Let me start by saying that the average logline submission this time around was better than ever before. Usually, every other e-mail I get, I’m rolling my eyes at how poor the logline is. But here, that didn’t happen. So all of you should be patting yourselves on the back for a job well done.
The big mystery for this competition is going to be: Did any AI loglines slip in? Cause I know plenty of writers tried to trick me to prove that AI loglines are better than human ones. For the most part, I think I spotted all of them. But maybe one or two got through. We’ll see.
I believe I responded to everybody who entered, telling them which of their ideas was my favorite. If I said to you, “Probably” or “prob” in picking your best one? That means it was the best of the five but probably not good enough to write. If you want more detailed thoughts on a logline, you can always order a logline consultation. They’re $25. E-mail me at carsonreeves1@gmail.com.
If you haven’t been a part of a showdown before, the rules are simple. Read all the loglines and vote for your favorite one in the comments. You have until Sunday, February 2nd, at 11:59pm Pacific Time to cast your vote. For the winner, I will dedicate a post on Monday or Tuesday to fleshing out the winning story and where I think you should take it.
One final thing. There were so many comedy loglines that, if I allowed all of them, this would be an 80% comedy contest. And the scripts that come from the comedy loglines here are usually bad. So, I’ll include a few comedies today. Then, next Friday, I’m going to do an all-comedy logline showdown – just because some of these loglines are really good and I want to give the writers some deserved attention.
Okay, are we ready?
Here are the logline entries…
Title: U-666
Genre: Supernatural Horror/WW2/Submarine
Logline: In the final days of World War II, a German U-boat tasked with smuggling high-ranking officials and occult artifacts to Argentina faces chaos when the captain’s son is possessed by a malevolent entity unleashed from the cursed cargo. As the possessed officer wreaks havoc, killing crew and sabotaging the submarine, the captain must confront supernatural terror and Allied forces closing in to exorcise his son, save his soul, and prevent the U-boat from becoming a tomb for all onboard.
Title: The Offering
Genre: Horror Thriller
Logline: A casual boat trip turns into a fight for survival when a young couple learns that their host is a servant to a pair of sirens and is offering them up as a feast. It’s Dead Calm meets Jaws.
Title: The Shot Heard Around in Time
Genre: Comedy
Logline: After traveling back in time and accidentally killing George Washington in a drunken duel, a bookish historian has to assume the identity of America’s first president and win the Revolutionary War.
Title: Nether Cop
Genre: Action, Horror
Logline: A clandestine division of the government, Dark Ops, whose agents employ a device that kills them for three minutes at a time, allowing them to battle demons on common ground.
Title: LAND OF ENCHANTMENT
Genre: Thriller
Logline: After arresting an illegal immigrant, a border patrol guard must team up with him when a Mexican drug cartel lays siege to the border station intent on killing him.
Title: In the Crease
Genre: Sports/True Story
Logline: In an urban community torn apart by drugs and violence, a disgraced ex-Ivy League lacrosse player seeks redemption by coaching an inner city lacrosse team.
Title: 221C BAKER STREET
Genre: Action-Comedy
Logline: When Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go missing, the city’s only other detective duo finally get their shot at glory just as a criminal mastermind launches a plan to bring London to its knees.
Title: I’m With Cupid
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Logline: When an unlucky in love schlub finds out that his roommate used be Cupid, he coaxes him out of retirement to help him win the woman of his dreams… Only for a rusty Cupid to shoot himself in the foot and fall for the same girl.
Title: PARASAIL
Genre: Thriller
Logline: After the speedboat operator pulling their parasail apparently collapses and dies beneath them, a honeymooning couple find themselves speeding hundreds of miles out to sea, suspended 400 feet in the air, in a passage of water known as ’Shark Alley’. (FALL meets THE SHALLOWS).
Title: Burner Phone
Genre: Found footage/Thriller
Logline: When a teenage drug dealer fails to trash a burner phone after a deal gone
wrong got an undercover cop killed, he has only one hour to retrieve it and erase
an incriminating video before his boss cut all the loose ends (including him). Told
in real time from the POV of the phone screen.
Title: FORGIVE ME, FATHER
Genre: Thriller
Logline: A priest’s illegitimate son uses his father’s confessional to extort money from the wealthy congregation, but when he hears a confession that implicates a hitman in a string of high-profile murders, he attempts his most lucrative and dangerous extorsion yet.
Title: Seven Minutes in Kevin
Genre: Comedy
Logline: When a group of misfit high schoolers discover a closet that acts as a portal into the body of Kevin, their school’s popular golden boy, they must navigate his perfect life while trying to keep their secret—and their sanity—intact.
