Eight Steps for Better Log Lines

by Ken Aguado

A quick guide to writing better log lines for film and television.

In the film and TV business, log lines are everywhere: cover letters, script coverage, cocktail parties, television guides, film festival catalogs, and so on. Usually running 30–50 words (often 2 or 3 sentences), it is the shortest answer to the ubiquitous question, “So, what’s it about?” It’s also the shortest version of a pitch in Hollywood. But for something so brief, it can be amazingly difficult to craft a good one. In our book The Hollywood Pitching Bible, screenwriter Doug Eboch and I spend almost 20 pages explaining how to craft a good log line, which is a good indication how complex the task can be, especially for a beginner. In the book we also give many examples of log lines. So if you’re a beginner, read our book. If you’re more advanced but are still struggling, this article is for you.

One caveat: Don’t confuse “log line” with “high concept.” Many people do. Not all log lines are high concept. Most aren’t. High concept is not the topic of this article. I’ll save that topic for another day.

Okay, two caveats: Some people use the term “one-liner” interchangeably with “log line,” but that’s misleading — it doesn’t have to be just one sentence. One-liner is often related to the idea of high concept, and sometimes you can boil down a log line down to just one sentence. Good for you. But typically this is a pyrrhic victory that comes at the cost of clarity. So stop bragging and keep reading.

What, another caveat? You’re joking. Do not confuse “log line” with “tag line.” A tag line is a short slogan associated with a product or ad campaign. In Hollywood, you will see tag lines on movie posters. With that (final) caveat, let me proceed by quoting the tag line from the 1986 remake of “The Fly.” “Be afraid. Be very afraid.”

Just kidding, don’t be afraid. Be confident. You can do this stuff.

While there are often shorter, more “poetic” log lines used for different purposes and situations, the most complete versions of a log lines will usually contain all or most of the following 8 elements:

Title: If you have a good title, use it. It’s not required, but a title can be descriptive or amplify your idea. (“Gravity,” “The Avengers,” and “Two Broke Girls” are good, descriptive titles.) A good title also has the advantage of being memorable. Memorable is good. Oblique titles are fine, but less ideal if the goal is maximum clarity. By the way, TV series usually avoid oblique titles. That’s not a coincidence. TV execs know the value of a title that means what it says and that can be grasped with ease. If your film or TV project is completed, then of course you’ll mention the title. Lastly, if your title is based on something well-known (like “Santa Claus” or “Harry Potter”), always mention the title.

Rating: If you’re pitching a film that’s finished and rated by the MPAA, then give that rating. If not, then stating the intended MPAA rating in a film pitch can be a good way to convey a lot of information with only a few letters, often related to tone. (Of course, this assumes you have a clue how these ratings are used. For example, if your log line describes an “R-rated Pixar-type film,” you don’t.) In other words, you should understand why “The Avengers” was rated PG-13, and not PG or R. Television log lines don’t use MPAA ratings, but depending on the situation you might reference phrases like “prime time,” “premium cable,” “adult drama,” “adult comedy” (etc) as a way to convey tone. Of course, if you are pitching your log line to a TV/cable networks or streaming service, they know what business they are in, so you can often omit this info. Never are the TV Parental Ratings used anywhere except on-screen during broadcasts or the cable chanel guide. And most of them sound like some newly discovered gender identity: LGBTV-MA for its DLSV, anyone? Hey, don’t judge me.

Genre: This is the most basic way your story will be categorized in the marketplace, so always include it in your log line and get it right. More importantly, it is very possible the genre will not be clear, based on the rest of your log line, so stating it up front is crucial. Is it a comedy? A drama? A thriller? A docu-soap? A sit-com? Be aware that the list of genres used in Hollywood is much more than just “drama” or “comedy.” (We added a long list of gernes to the 4th edtion of The Hollywood Pitching Bible for this reason.) With film log lines you can connect the genre to the MPAA rating, making things even more clear: An R-rated comedy, like “Bridesmaids.” Or a PG-13 sci-fi action film, like “The Avengers,” for example. Or in TV: A prime time, family series, or a 10pm police procedural. Make sure you understand why “Disturbia” is a teen thriller, and not a teen horror film. Or, that there’s a big difference between a PG-13 and R-rated horror film. Lastly, try to limit your log line to one or two genres at most. An “action, horror, thriller, drama” is just silly. But there are a few films that might warrant the use of 3 genres, a sci-fi action/thriller like “Inception,” perhaps. Stay away from using “comedy/drama” (pick one) or (ugh) “dramady.” Everyone knows comedies can be dramatic, and vice versa.

Establish an unfamiliar setting: This is the first part of a log line that resembles the kind of prose we think of in a log line. Always start your log line by describing/establishing an unfamiliar setting. Is it set in Middle-earth or outer space? Many period settings will also need to be established unless it will be obvious, based on your story. Any setting that won’t be obvious should be established right up front to give your reader/listener context for what is to come. Think about what your reader/listener must know to understand your idea. Just saying something like “set in Middle-earth” is meaningless, unless you are doing a log line for “The Hobbit.” Instead, you might need to say, “set in a medieval fantasy world…” If your story has an obvious or familiar setting, there’s no need to establish it at the start of your log line, or the setting can be established in the body of the log line. If the story has many setting, pick the one that is crucial to the drama. In “The Avengers,” much of the action is set in New York City, but it’s probably better to mention “the Earth” since that’s what’s really at stake, right?

