How To Develop A Story World - Houston Howard

[@arjoels7437]

Houston is a pure genius. His book - 'You're Going to Need a Bigger Story' touches more on what he's mentioned in this video and so much more. I personally bought his book a while back and it is chalk-full of great information and I'd highly recommend anyone buy it who wants to create great worlds and are seriously considering writing as a career.

[@reichsfuehrerniveacreme]

Chock full.

[@davidtidswell8374]

@@reichsfuehrerniveacreme You have to admit "chalk full" has it's own poetic charm.

[@keithrice9281]

Man he just completely opened my mind

[@TheSepia1]

Same!!!

[@MsLoganB]

I just started the video I hope my mind cracks open too lol

[@coloaten6682]

This interview is not a golden nugget, it's the whole gold bar! Of course, it might seem obvious to create a world for the story we are writing, but I'd not thought of it in the terms expressed in this interview. It has opened up my story to new possibilities. I've realised how my story could now go from a one-off feature to perhaps several sequels as well, or even better, a couple of seasons based upon the world I create, with my current protagonist as the thread that holds it all together. Brilliant stuff :-) P.S. If this interview is a gold bar then this channel is Fort Knox! Keep the great content coming and thank you so much, I learned a huge amount so far!

[@johnfarah5240]

5:41

[@dreamcatcher5502]

I can't believe this guy. Everything he said is exactly my thoughts and writings about my story world. I almost thought I was going too deep and it was too much. But now I know not to change or cut anything out. Thanks so much Houston. I really connected with your concepts and guidance. I hope you see my world one day and love it.

[@ajtaylor8750]

All of these things are in his book, and as far as my favorite worlds are concerned, the dystopian future of Los Angeles in both "Blade Runner" and "Blade Runner 2049" are awesome worlds that explore how replicants fut into the equation, and how the laws in these worlds affect everyone there. Also, the world of assassins in the John Wick franchise is awesome because they have guidelines and rules set in play that all of the assassins must follow, and if not the repercussions are deadly.

[@stevegeorge7773]

play role playing games-fantasy, science fiction, historical, etc etc. You’ll get it.

[@porkerpete7722]

Fallout New Vegas is gold standard

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

Good topic, and worth probably a whole series on its own... As a GM (Game Master) AND as a Player, I've visited more Worlds than most would like to believe are even available... Commonly D&D is most popularly played in "Forgotten Realms", a kind of semi-neutral earthlike Magical Fantasy world... BUT we've got a near library of worlds to choose from... AND of course, D&D is hardly the end all of RPG's... Favorites??? Okay, here are a few memorable places... Dark Sun... A realm where spells are cast at the cost of souls (supposedly) and so magic is extremely guarded and secretive... even outlawed in most "civilized places"... Metal is scarce as well. This leaves your Elves and Dwarves to whole different resources for weapons to fight the otherwise usual and unusual monsters or villains in battles... AND the arid wretched wastelands of the desert... because it's ALL desert ALL the time. SO hot and dry, in some territories that the dead from battle are often taken to be harvested of their blood for making wine... ...a good GM with this one can practically make you FEEL the sand getting to places you didn't know you had. Night City... It's not so terribly different from the world of Blade Runner... Also likely spawned of Cyberpunk ("2013" ed, I think)... Only it wasn't a big deal about replicants there. Cybernetics were the big thing, and among the problems are "Cyber-psychosis" a condition from either just too much synthetic upgrading reaching a point of "nearly godhood" in certain people. In others, it was the over-use or even dependence upon "uplinks" which allow a user's brain to jack-in straight to a computer and the network (web)... With virtual reality as real as it can get, and little or no oversight, it was easy for adventure junkies to screw up their heads between lack of sleep and the addiction to high adventures... Every once in a while, a "Cyber-psycho" suffers that critical break from reality, or a disjointed failure of discerning reality from fiction or VR (whatever)... and with some illegal or illicit upgrades like hydraulic arms and legs, armored subdermal inserts, even adamantite bone-lacing and so on... it's not hard to have a lunatic running around with the impermeable armor of a tank and machineguns ATTACHED to his arms... ...enter the necessity of the "Cyber-psychosis Squad" of local PD's... an upgrade from SWAT. OR the organ black markets can get you... Parts is parts and dead is dead... we ALL needs parts. ...Dead guys is parts. OR some binding partnership(s) between Yakuza and MegaCorporates can result in conspiracies that buy and sell government offices over lunch. Changing the political landscapes to suit whichever military-industrial group has the most money at the time. Maybe you like space??? Eclipse Phase centers mostly around the Solar System (generically)... Only travel isn't done by common spaceships, not like you're thinking of just now anyway. Humans are basically out. There are a few "organics" left, but by and large, everyone got digitally upgraded LONG ago. Cortical Stacks contain your "soul" (if you can call it that) which can then be digitally broadcast from one place to another, like uploading and downloading a file online today... This allows humans to travel at or about Lightspeed very conveniently... AND we're apparently "branching out"... Of course, just because we CAN live an endless VR lifestyle in some mechanical hulk of a body, any size or shape we want... pretty much forever... It does NOT mean that people can't still "Die" in the technical sense either... Get lost in transit, or corrupted without a filter to clean and fix the missing bits, and you're gone. Get the cortical stacks blown out of your "host" and you're probably gone. Get the file load stripped of your "soul" by any means without a copy for salvage purposes, and again... end of the road. What's interesting is asking the question, so what's life worth when it's infinite now? AND what do you do with it? ...and that's a long dark rabbit hole to start, so be careful. In the literary sense... Pratchett was a prolific world builder. I rather enjoyed Discworld most, I think... BUT you can look up the books and enjoy the read. I doubt I could do it justice without ruining things. "...and one day, the turtle will fly" -"Small Gods" As for what Video Games have the movies are looking for??? Interactivity. There's no shortcut... unfortunately. Movies are fun and all, but you can't TELL the characters when they're screwing up. You can't quite immerse the way you can with something interactive. I KNOW this part all too well, and it's why I get so much from being a GM. Once you've truly immersed people into a world, let them explore it... that interactivity lends your storytelling to tell THEIR stories. Nothing gets an audience to invest in YOUR Story World like their own characters and stories. ;o)

