I'll Read That, Thanks

This morning I read the movie section of our local newspaper and came across a blurb about Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan. He's discussing how he'll miss not being part of the Toronto Film Festival. Since I either don't particularly like or haven't seen his films, I could care less. That's not what caught my interest. Atom is filming 'Where the Truth Lies', a "story of two entertainers in the late 1950s who are somehow involved in a death that occurs while they have a perfect alibi: they are taking part in a telethon witnessed by millions of viewers. Fifteen years later, a journalist begins to unravel what really happened".

If you tossed me that logline, I'd say, "I'll read that, thanks". I don't know where that logline came from but I paid a visit to IMDB to read the Plot Summary for Where the Truth Lies (2005). If you're too lazy to follow the link, the logline there reads, "A female journalist tries to uncover the truth behind the breakup, years earlier, of a celebrated comedy team after the duo found a girl dead in their hotel room. Though both had airtight alibis and neither was accused, the incident put an end to their act."

See the difference? One logline makes you want to read the screenplay and the other, ehh. If you can build an open hook into your logline like the first logline in this example, I think you're halfway to getting your script taken seriously. People want to know what really happened. The second logline reveals pretty much the same premise but there is no hook. It's just flat.

I'm gonna go rework my logline. I suggest you do the same.