Lie #1: Movies are only entertainment. So my screenplay doesn’t need to be about anything important.

About 100 years ago, some guys got together to figure out how to package and sell this wonderful new invention called film.

This was not only a revolution in technology, but also a revolution in business and marketing.

In the decades that followed, the film industry boomed. 

These films made more and more money and captured the hearts and minds of billions of people.

Fast forward to today and we have existed in this world of commercialized storytelling for so long that we don’t even remember a time where a story didn’t come with a Coke and a bucket of popcorn.

We’ve seen so many stories in so many genres that it all has become a huge, meaningless blur.

And somewhere along the line of analzying consumer markets and looking at viewer data, we forgot the true purpose of a story.

Yes, film is an industry. And if you want to do it professionally, you will need to understand the business dynamics of that industry.

But stories have existed long before movies were ever invented.

Long ago, humans sat around campfires and told each other tales of adventure, nature, and the gods.

Truth #1: Stories are deeply meaningful because they give us examples of human beings experiencing hardship, making difficult choices, and following what they believe.

We can package a movie up with ads, soda, and popcorn, but that doesn’t change what a story is at its core.

How crazy it is that every single religion is built on specific important stories?

And how crazy is it that your view of yourself is based on the stories you tell yourself about your life and your experiences?

Stories help us understand and organize our lives so we can make the right decisions in the present moment. 

That’s the power of a story. Not just to waste two hours of your life in some dark room.

Even when you write your contained thriller solely to please a Hollywood executive, the deep purpose of a story doesn’t change.

And you can’t escape it. 

I’ve read enough amateur screenplays to know that your worldview always finds a way into what you write. 

Because that is what a story is. An expression of your worldview.

So when you look at the screenplay you’re writing now, there's a meaningful theme already developing in the story whether or not you are aware of it.

And if you can see that meaningful theme and harness it, it will make your story emotionally powerful just like the stories that inspired you as a kid.

Click the button to see the next lie.