Screenwriter’s Almanac: The Comeback of the Original Idea

And Why It’s the Best News Writers Have Heard in Years

I had a busy weekend! I drove back down from Portland, OR to Los Angeles because I wanted to spend some extra time in the city that I love. With everything that has been presented in the news lately…please don’t trust the reports or what the president is saying. LA is not lawless. It isn’t being overrun. It’s actually rather peaceful…and so are most, if not all of the protests.

Anyway…that is not what I wanted to focus on today. I was unable to send out this Almanac post over the weekend because of my road trip and getting settled back in, but hopefully we have a “better late than never” scenario with our article today. Let’s get into it! I hope you all have a fabulous Monday.

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Every few months, an industry whisper becomes a trend. And if we’re lucky, that trend becomes a movement. We’re seeing this happen right now and honestly…I’m excited.

Last weekend, career coach Lee Jessup hosted a panel of reps and execs who, in the midst of all the chaos Hollywood’s been through lately, said something quite pptimistic: Original content is making a comeback.

She posted a short YouTube video recapping some of what she discussed while moderating the panel. Definitely check it out.

Think about it…we’re not talking sequels, or adaptations, or legacy IP. Original content!

And by “original”, I don’t mean weird-for-the-sake-of-weird and because I am an artiste! We’re talking personal, high-concept, emotionally resonant, thematically clear, and sometimes genre-bending stories that come straight from a screenwriter’s heart…and polished into something the rest of us can’t stop talking about.

These execs want to know what you’re personally obsessed with. They want to hear your voice. They want something they’ve never read before, but that still hits with familiarity and…uh yeah…box office gold (which is another great sign - the movie theatre experience is making a comeback too!)

In short, they want the you of it.

A Quick Tour Through Originals That Stuck

Let’s start in the 1990s, an era that is arguably the peak of studio risk-taking. One of the most bold and successful originals of that time? The Truman Show.

Peter Weir and Andrew Niccol didn’t just pitch a movie about a guy living inside a reality TV bubble. They explored surveillance, control, and human longing before we ever had an internet addiction. And they wrapped it in a mainstream package with Jim Carrey, no less. But what made it truly unforgettable was that Truman’s story was all of our story. We all wanted to break out of the mold and touch something real (and we still, even more, really). Weir and Niccol not only received the greenlight to make their movie. They got their greenlight to do whatever they wanted (relatively speaking). I’m hoping that kind of creative license can go well beyond just A24 (look at what they’ve released over the past decade).

Now let’s fast-forward to Arrival, one of my favorite movies of all time. This is a slightly more recent gem that dared to be about language, motherhood, and nonlinear grief disguised as a first-contact alien film. I mean…really? God, I loved it. Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Ted Chiang’s short story became something uniquely cinematic and seriously original in tone. It asked one of the hardest questions a parent, or a human, can ask: If you knew how much pain something would cause, would you still choose to love it? It had many other themes and messages, but nonetheless…I should probably write an entire Substack article just about Arrival, but I’ll save that for another day (swoon).

Finally, look The Menu - a sharp, subversive satire of elitism and entitlement that masquerades as a horror-thriller. Original, yes, darkly funny in its structure, but deeply personal underneath. The artistic frustration of the Chef wasn’t just a character type or flaw, it was a commentary on what happens when creators are pushed so far from purpose that perfection becomes meaningless. It’s a movie about why we make things, and what happens when the joy is drained out of that making.

Sound familiar? Listen…there is so much that can be said with your movie. You just need to understand that there is so much more lying under its surface. You need to mine for these deeper meanings.

What Makes a Story Truly Original?

Here’s the hard truth: there’s no such thing as a purely original idea. What matters is the voice and perspective telling it. What makes a script feel fresh, vital, and NEW is that it speaks to the specific obsessions, frustrations, fascinations, and heartbreaks of the writer who birthed it. It’s YOU that makes the story original. So, question: do you know yourself as well as you should?

These are all things that reps and execs are finally starting to remember again, and hopefully what they’ll fight to preserve. They will when they see the difference at the box office, that’s for sure.

Originality isn’t always visual weirdness or just plain experimental. Sometimes it’s brutal honesty. Sometimes it’s a tender metaphor. Sometimes it’s a horror story about fine dining.

But every time, it’s the artist saying:

Here’s what I believe. Here’s what I’ve seen. Here’s what matters to me.

The Message for Screenwriters

You don’t have to chase trends. You don’t have to force yourself into IP-shaped boxes. You don’t have to wait for permission to write something real.

Instead, get clear on what breaks your heart. Find the metaphor that captures it.

And then find the courage to write it…your way.

Originality is not dead. It’s just been buried under years of market fear and financial gatekeeping. But the tide is turning.

Your only job (other than to sit your butt in a chair and write) is to be ready with your best idea when it does. You have to dig deep, think on a metaphorical level (even if you’re writing the next Superbad), and give us all something to remember and learn.

—Max Timm & The Story Farm