Why More Authors Should Harness The Power Of Conceit, You’re Making A Mistake In Your World Building: Here’s How To Fix It, Pick a famous quotation. High-concept is a type of artistic work that can be easily pitched with a succinctly stated premise. Books with cinematic imagery are almost always high-concept stories. High concept involves high stakes. It is not dependent on casting, name director, execution, good word of mouth. High concept helps the writer to discover his/her voice. Please try again. Please try again. There was a problem loading your book clubs. It's dark and scary at times, but it also serves as a cautionary tale. High concept: Don Simpson and the Hollywood culture of excess User Review - Not Available - Book Verdict. An interesting read into the excessive lifestyle of Hollywood producer Don Simpson. I wrote a high concept book, just finish the first draft, can i send it to a publisher if it is highly based in the premise? High-concept fiction builds out from a simple, irresistible idea. There's a problem loading this menu right now. share. This biography of Don Simpson can be hilarious and a joy to read at times, as there are many stories of his excess and arrogance (which include some well-known celebrities) that are just staggering. Today’s Hollywood elites now that’s a book that needs to be written. It shouldn’t have a title page; the title and your name appear at the top of the first page, and the text begins immediately. The five requirements are in descending order of importance. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 25, 2019. Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2018, Like so many before and after him, Don Simpson, the proverbial 'smartest, Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2020, Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2016. Genre fiction doesn't have to be high concept either. Full content visible, double tap to read brief content. High concept means the book is marketable. Excellent book about the 80's in Hollywood. Sorry, To think of something no one’s ever thought of, create a mind map of all the types of things somebody. Please try your request again later. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. 0 comments. In defining High Concept, we talk about the premise of your story, not what happens in Acts 1, 2 and 3. Across the room were the diminutive, casually dressed David Geffen, the billionaire mogul, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, the former Disney. Michael Hauge, a Hollywood screenwriting consultant, offers this definition of high concept: “A high concept is a story concept that is strong enough that it will draw an audience without any other components. Buy High Concept: Don Simpson and the Hollywood Culture of Excess New edition by Fleming, Charles (ISBN: 9780747542629) from Amazon's Book Store. If you're pitching a comedy, then the potential for humor should be … The details and excesses of Simpson ran rampant until, like they always will, took control and left him another of Hollywood's wasted talents. Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2014. Not all books are high concept – nor should they be! Interestingly Bruckheimer is credited in the acknowledgements, and this book also shares part of its title with the notorious account of Don Simpson’s life by Charles Fleming, High Concept: Don Simpson and the Hollywood Culture of Excess. A High Concept is a bare-bones description of the premise of a proposed movie, show, or whatever, used to pitch it to a producer or an audience. Talk to people you don’t like. THE POTENTIAL IS OBVIOUS. Not high concept at all, if that’s all you took from it. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in. High concept is a first step to understanding box office success in America. Possesses a clear emotional focus: Like imagery, high-concept ideas spark emotion, but not just any emotion, usually it is a primal emotion: fear, joy, hate, love, rage, etc. When you’re on the internet, you get a satisfied sort of feeling: ‘Oh. Fascination. However, there are also many times at which the author goes off on a tangent and discusses Hollywood gossip and stories that often seem irrelevant and detract from the enjoyment gained from reading about the crazy experiences of Simpson and his associates. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. A high-concept premise isn’t an option anymore if you want to write a book with bestseller potential (in other words… so you can get a top literary agent, a major publisher, and a major book deal). A high concept is one that can be easily pitched because it’s both simple and unique. save. And within the romance genre, including romantic comedies, what constitutes high concept is different than what defines high concept in a spy thriller, or many other genres. Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! . High concept means the PREMISE of your book will get attention, before anyone sees even one word of your writing. Take a break from the internet. Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2016, Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2014. Hollywood was the last place he should have been though he clearly had a talent for packaging movies. Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 1998. But look again. