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Bradley Cooper on Concept. Really. Sort of.

Earlier this week Bradley Cooper appeared on The Late Late Show with James Cordon. Among other things (and other guests), a topic of discussion was a new TV series premiering next month called Limitless, which Cooper produces and, we are promised, will feature him as an occasional guest star (he’s not the lead/star of program, however).

 

This is interesting – and germane to the above headline – because the series is based on a 2011 movie of the same name, in which Cooper was the star.  The concept was this: what if there was a pill that allowed you to access the full power and potential of your brain, but there were side effects and unpredictable consequences from suddenly becoming the smartest and most competent person on the planet, although burdened with the suddenly enhanced foibles and obsessions of that same brain.

Hijinks would certainly ensue.

Notice there is no story yet, no characters, either.  Just an idea, a notion, a proposition with serious dramatic potential.

Cordon asked Cooper how this happened, and more surprisingly, how Cooper came to be associated with the TV show, when this just doesn’t happen in Hollywood (movie stars producing and appearing in TV spin-offs of their films).  His answer says volumes about the power of a compelling concept, and in doing so becomes a sparkling example of one of the primary criteria and benchmarks for just that.

You can see and hear that answer here, via Youtube.

In essence, without using the word “concept,” he said this: when a core idea is this deep and strong and compelling, it can be spun into any number of stories… because it is not the story itself, but rather, the conceptual framework or notion for any number of stories.

This, folks, is the essence of concept.

That 2011 movie was just one story – one premise – arising from that singular killer concept.  The first season of the TV series will bring us 13 more unique premises, each different than the last (26 if it lasts the whole season), all derived from the very same concept.

That’s what we’re trying to achieve when we create a concept for a novel.  

Not necessarily the achievement of a TV series (though I think we can all agree, that would be so cool), but rather, an idea so conceptually strong that is compels and draws interest even before you throw in a premise that introduces a specific hero with a specific quest.

Concept is the driving dramatic framework of every dramatic  television series, as well as the likely explanation behind a new bestselling novel (Hunger Games, anyone?).  Castle, Scorpion, Veep, Ray Donovan, Orphan Black… The Help, Girl on a Train, Broken, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, The Martian, All the Light We Cannot See, Twilight… name your favorite show or novel, this same phenomena is happening: one concept, birthing any number of specific story premises.

In the case of novels, though, the author runs with just one premise (until the book becomes a series, in which case they apply a new premise to the same concept)… the very best premise they can come up with that is driven by the core concept driving it.

This is one of several key criteria for either concept or premise.

Click HERE to listen in to a FREE 90-minute TeleClass on this subject…

… with me and story coach  Jennifer Blanchard.

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Important Story Coaching Notice — as of today I will be putting a temporary hold on new/incoming story coaching projects, as I head off to France for three weeks with my lovely wife (Laura) to celebrate our 20th anniversary.  I will return to work on October 26.

If you were/are on the cusp of submitting a new project for coaching, you have two options:

  • You can go ahead and use the Paypal links to opt-in to the coaching level of your choice, and you’ll be first in line to receive your program materials (including the appropriate Questionnaire) upon my return (a few days prior to October 26th).
  • Or, you can wait until then and contact me at that time, or when you’re ready

If you’re ready now and can contact me this week, I’ll send you the Questionnaire so you can begin working, and we can catch up on the paperwork (a polite term for fee) when I get back.

Thanks for your patience, I look forward to working with you when I return, newly-hatched French accent and all.

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Read my new post on The Kill Zone, put up this morning, “On Fishing For A Story.” 

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