Dave Vaughan: Screenwriter in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Dave, thanks for inviting me into your network. Please check out Santa Lorena Productions’ Tomorrow Waits For No One and Arcturo. Facebook | Medium | Twitter: TWFNO_series | Twitter: Arcturo_series

Hi Dave, nice meeting you in class the other night. Gordy did a great class on Saturday, had a good turnout. We're looking into starting a writers group with Susan's help. Get in touch with me when you can, I'll give you the details.

You don’t have to read all this. I just need to get this off my chest, because it’s driving me crazy. Either there’s a handful of people targeting me who don’t understand what loglines are, or I’m missing something right in front of my face, and I don’t understand what loglines are. Let me explain. Now, from what I’ve read and been told, a logline needs three key points. 1) A basic understanding of the protagonist, 2) the protagonist’s goal and 3) what’s standing in his or her way. Is this wrong somehow? Because one of my loglines has gotten criticism for not containing things that go much deeper than the aforementioned three points. Here’s a logline for one of my scripts, called Daytime Noise: “When a hard-partying rockstar is kicked out of his band due to a drug addiction, he starts giving guitar lessons to fund his habit.” Now, in my opinion, this fulfils the three points of what’s necessary for a logline. We get an idea of the who the protagonist is. We know what his goal is: to feed his addiction. And what’s standing in his way is also his drug addiction. Anyone with a basic understanding of addiction can tell you that it’s both your highest priority and your biggest obstacle in anything you try to do. But apparently neither the goal nor the obstacle is in that logline, according to the fine people at logline.it, where I posted my logline. They also posted criticism such as “This is a situation not a story” or “This is not a plot. A plot is when critical circumstances change, forcing the character to change in some way.” Where to I even begin on these criticisms? I mean, god damn. Again, maybe I’m missing something that’s staring my right in the face. But I figured that the logline says enough about how the character would be forced to change. I mean, it’s a rich rockstar becoming a guitar teacher. Why do I have to spell out the way a person would need to change from that alteration in lifestyle? Surely the change in circumstance could tell you how a person needs to adapt? Let’s look at the Die Hard logline: “A New York City cop travels to Los Angeles to reconcile with his wife but learns she’s been taken hostage by terrorist in a skyscraper — and he struggles alone to save her.” The logline implies how the protagonist must adapt and change to overcome the situation. He has to go from average cop to hero. But apparently, people can’t understand the change of rockstar to guitar teacher, and how a person would have to adapt to that change in lifestyle? And that Die Hard logline is a “situation”. A building is taken hostage by terrorists, and the cop has to save the day. Just like my story is a situation. The rockstar is fired, and has to give guitar lessons to get drug addiction. Situations are stories to any storyteller worth their salt. I dunno. I figured that the logline was the hook. A little taste of what the story is and what it could be so that people would want to read/watch it. I don't want to give away the progression of the story and the character development of my protagonist. But according to the criticism I've received, I have to explain the protagonist, his goal, the inciting incident, the obstacles in his or her way, and the character development that must occur in order for the protagonist to reach his or her goal. I’ll say it for the third time: I could be missing something huge and fundamental here. Is my idea of what a logline should be completely missing the point? I feel like the goal and obstacle in my logline are made clear to anyone who’s able to put two and two together in relation to drug addiction. But do I actually have to spell it out? Do I have to spell it out in a medium that relies so heavily on subtext?

I think the drop in theater attendance it a three fold hit. First movie tickets have sky rocketed! Hit #1 It has become a major event to take your family to the theater to see a flick by the time you by tickets for a family of 5 and drinks and popcorn it's close to $100!! With the economy as bad as it is not as many people can do that on a regular basis. Hit #2 with Netflix, On Demand and Hulu and other services out there you can have great movies in your home any night of the week at a very reasonable price. So most people are choosing to wait till they can see it at home. Hit #3 the film industry has largely forgotten it is about the STORY not the effects! Which is why the second set of the Star Wars trilogy was such a disappointment. Yes the effects are cool BUT to hold the audience we have to have characters we care about and can connect too! Which is why films like the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, The Twilight series and the Hunger Games still do well. You already have people who are invested in those characters. And because they were books first the story is there. The film makers then just have to stay true to the story and not piss of the loyal base and they are golden. That is sadly why the Chronicles of Narnia petered out they added things to the story and people quit going! I loved them and wished the audiences had kept going I wanted to see all of them made! That being said I am more likely to shell out the bucks for a big epic adventure that will make a difference on the large screen then a romantic comedy or something like it that will not lose anything when scaled down to my TV. As far as are there still movie stars that draw me Yes! There are some actors I just love and I will search Netflix under there name and see if they have anything new out that I haven't seen. But to be honest I go to the theater for 2 reasons now, like I said the epic adventure IF the story is compelling and I want see it badly enough. OR if the film supports values I believe in and I want to support the film makers. Soul surfer, Fireproof, Courageous, God's not dead, Heavens for real. Are all films I have spent the money to see in the theater for that reason, and of those only Soul surfer had Movies Stars in them. In the golden age of film movie tickets were a dime a piece and even during the depression people could go. They would pay there dime and to sit in the theater and be swept away by story's that brought them hope and let them forget they're troubles for a while. Modern film makers could learn from this and so could theaters high prices don't bring in income when the seats are largely empty!

Hey Dave, I'm the CTO and lead developer at Stage 32. Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback about the site. I'd love to hear your comments! To get started with Stage 32 and understand all the features and resources the site has to offer, please check out the Getting Started section and our FAQ.

Hi Dave. I'm RB, Founder and CEO of Stage 32. As an actor, screenwriter, and filmmaker, I know first-hand the challenges all creatives face finding work and attracting attention to their projects. That's why we created Stage 32. Since our launch in September of 2011, the community has grown to 250,000+ members strong representing every country on the planet making Stage 32 the social network uniquely populated with the most creative people on Earth. This is a network for you, built by you. Like most things in life, the more you participate, the greater the rewards. We ask all new members pay it forward and invite at least 5 fellow creatives and to spread the word of Stage 32 through other social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. You can also invite fellow creatives through the site by using the "Send Stage 32 Invites..." button on the upper right side of your profile. The more creatives, the stronger the network. The stronger the network, the more opportunities. Thanks for joining the movement and for being a part of this most talented and inspiring community. PS - Please take a moment to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @Stage32online.