Logline Central – Violet and Daisy

Logline Central is an irregular segment that takes a deeper look at loglines of scripts or projects that have just been purchased, as listed on DoneDealPro.  

Right off the bat, this logline intrigued me. 

This week’s logline comes with a big ole WTF.

Title: Violet and Daisy

Logline: Described as a “Thelma and Louise” meets “Superbad” and “Pulp Fiction.”

Writer: Geoffrey Fletcher

More: Wendy Finerman will produce. Geoffrey Fletcher will also direct. Carey Mulligan and Saoirse Ronan will star. 

If you’re thinking about sending query letters and looking for logline models, do NOT use this one. Geoffrey Fletcher just won an Oscar for his adaptation of PRECIOUS. His logline could just have read, “I won an Oscar for Precious a month ago."

It’s one thing to compare a couple movies – in fact, that happens all the time. “Bill and Ted meets Jurassic Park“ gives you an idea of what you can expect (in this case, probably something about a couple stoners who somehow get zapped back to the time of dinosaurs; cue high jinx). In order for that to work, though, you A) usually still need an actual logline (where you give a brief description of WHO has to do WHAT and WHY) and B) should stick to two movies that people can logically piece together.

I can see how Superbad and Thelma and Louise can maybe go together. But throwing in Pulp Fiction raises too many questions for me to comfortably get behind this, if this is all the info provided. Mind you, I’m trying to think like an Acquisitions Exec here, and the titles just don’t mesh enough for me to think, “Yeah, I could see that; this sounds promising. I should read it.”

When you’re comparing your spec to other work out there (and by NO means do I imply you have to do this in your queries – I never did), stick to just two films. And in order for the example to be a successful one, choose two films that people can see the relationship between.

That said, I’m sure VIOLET AND DAISY is about something and not worth writing off just yet. However, don’t let that “logline” be the example you base yours off of when querying agents and production companies.