60 Second Screenwriter: What is “high concept?”

A video series addressing key screenwriting concerns in one minute.

Some time ago, I proposed an idea to my DePaul University School of Cinematic Arts colleagues: What if we produced a lively, informative series of videos called 60 Second Screenwriter? The concept was simple: Aggregate questions relevant to anyone interested in the craft of screenwriting, then use DePaul students and faculty to produce the series?

And we did it! There are 13 videos, each about one minute long and we are rolling them out biweekly at our YouTube channel.

Today: What exactly is “high concept?”

Understand this: It is really hard to get Hollywood to green light an original movie. They are addicted to preexisting content. Remakes. Reboots. Sequels. Prequels. Shequels. Thus, if you write a screenplay which is an original story, your path of least resistance is working with the strongest story concept possible. And oftentimes, that is a high concept.

I had a great time producing the 60 Second Screenwriter series working with my fellow faculty members and a terrific group of undergraduate and graduate students. Here is the production team:

Director: Penny Penniston
Producer: Scott Myers
Cinematography: Shannon Kuncé
Production Audio Mixer: Eagle Liao
Editor & Colorist: Ana Christian
Post Audio: Joey DeFabio

To see more videos in the series, go here.