Identify your protagonist: Who is the story about? It might be one person or several people. Try to identify the lead(s) as early as possible in your log line. After all, your story is about something that happens to them, so establishing who they are up front is very important. If there’s just one lead, it is usually best to describe them by their role or job: a superhero, a cop, a mother, etc. Using a proper noun is usually extraneous unless the name will be instantly recognizable to your listener/reader. If there are several leads, it’s usually best to describe them as a group, and not individually: “a married couple,” “two teenage buddies,” or “a team of superheroes,” etc. In addition, find a great adjective that helps zero in on their essential nature. For example, “a diverse group of superheroes.” Their essential nature (as established by the adjective) is the quality that is dramatically relevant to the log line. So “a disgraced cop redeems herself by bringing down a drug lord” is better than “a divorced cop brings down a drug lord,” unless followed by “but comedy happens then when they fall in love!” (Ugh, you can almost hear, “Coming this fall on NBC,” after that. Am I right?) The adjective that describes the protagonist and the drama of the log line need to be in sync. This is very important. Again, stay away from proper nouns in log lines, unless the name will be instantly recognized by your listener.

Identify your protagonist’s goal: I like to joke that all movies and TV shows are really about people we like not getting the things they want. So what the protagonist wants should be clearly established in a good log line. Often this can’t be articulated until you have the answer to the next section — identifying the antagonist. So the Avengers are just unemployed until an alien invasion requires them to defend the Earth. Often characters have more than one goal, so choose the goal that is active and that drives the primary plot of the story. In “War of the Worlds,” Tom Cruise wants to be a better father, but it would be bizarre if you only described the story that way and didn’t sync that trait with his trying to save his family from a global alien invasion. Also, try to make the goal external. Goals like “must learn” or “discovers” imply something internal and transient unless followed by an action. “Struggles with his inner demons” just sounds like a unshaven guy nursing a drink at a bar for 2 hours. Boring. Remember, the protagonist’s goal must drive the drama for most of the story. Make it sound like something visual that’s worth seeing.

Identify the antagonist: Who or what is stopping the protagonist from getting what they want? Sometimes it’s a person (a villain), sometimes it’s not. Who is the villain in “Gravity”? It’s the harsh environment of space, right? In “The Avengers” the antagonist is Loki but because proper nouns don’t add much to a log line, it would be better to call it “alien invasion” because that is really what Loki is planning. In some dramas and many TV series (which are ongoing), the antagonist will often be more of a personal challenge. Who is the antagonist in “Breaking Bad”? While individual episodes or season arcs might have different villains, overall the series protagonist and antagonist are both Walter White. Or put another way, White’s goal of providing for his family by cooking meth collides with his obsessive descent into criminal ambition. Many stories will have multiple antagonists. In “Jurassic World” it’s a hybrid dinosaur run amok and also the humans who enabled it. So pick the antagonist that is the most specific and exciting, and make it clear in your log line. In the case of “Jurassic World,” I’d suggest picking the one that includes Indominus Rex. But there’s surely a way to include the human villains, as well.

Set up the story: From one perspective, setting up the story is the real purpose of a log line. I call it the “set up” of the story because that’s all a log line really does. It doesn’t tell you what happens or how the story will end. It merely tees off (or teases) what is happening for most of the story in a way that’s supposed to sound intriguing. This is the drama of the story.

If you’ve established your protagonist’s goal, sometimes you’ve already set up the story. But not always. You want to make clear what the drama will be for most of the journey. So, in “The Avengers,” is the movie just a series of epic battles? Or is it really about the diverse group trying to work together as a team to save the Earth? Another example: The goal of the protagonists in “Gravity” is to survive a disaster in space, but that doesn’t really express what the heroine will be doing for most of the film to accomplish this goal. To make that clear, you might add, “she devises a risky plan to use abandoned space stations to return to Earth.” Do you see how this conveys what will be happening for most of the film, but really gives nothing away? That’s what you want.

If you’re doing a log line for a TV series, you might need to run a little longer in this step, making the total length of your log line perhaps 70 to 75 words. After all, you’re describing a story with enough complexity to run for season after season; 60+ hours, perhaps. You need to make sure you capture the ongoing and more complex dramatic “tapestry” of the series.

Now let’s put together the all little examples I gave you above for “The Avengers” to see how they fit together as a coherent log line:

“The Avengers” is a PG-13 sci-fi action film. A diverse group of superheroes is assembled by a secret government organization to defend Earth from an inter-dimensional alien invasion. But the biggest challenge will be getting the superheroes to work together as a team.

Not bad, right? All that in just 43 words. This is an example of what I like to call a “stand alone” log line — the most complete version of a log line. But there are scenarios where a longer or shorter version can be used. Let me know what you think.

For a deeper look at this topic and for more log line examples, pick up a copy of The Hollywood Pitching Bible. Also, visit Doug’s great blog for screenwriters at letsschmooze.blogspot.com. It’s a wealth of information.

Ken Aguado is an Emmy-winning producer, screnwriter and author. His most recent films are the PBS documentary “Miracle on 42nd Street” and the theatical film “An Interview with God,” which he wrote. He is also the author of Based On: A Non-Lawyer’s Guide to Acquiring Film and Television Rights from Everywhere. You can follow Ken on Twitter @kaguado.