In 1977, a reformed ex-con, desperate to pay for his mother’s hospital bill, returns to his old life of drug dealing but soon learns the game has changed and the players are more ruthless than before.

the darkhorse:

>>>>you could sell a bad screenplay as long as it has that one great idea/hook/bait, etc

You raise an important point.? I've heard stories to that effect.? But here's the catch.? They buy the script for the hook -- but they don't like the execution.? So they pay someone else to do a rewrite.? Which means that you, the original writer, lose total control of your script, get paid less, and have to share credit.

the darkhorse:

>>>>you could sell a bad screenplay as long as it has that one great idea/hook/bait, etc

You raise an important point.? I've heard stories to that effect.? But here's the catch.? They buy the script for the hook -- but they don't like the execution.? So they pay someone else to do a rewrite.? Which means that you, the original writer, lose total control of your script, get paid less, and have to share credit.

Oh cool. I'll have to give that a look. Cheers.

In the past I agreed with Brian Koppelman's "all screenwriting books are bullshit" motto. But at the same time, I think it's good to educate yourself ("take what you need but don't blindly believe them" is another motto). At the end of the day, I'm learning by failing and by experience (both valuable - now I know what not to do).

Yeah - I must admit it's been a helluva past couple months. During the marketing/query stage I've done bibles, synopses, queries, loglines, one sheets, etc. And it all comes back to the hook/bait/gimmick/the big idea (like you said - whatever).

I saw an interview where a manager even says you could sell a bad screenplay as long as it has that one great idea/hook/bait, etc (explains a lot I guess). Right now - I've been rewriting all my scripts and it's interesting to be doing it from the hook-logline-marketing perspective (at least I'll know what to do next time).

Anyways, thanks for your help.