Hollywood term to describe a literary property or idea that can be pitched in six words or less: Under Siege was sold as " Die Hard on a boat" ("in a tunnel": Daylight; "on a bus": Speed). AEI-Zide Films sold Meg to Disney as "Jurassic Shark." One of the jokes going around Hollywood, reported by Thomas Taylor in ScreenWriter Quarterly, tells of a young agent saying to his new client, "Why don't you go write ' Die Hard in a building!'" A story that takes a paragraph to pitch is not high concept.
refers to an idea that sounds very commercially appealing and in many cases unique and original. Usually associated with big blockbuster films but can reference any idea or script that would appear to have great potential.
A term used to designate the studio marketing value of a piece of material. High concept scripts and stories usually possess a "hook" that allows the studio to focus an ad campaign around. These hooks range from a one-line plot description with broad audience appeal (the true 'high concept'), to the twisting or remaking of a classic story with high name recognition, such as "Robin Hood" or anything Shakespeare. In either case, the high concept should be simple and thrilling enough to evoke audince interest through the viewing of a simple one-sheet.
A unique premise easily understood in one sentence e.g. "Jaws in space" (Alien).
Phrase connected with scripts which have a premise or storyline which is easily reduced to a simple and appealing one line.
a premise or storyline that is easily described in one sentence and seems to be especially unique and even commercial.
A brief statement of a movie's basic idea that is felt to have tremendous public appeal.
High concept, in movies, is a term typically used to refer to the style and mode of production developed by Hollywood studios in the late 1970s. The term has also been claimed to originate from the marketing and management work of media executives Barry Diller and Michael Eisner at the ABC network in the 1960s. Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) and George Lucas' Star Wars (1977) are commonly referred to as the first high concept movies.