Screenwriting : Logline Examples from the Academy's 2013 Nicholl Fellowship Finalists by Richard Toscan

The following examples of loglines might be of interest given the many posts asking for assistance with these things that seem to bedevil many screenwriters. These five scripts were selected by the Academy's judges from about 7,000 entries. Perhaps what's most important about these loglines is that each of them attracted the attention of first-stage readers and continued to do so as these scripts worked their way up to the final judges level. Frank DeJohn & David Alton Hedges Current residences: Santa Ynez, CA "Legion" Just days before he is to leave a life of warfare behind him, a Roman Centurion must assume command of a group of misfit soldiers trapped deep within hostile country. ___ Patty Jones Current residence: Vancouver, BC, Canada "Joe Banks" The son of a Nobel Prize–winning novelist via a genius sperm bank is determined to follow in his father's footsteps, but suddenly finds himself on a wild odyssey with his real father, a drinking, man's-man, lothario author of airport novels who was stripped of his own Nobel after a sex scandal. ___ Alan Roth Current residence: Suffern, NY "Jersey City Story" A basketball star faces his bitter past when he's pursued by a young boy growing up in his old room in the projects. ___ Stephanie Shannon Current residence: Los Angeles, CA "Queen of Hearts" Inspired by true events, this is the story of "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" author Lewis Carroll (aka Charles L. Dodgson) and how his relationship with the real Alice Liddell and her family may have inspired one of the world's most beloved pieces of children's literature. ___ Barbara Stepansky Current residence: Burbank, CA "Sugar In My Veins" When a mutual attraction blossoms between a fourteen year old violin prodigy and her sister's much older boyfriend, it leads to a risky forbidden affair that has both liberating and disastrous consequences for their lives.