Screenwriting : Quarantine Movies by Nathan Smith

There are going to be thousands of them written; the market will be flooded.

Wishing you all the best with it, Alana. Brings to mind another question though, is it a worry to those writing them now that the industry will be flooded with these kinds of scripts?

The timeless themes of human drama still hold, and believe audiences will likely reinterpret them to align with their current experiences SO the connections to the virus likely don't have to be explicit. My sense --

Remember the first smash hit of 2002? It was My Big Fat Greek Wedding which made about $245m just domestically. That is an astronomical number for a movie like that. But it was in the wake of 9/11 and audiences wanted levity. By the time the sequel rolled around in 2016, it made $59m domestically.

My guess is that audiences will want to swing the opposite direction for a bit and we'll be seeing a lot of feel good movies or escapist action/adventure movies. The post-apocalyptic films will have a place, but I think the films that will really break out will be fun, light, escapist entertainment.

Yes, trying to write for the current trend is a good way to get nowhere fast, I believe. It's about coming up with that fresh idea and maybe even starting a trend of your own. Thanks for the reply, Pamela.

Well, dunno, but for me, I feel it's too soon. Currently, the crisis is still growing, the rate of deaths is rising, etc. Right now people need facts. Calmness. Hope. We are being inundated with constant news reports, personal accounts, etc. The effects of the cononvirsus will be felt for years to come.

Considering this from an entertainment point of view, real-life experience beats fiction every time. So as an audience member, I'm a "meh." I'm more interested in escape from such themes when it comes to entertainment. Plus there are already a ton of produced movies and series that deal with such a subject matter, and/or dystopian themes, virus zombies, apocalypse, etc. But that's just my opinion. Others may feel differently. For me, it also seems—sorry, I'm in an area with a number of deaths due to Covid-19—rather gross, incredibly insensitive, and dare I say, inappropriate right now when people are suffering. Besides, as a society, we don't know what's ahead or what will happen. We're dealing with uncertainty here. So creatively speaking, it may be prudent to wait and see, come at it from a more historical perspective. Sure, maybe there's some other more distant approach, a new angle or a more interesting smaller "take" on the subject that could work. But... the probable oncoming slew of scripts may overwhelm and may dull their impact? Dunno? Maybe zig while others zag? With the current hold on new releases and of projects already in production, there will be a "bottleneck" effect when things return to normal and a shift and condensing of scheduling to get work already coming down the pike, out. So anything now will be moved further on the calendar. With that... maybe those virus scripts may not even be considered for quite some time, which could work? Who knows? Lol! :) The important thing for all of us right now is to stay safe and help to keep others safe. Best to you!

Hi Nathan,

I wouldn't, because it's not a subject I'd want to write about - nor would I want to perform the research for accuracy. You can bet that big studios and indie producers already have hundreds - if not thousands - of epidemic/pandemic/post-apocalyptic stories sitting around. And you'd have to write a really great script to match films like Contagion, 28 Weeks Later, Quarantine, World War Z, The Host, It Comes at Night, Outbreak, I Am Legend, etc. etc. There are many great films in that sub-genre.

But hey....if you want to give it a shot, then go for it! :)

It's also notable that Dr. Ian Lipkin, one of the world's top virologists and the medical consultant for the film Contagion, is now positive with the Covid-19 coronavirus . Get well soon, Dr. Lipkin - and everyone else!

Stay safe, and best fortunes in your creative endeavors, Nathan!

Strange but true. There was a SciFi authoress who wrote a series about dragonriders of Pern. In her last book published in the 1980's she describes a pandemic contracted from an exotic animal. It wipes out most of their planet. The only thing that saves them is the dragonriders ability to time travel. It describes almost to a T the symptoms of Covid 19!!! Her name is Anne McCaffrey. Maybe Trump has a time machine and that's why he sets these idiotic time frames. Love and Strength to All! I'm 66 with COPD and PAD so I guess I'd better start writing time warp speed!

I've just seen BBC is asking for self isolation theme scripts already and I have seen talks from folks on Twitter who are writing quarantine based movies. Only time will tell.

Full Moon Features already has Corona Zombies set to stream in April lol so yeah, there's always a market.

The time to write those was a decade ago... like CONTAGION. Now is the time to write about things that will be of interest ten years from now.

Okay, this is one post where I can agree with all of your comments. The way I see it it's doable, it really is but not if you go full Quarantine, full Corona Virus... etc. I would use the actual events and add some Supernatural and Action elements in the mix. I don't think people who lost loved ones in this crisis will go and see the movies like this, not for a long time and keep in mind this crises is far from over.

There'll likely be lots of work appearing about this virus, but the consensus amongst friends and family regarding what they're watching seems to be lighter in tone and topic--a lot of comedy. With the constant media coverage, closures of businesses, loss of income, etc etc etc, most people want to escape to a different world with what they're watching. This is a unique environment and so much has changed drastically for us already. The anxiety in our world right now is palpable. And with so much uncertainty regarding how life will look on the other side of this, lighter content seems to be a welcome retreat.

I think that after the quarantine is over, people would love to see something uplifting and fun instead of reliving the same experience they have just had. Remember, after the WWIII the movie companies made lots of uplifting movies about love, good life, actors and actresses were wearing great outfits, scenes shot in beautiful surroundings? That was the time when studio filming became popular again as well as natural street filming (for the lack of lighting equipment for example), but the stories were uplifting and romantic. Right after the war no one wanted to see the horror they lived through also on silver screen ;-) The same with corona virus... Maybe years later, when the dust settles so to speak such films will be more in trend but only as looking back and seeing everything from a certain perspective, and not being too emotionally attached.

Some of you may have seen the recent Inktip newsletter with a producer looking for a pandemic script on isolation (sounds like A Quiet Place without the monsters). I can only speak for myself, but after all this, the LAST thing I want to watch is a movie about it - let alone write one.

Thanks to everyone for the great responses.