Steve Kaire's 5 tips for a successful script sale

Steve Kaire, the pitch guru, or the script sale guru, or simply a very talented man in getting those lights turning GREEN, has some tips. He says it's the material the scriptwriter chooses that makes all the difference. So writers should think good before they start writing their scripts. Here are his tips:

#1 (most important; most difficult): Your premise has to be original and unique; or it must at least have an original hook, a “high concept” hook. For example, kidnap movies are generic, but RANSOM with Mel Gibson had a high concept hook. Instead of using the ransom money to free his son, Gibson uses the ransom money to put out a contract hit on the kidnapper.

#2: Your idea has to have mass audience appeal: “Most writers just don’t know what will work and what won’t work,” says Steve Kaire. “So give yourself the acid test. Ask, ‘Would you pay $12 to see this movie?’ After asking yourself, ask your friends and your family. I always ask my sister who’s a housewife, but has a good innate sense of what will or won’t work. If your script idea doesn’t pass the test of would you pay $12 to see it, then you don’t have a movie. When you’ve got a slam dunk idea you’ll know it because people’s faces light up and they say, ‘Why hasn’t this been done before?’ That’s how you know you’ve nailed it.”

#3: Your pitch has to be story-specific: Details are important. A generic idea isn’t enough. For example, years ago I pitched a script called “Worst Case Scenario.” This was before 9/11 and before all those “worse case scenario” books hit the market. The phrase was fresh at the time. I based my pitch on a newspaper article I’d read about the fact that the U.S. government has a special department that comes up with worst-case scenarios. I came up with a twist which is what made it a slam dunk. Here’s the twist: The most brilliant member of that department turns traitor and uses the information against the United States in the biggest terrorist act in history. It sold it immediately -- and then the studio I sold it to changed hands and that was that. No go. But that was a slam dunk.”

#4: The script’s potential should be obvious: In pitching your script, listeners should be able to see the set pieces and laugh at the comedy. Just the title and a brief “what if…” sentence can do that.

#5: Have your pitch come in short: Your pitch should be four or five sentences only. Tell what your story is about; not what happens in the script. And tell what it’s about in an exciting way. See if you can tell your story in just one sentence incorporating the 5 essential elements.