A tagline is a short, catchy phrase you see on a movie poster, but I come up with taglines for some of my spec scripts. Like “How do you survive against something you can’t see?” (the tagline for my short script about bioengineered zombies that can turn invisible).
I’ll add taglines to email query letters and social media posts when I’m pitching. A tagline by itself can get a producer, director, etc. interested in your script.
Do you come up with taglines for your spec scripts? What are some of your taglines?
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Yes, like this:
Catchy taglines, Rutger Oosterhoff. You have two taglines, right? "Love or hate" and "Fame as explosive disguise."
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Maurice, I sure DO come up with taglines for my spec scripts.
Here are some examples:
1. "She's teaching hookers new tricks!" ("Andrea")
2. "Where were YOU on February 9, 1964?" ("Rivertown Rock!")
3. "A college grad gets a real schooling...out West." ("Kitten on the Keys")
4. "She's Cinderella and Prince Charming all wrapped up in one!" ("Cynthia Harmon")
The trick is to come up with a tagline you can say in five seconds.
Great post...thanks a bunch! So doggone glad you're here on Stage 32!
I dont bother. Nobody ever asked, not reps or peers. They wanna read story. That is all.
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Excellent taglines, Jim Boston! "Where were YOU on February 9, 1964?" stands out the most. It had me thinking "where was I?" I wasn't born though. Haha
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True, nobody ever asked, Dan MaxXx, but it's not about people asking. It's about finding a unique way to pitch scripts and stand out from the millions of other screenwriters.
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Maurice Vaughan Im gonna pass on your advice. GL
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Only way to know is to try it at least once.
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Best to you with your projects, Dan MaxXx.
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You're right, Donte Burks. It's worth a try.
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Interesting Dan MaxXx. I read Maurice Vaughan's post as a share of what he likes to do and asked others if they have created taglines and would like to share. I must've missed something ;-)
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You didn't miss anything, Matthew Kelcourse. That's why I posted this.
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Awesome Maurice Vaughan - Tagline attempt for one of my action sci-fi: Even in space, man is his own worst enemy ;-)
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Matthew Kelcourse I love that tagline!!!
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Fantastic tagline, Matthew Kelcourse! I wanna see the movie!
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Correct Maurice, trying to give people a complete picture with just a poster.
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Thanks Maurice Vaughan and Tony Ray What a great exercise to help develop/establish a central theme! :-)
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Cool, Rutger Oosterhoff. I've seen movie posters with two taglines. I think I've seen a poster with three.
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You're welcome, Matthew Kelcourse. Exactly. It's not just a pitch exercise/tool. It can help writers figure out their themes. And it's fun to come up with taglines.
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Three taglines! Personally I don't have the skill to make that work, to be honest, I think the info on the poster works best combined with the logline (not on the poster), a kind of luxury most pitching screenwriters don't have (before financers say yes to their projects).
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"When raping the Earth just isn't enough."
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Yeah, but it was a poster from back in the 70s, Rutger Oosterhoff. I'm not sure if posters have three taglines anymore.
"I think the info on the poster works best combined with the logline (not on the poster)." You're right. I like to put the logline and tagline near each other in an email query letter, one-sheet, treatment, and pitch deck. And sometimes in a X post if there's enough room.
Wow, Kevin S. Birnbaum! That tagline will definitely get someone's attention!
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I think taglines should be created after you've written the script, not before.
In my case, I think it's a bit tacky and on-the-nose for my own stories.
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In TV I find they can easily get really cheesy or pretentious. Once in a while you come across a really intriguing one like "Winter is coming," but there are too many stories of shows that got on the air with a tagline, only for the tagline to become a joke. Maybe the worst was an ancient cop show with the tagline "Year One" which got cancelled after two episodies. It was a short year, I guess. I think you should imagine your tagline being read out loud by James Earl Jones in that "This is CNN" voice and if you start laughing it's probably not a good idea.
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"It was a short year, I guess. I think you should imagine your tagline being read out loud by James Earl Jones in that "This is CNN" voice." Great advice, Anna Marton Henry! Thanks for the idea.
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“My mother made only right-hand turns.”
Tagline for my 2023 Nicholl’s quarterfinalist “Left-hand Turns: Driving Lessons For The Not Faint Of Heart”, a first screenplay based on my true story about reproductive rights in the USA.
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Expecting a writer to come up with a gripping tagline seems reasonable. Cheesy seems like it can be in season when you are catering to an audience that dwells in the land of trivia contest.
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Catchy tagline, Rhonda Jean Seiter.
"An audience that dwells in the land of trivia contest." What do you mean, John Ceperich?
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Maurice, thanks for the tagline shout-outs!
You're welcome, Jim Boston.
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hello! Yes, I'm trying to come up with taglines for stories. one of them sounds like this - Good parents are not killed.
What does "Good parents are not killed" mean, Arthur Charpentier?
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@Maurice Vaughan
This is a story about a gamer who killed his mother. I have collected information about such cases and I am sure that in most cases parents committed psychological violence against children.
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Sounds like an interesting story, Arthur Charpentier. I understand the tagline now.
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Thank you very much, Maurice Vaughan!
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You're welcome, Arthur Charpentier.
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I had a bad car accident in high school and I try to only make right hand turns. I'm happier making three rights than one left.
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Hannibal Tabu That's a joke and "I'm happier making three rights than one left" is the punchline, right?
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Apparently UPS has drivers make rights as policy to avoid accidents. I understand your safety measures. Lawrence Heller (Somatic Experiencing therapist in L. A.) has written a book on working through car accident trauma. My mom really did in real life only make right turns; she was the absolute worst driver I have ever known, but she learned to drive to get her kids to church every Sunday. (Dad slept in.) I use the turns as a metaphor though—she’s the religious, conservative, politically right, while I’m the liberal, advocate, leaning farther left politically daughter. Hoped it made production before the 2024 election, but…
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Maurice Vaughan No, I'm deadly serious. It drives my kids bonkers, no pun intended, but yeah, I avoid lefts (especially like northwest on San Vicente and La Brea) like bananas.
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Aw, man. Sorry, Hannibal Tabu. I thought it was a joke. Sorry you got in the car accident.
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I come up with taglines once I'm creating the poster. I hadn't thought of adding taglines to query letters or social media posts though, what a great idea!
A tagline for one of my short scripts is "What is your happiness worth?"
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Excellent tagline that'll catch a producer's eye as they look through emails/scroll through social media and get them thinking, Lisa Lee! Or a director, actor, etc.
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Great question Maurice Vaughan, I typically use my 'taglines' try to add "story" to my title to get a bit more info to my intended audience; title: STETSON, tagline: It 's not just my hat it the code I live by. Everyone sees the poster, an image of a cowboy partially hiding his face and gesturing "strength" with his hat in front of a sepia background.
Fantastic tagline, Paul Rivers! And interesting idea to use a cowboy hat to symbolize something! Yeah, screenwriters can definitely use taglines to get more information across to whoever's looking at the posters.