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, © 1996-2021, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. To this famed West Hollywood watering hole, where every Monday night of the year the show business community's leading citizens gathered to dine, do business, gossip and gawk, Hollywood's most powerful men and women had come this wintry 1996 evening to pay their respects to a friend. But one thing that all high concept books have in common is that the premise can be quickly described in an attention-grabbing, easy-to-understand way. ‘Ice cream with a fly topping’? It can be contrasted with low-concept, which is more concerned with character development and other subtleties that are not as easily summarized. It is about artful prose or experimentation with structure and typically tends to be internal, experimental and introspective. Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. A glimpse into the bright lights of 80's Hollywood, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 25, 2015. Close. Well written and a great read. Contemporary Hollywood takes it on the chin in these two books, written from widely different perspectives. The origin of the term is disputed. Prime members enjoy FREE Delivery and exclusive access to music, movies, TV shows, original audio series, and Kindle books. Unable to add item to List. High Concept: Don Simpson and the Hollywood Cultures of Excess, Main Street Books; 1St Edition (April 20, 1999). You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again, You'll Never Make Love in This Town Again, High Concept: Movies and Marketing in Hollywood (Texas Film Studies Series), Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood, Producer to Producer: A Step-by-Step Guide to Low-Budget Independent Film Producing, Film Directing: Shot by Shot - 25th Anniversary Edition: Visualizing from Concept to Screen, Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, And Bucks: An Interpretive History Of Blacks In American Films, Alright, Alright, Alright: The Oral History of Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused, The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood, Chasing the Light: Writing, Directing, and Surviving Platoon, Midnight Express, Scarface, Salvador, and the Movie Game, Crash (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray], "Hollywood didn't want this book to be written, but I'm happy Charles Fleming wrote it. Take two things that go well together. Hard to put down, nonstop excitement! Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2018, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 17, 2020. (Underworld) A soldier restarts time whenever he dies. Using the life and career of producer Don Simpson as a point of departure, High Concept takes readers on a riveting journey inside the Hollywood of the 1980s and 1990s. I love a protagonist who feels like a co-conspirator. Fleming, who has written extensively on Hollywood for Variety, Newsweek, and Entertainment ... Read full review No-one else has this take on this idea. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. ... biography of Don Simpson can be hilarious and a joy to read at times, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 12, 2016. Your interest will elevate the story. Consider these gems: Romeo and Juliet as vampire and werewolf. THE THREE NINJA PIGS by Corey Rosen Schwartz You may have heard the moviespeak term “high-concept premise” (note how it differentiates story concept from story premise). Don Simpson would have liked it. This is a book worthy of being made into a Blockbuster movie. Read things you wouldn’t normally read. In particular, he shows how high concept films became fully integrated with their marketing, so that a single phrase ("Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water . The premise or logline is the core of High Concept. Sipping Chardonnay or Perrier, Armani-clad in charcoal and black, were Michael Eisner and Michael S. Ovitz. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Welcome to the insane world of Don Simpson. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. The value of a high-concept idea is how a simple premise ripples through the wider story. High level of entertainment value: Defining “entertainment value” is like trying to define pornography; … Some YA … High concept addresses how these economic and institutional changes—including the conglomeration of the film industry and the rise of television, new marketing methods, and changing distribution strategies—have extended and modified some significant traits of the classical model. To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. The longer it is, the less likely it is that the producer will finish reading it. His account is accurate and he is not afraid to tell tough truths. Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Something went wrong. Essentially, a high-concept book sells itself. University of Texas Press, Jul 22, 2010 - Performing Arts - 249 pages. In the age of clickbait, high-concept fiction is ideally placed to fight for readers. Contact, Built by us using Studiopress Wordpress Themes. Ovitz had been Hollywood's most powerful agent before joining Eisner at Disney, but would soon be evicted from the Magic Kingdom, leaving with a golden parachute valued at more than $100 million. You know that feeling when you hear a riddle and then hear the answer? Vote. Expose yourself to new ideas all the time. .") Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 19, 2020. Don Simpson was brilliant, creative, disgusting & paranoid all before lunch time. Sarcastic or endearingly self-deprecating humor to the front of the line. Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free. Often high concept books are explained using familiar books, TV shows, or movies (often called “comp titles”). Really a perfect read for anyone who is interested in the behind the scenes of Hollywood. Read 3 608 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. This is a great book for anyone who has a keen interest in how Hollywood works and how films get made. Immediate relief. Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting. Eisner ran Disney and was at that moment concocting an $18-billion scheme to merge it with CapCities/ABC. MARS NEEDS MOMS by Berkley Breathed Boy who is tired of his mom making him eat veggies and take out the trash (everyday) meets mom-napping aliens from Mars (extreme). Hang out with seven-year-olds. This is why high-concept books make such good films when adapted. Think … Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. But if the feedback you consistently get on your work is that it is “quiet” or that the agent just didn’t fall in love, it’s possible that a high concept is the thing you need to pull ahead of the pack. ", it and Run was to Hollywood financial impropriety, and what, Charles Fleming has reported exclusively on the business of Hollywood for more than ten years--as a staff writer for the, It was Monday night at Morton's, and everyone was there. Look deeper. Not every story is high concept, and that’s okay. “Why is the sky blue?” Why might the sky be blue if we didn’t have a real answer for that question? High concept is this: When the EVERYDAY meets the EXTREME. Good grounding material! Because high-concept ideas are known to sell better, faster and for more money than ideas that are not considered high concept. The industry wants the next big thing, and high-concept … Everyday low … But if you haven’t wrestled with it, your brain hasn’t gotten any exercise. Work with a concept that fascinates you. Brings you back to the last two decades of the 20th century of Hollywood. Can a high concept book be sold to a publisher in the first draft? If you like gritty showbiz stories this is for you. 3) High-concept YA contemporary or contemporary-with-a-twist, especially if it comes with an irreverent, self-referentially funny voice. In hindsight it is has lost it’s shock factor. That story is a romance. High-concept fiction is unique, specific, and personal. Use it as a springboard either by (a) imagining someone else, someone. Listen to the questions they ask and imagine alternative answers. A High Concept work is one that can be explained with a short, to-the-point, and (it is to be hoped) intriguing description; one that can sell on its own merits. Posted by just now. Change one of them. Can a high concept book be sold to a publisher in the first draft? On the other hand, a literary novel or a coming-of-age story isn’t necessarily about a single concept. But High Concept had a fantastic plot and a very satisfying romance to go along with it. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Your email address will not be published. Film facts joined with marketing concepts make this one of the best books out there on American film marketing. My comprehensive definition of High Concept is comprised of five requirements, each of which is mandatory. You may still be able to describe the story in a sentence, but it doesn’t offer the instant understanding of a high-concept pitch. You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition. High Concept. Don Simpson's life and lifestyle is a fabulous expose of the power of drugs and the ability, for those to whom they are accessible, to destroy their lives. The Naturals book. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Here are a few picture books that support my definition. High concept = high impact = high risk For a book to be high concept, it isn’t enough to make a simple swap (what if Alice in Wonderland had been a boy… Same thing when you try to find a unique idea by looking at everybody else’s ideas. Please try again. A high concept document should be two to four pages long and should take no more than 10 minutes to read. 1 Review. High-concept ideas are basically known as the “holy grail” of the book and movie business. : Justin Wyatt. Go new places. Hollywood at it's best with every excess played to the maximum from this man, the money he earned was absolutely obscene , it is a wonder he lasted till he did. Use it as a springboard either by ( a ) imagining someone else someone... The book and movie business TV shows, or computer - no Kindle device required because high-concept ideas known! Order of importance a springboard either by ( a ) imagining someone,. Try to find a unique idea by looking at everybody else ’ s a book worthy of being into. From it recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to in..., look here to find an easy way to navigate back to front. Book will get attention, before anyone sees even one word of your writing like how a. 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