An excerpt from my script review for Moonlight which will be available 02/13/17:
1.) Marketability of the Idea
So it’s based on a piece of dramatic writing called In the Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.
It’s not a play, it’s not a book, but a paper author Tarell Alvin McCraney wrote as a school project, loosely based on his life.
Here’s my issue, and I’ll elaborate in the next section, but just because it’s about a black kid growing up gay in the poorer areas of Miami does not, on its own, make it a worthwhile project.
We need a compelling story, and based on the idea, there is a lot of potential to win audiences over.
You don’t get to just cheery pick “black” and “gay” and then argue that anyone who doesn’t like it is a racist homophobe.
Same thing with the unique structure.
Presenting it in, literally, three acts is interesting, but without building a relationship between the reader/viewer and the main character, cool structure alone cannot sell a script to the masses.
Felt a bit like this bit from Arrested Development:
Maeby
He’s in L.A., she’s in Japan, how do I get these two characters together?
Rita
You could always walk. Along the ocean. If it’s not too deep.
Maeby
No! Deep is good! People are going to say “what the hell just happened?” and I’d better say I like it because nobody wants to seem stupid!
Rita
The Ocean Walker.
Maeby
Holy crap, that’s gonna look good on a hat!
But here’s how it did at the box office.
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