Max Riffner
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The Hollywood Pitch
Sometime in the last 10 years or so, it has become fashionable for creators to give “The Hollywood Pitch” to editors, which basically consists of “Let me tell you about my new comic! It’s like [THIS MOVIE] meets [THAT MOVIE]! Interested in more?” In theory, this approach makes sense: a creator can quickly get across a concept to an overwhelmed editor at a convention.
It has now gotten to the point of ridiculousness, however. You can look at the comic racks and just see the stupid movie combination before you pick up the book, and while the juxtaposition might make a cool concept, it seems like the creators are so busy trying to break in that they miss the point of actually telling a good story.1
I was reading an interview today with Jeff Smith, the creator of Bone about his new series, RASL. Smith gave a sort of Hollywood Pitch about the book, calling it “Blade Runner meets Jason Bourne.” It’s actually a good fit, because it isn’t about a superspy fighting androids (or vice-versa). That’s what I would expect from a lesser creator. No, Smith is taking the paranoia of Blade Runner with the suspense of the Bourne films to create a mood. The book is actually about a dimension-hopping art thief on the run.
I wish more pitches were like this. I’ve been loving RASL so far.
1 There are, of course, exceptions, and some blatantly ludicrous combinations actually make great comics.
timothiefJan 13, 01:00 PM
A few writers and developers I know are pitching scripts and ideas and they are now doing them as comic books. It probably has a great deal to do with the huge success the comic book adaptation has had over the last decade (jesus, really?). Anyways, yes – this particular project was done by an animator who could draw. His short animatic that sold the script apparently looked so rad the producing company decided it should become a comic book AND a longer animation. I’m sure the word “synergy” and the gesture of hands coming together were used quite a bit.
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Jan 12, 03:53 PM
Currently I know of one project that is green lit for production. But first they want a comic book, then a short animated film and then they will start pre-production.
On a side note: It make my stomach ache when “creative minds” reference movies when trying to make movies. “You know that scene in
blank, make it like that.”Cut. Paste. But hey, that is Hollywood today.
Anyone have a good 70s TV show they’d like to make into a film?