Not Fitting Into the Genre Box

When I submitted my Nicholl semi script to the competition, I had to identify the genre of the script, so that if it made the cut, and qualified for inclusion on the list being sent out to agents/managers/producers, the genre would be on it. Happily, it all happened.

The problem is that, as I've written in the past, the script is a mutt.

It's a character drama. It's a road movie. It's a hunting-a-serial-killer tale. It's not really a thriller, though there are some thriller moments. It's sort of action, but there aren't really any big action setpieces. It's sort of a mystery, but not really. There's a love story in the middle of it.

Most crucially, the main character, an 18-year-old girl, has a psychic power.

It works for what it is... but what is it?

So I don't even remember what my process was, but for some unknown reason, when I submitted the script, what I wrote in the genre line was "Fantasy Action Romance".

If nothing else, it sort of captures the fact that it's different.

But it doesn't really capture the script. And the first call I got about it was from a guy who was picturing The Princess Bride.

It's nowhere near The Princess Bride.

The tricky thing is that genre words have connotations. When you think Fantasy, it's sort of otherworldly. Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Willow, The Princess Bride.

My script takes place in present-day America. There are no creatures or little people. It's really not fantasy. Wrong connotation.

Science Fiction denotes technology, space, often the future. Star Wars, Star Trek, Minority Report, I Robot.

Supernatural denotes ghosts, demons, stuff like that.

There's not really a genre word that adequately describes a tale about a troubled girl with psychic powers falling in love while hunting a serial killer.

I could see that Fantasy was a mistake, so I actually e-mailed the Nicholl, and had them scrub the word off the list.

Of course, that leaves me with Action/Romance. Which is bound to leave people picturing something like Romancing the Stone, or Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Not really what my script is either.

I suppose there are worse problems to have, and part of me is happy that I've written something that tried to be complex, that tries to be a lot of things.

The pessimist in me says that uncategoriable scripts tend to be dismissed.

I guess we'll see. But at least my new script is firmly a supernatural thriller.