The Promise of the Premise

My latest film, AMERICAN UNDERDOG, is a sports biopic that tells the true story of Kurt Warner, a former college quarterback with big dreams who goes from being a supermarket stockboy to MVP of the Superbowl.  At its core, it's a story about faith, family and football.   

Audiences make a choice to see your movie or watch your show based on THE PROMISE OF THE PREMISE - their belief in what your story will potentially deliver.   

Making good on that promise is one of the single most important things you can accomplish as a storyteller. 

To do so you have to get really clear about what you are promising.  You can see proof of this in any movie trailer.  Sometimes you will watch one and go: WTF?  I have no idea what that movie is about.  The reason for this has little to do with the trailer or even the editor of the trailer.  

It's because the storytellers didn't do their jobs.  They didn't get clear on the story they were promising, so their delivery is doomed.  

Audiences have a sixth sense about this.  They can smell it, even if they can't describe why they are put off by a particular piece of content.

Bu when audiences understand your promise, they can complete the unspoken agreement that exists between every audience and storyteller.  They can say yes.  They can vote with their feet.  They can walk into a movie theater or turn on their devices.   

In AMERICAN UNDERDOG we promised an against-all-odds story about faith, family and football.  Now, if that isn't your thing, you're going to stay away.  You're not going to buy a ticket or tune in.  But if the promise appeals to you, and you show up, you do so with an expectation of delivery.  

There is a whole marketing business that vets this.  It's called CinemaScore, and it is the rating real audience members give to pollsters on their way out of a movie theater.  When you receive an A or the rarer A+, you can be sure that movie delivered on the promise of the premise. Your audience went away happy and fulfilled, which translates into solid word of mouth.  Anything in the B range means your mission was only partially a success.  Below that, well, you can see where this is heading.  Movies that get C's will perform woefully at the box office.  

We got an A+ CinemaScore for AMERICAN UNDERDOG.  I say that not to brag (ok, maybe a little!) but to illustrate my point.  The score doesn't mean the film is going to win awards or Oscars.  Or that critics are going to embrace it.  What it does mean is that the creators honored the age-old contract between storytellers and their audience.  They promised a certain story and they kept their promise.  Good things tend to follow from that.   

To increase the chances of your own storytelling success, deliver on the PROMISE OF THE PREMISE.