Anything Goes : The Paradox Concept by Wael Magdi

The Paradox Concept

"A screenwriter trying to escape his reality, only to discover that his own life is just a scene in a script written by someone else."

Andrew Gardner

sounds a lot like Stranger Than Fiction

Wael Magdi

"Similar premise, but a much darker, gritty execution. It's a psychological struggle, not a fantasy."

Suzanne Bronson

Hey Wael, this is Suzanne from the Stage 32 team. I just wanted to let you know I moved your post from Acting to Screenwriting, as it fits much better there. Let me know if you have any questions, and all the best to you!

Michael David

Wow Wael! Concept is great! Great concept, very clean, marketable hook with strong meta appeal. Lots of potential for both psychological tension and high-concept set pieces.

Mike Boas

While I like the concept, as a logline it has some issues.

Right now it’s not a sentence because the verb tense for “trying” is wrong. Change it to “tries” and it’s grammatically correct.

Now it reads like this— the character is already attempting to escape his reality, when he is interrupted by the discovery that he is a character in a script. Is this correct? Or does he try to escape his reality BECAUSE he finds out he is in a script?

As usual with a logline, it’s good to know the goal (why does he want to escape), the obstacles in his way, and the stakes (what happens if he fails).

This premise can go in a lot of directions. Stranger than Fiction, Delirious, Dark City, and of course The Matrix all have characters in manufactured realities. I would emphasize the stakes because if it’s a nice dream world, one might not want to leave! This topic comes up in The Matrix, as one character decides he’d rather eat fake steak than live in the real world.

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