and hopefully produce said film? If I was lucky enough to be that person, you know, with money and or power the first thing I see when I read this longline is the poster. My first question (which was my first… And really, only question…) is what is the genre and who is the target audience. I think this is a fair enough question given the concept… As violent movies involving Santa are rare (maybe for a reason…)…

That’s what I figured — just wanted to make sure. To most that probably seemed obvious (especially given the title) — but I just wanted to be sure. Sounds awesome.