[@unstoppableExodia]

Wow what this guy had to say was intuitive but very insightful. This willl be very useful for my own story ideas that I'm working on.

[@scarlettink2009]

Fav story world is Black Panther. I was so inspired by Wakanda, very beautifully done.

[@dsthewriter]

brillant!! love his interviews he never holds back information

[@NathanVMountain]

I think this more widely known as the "Universe" that your story is set in nowadays. But like he says, this is such an important concept that people seem to overlook, when I believe creating the universe for your story is the most important part to it. The most blockbuster films at the time of writing this have a very flushed out universe e.g. Marvel, Star Wars (obviously doesn't have to be all sci fi)

[@RobertDePinto]

Genius. Keys to the kingdom for me. As someone with an engineering / architectural type of mind, this is the foundation. Everything now makes sense and i can build. Create with so much more clarity.

[@Within_Cells_Interlinked]

If I’m understanding correctly, his idea of a starting place for a story is a soapbox style message that then can be placed in a world that has potential commercial viability beyond that initial story. I understand the latter, but not the former. He uses Godless as an example, saying the story was about the women in that town, but the main story theme was actually about fathers and sons. The writers mention that in the research they found it interesting that a town with hardly any men in it could be an interesting part of the story, but that it wasn’t the main focus of the story; the message wasn’t about the town of women. I remember this being a disappointment to many people (not me) who watched Godless expecting the focus to be on the town when it was ultimately on two men. The backdrop does make the final showdown more interesting, evoking a sense of the Mother protecting her ‘son’ against the Father. He also mentions Jurassic Park, that the theme of ‘playing god’ is shown to you as bad. I suppose that’s one interpretation, but I think the movie has a lot more going for it. It’s bigger theme is that of order vs chaos, and never really answers who is right, except that order can never be maintained for long if life is to exist, and that ultimate control is an illusion. Still, some kind of order (science) had to be maintained for the dinosaurs to even be brought back to begin with. I think if you have a message in your story, then you shouldn’t make it easy to answer whether the message is good or bad. For example, there was that character in the first season of the Handmaid’s Tale that actually liked being a handmaid because her life before was so bad that being in that position was better - a nice house to live in, good food, clean water, clean clothes, etc. In that moment, at least, it was really thought provoking and THAT got me interested in the world far more than anything else happening on the show, because the greater message wasn’t so simple anymore.

[@CornerTalker]

I agree - a simple black and white message is just propaganda. Films like Elysium (2013) can't touch ones that address the complexity of their issue with multiple interpretations, multiple perspectives.

[@SvintMvrcus]

This man was my Transmedia teacher at the Los Angeles Film School. Great guy and such a valuable class it’s dope to see him on platforms like this even years later.

[@geetanjaliiyer3728]

Wow. This is really interesting. "Take protagonist out of story world, yet it remains an interesting place". The best tip I have ever got on story world. Wonderful. Thanks.

[@mr.goodboi2780]

This just blew my goddamn mind. This is what I'm missing in my animated film script. I haven't even thought through the world enough. Back to the drawing board.

[@sterlingernst7816]

great speaker, creates a lot of potential for solving story problems.

[@sdjohnsononyoutube]

Simon Stalenhag's The Loop and other visuals are amazing. It's like an alternate '80s.

[@filmgeneric]

I'm utterly impressed by the amount of people who took a whole 30 minutes to watch the video and then missed the point entirely because the definition of theme is lost on them.

[@jrobertlysaght]

thank god you are here to be smarter than the rest of us.

[@KimTownsel]

Intriguing concept that I have not heard of before today. Well done!

[@deborahpappas7334]

Love Houston Howard and Film Courage ❤

[@scarlettink2009]

DAMNNNNN! Back to the drawing board for this pilot. I have 10 days before I have to submit this Pilot Lol... Im gonna have as much hair as him by the time Im done with this project... Great interview! He's GRAND!

[@TheREELRundownWithJB]

He's absolutely correct! I think Ryan Coogler is doing this with Black Panther. Unfortunately RIP Chadwick :( him missing from Wakanda still gives the story world the potential to move forward and keeps us, as an audience, engaged to find out what else is going to happen in Wakanda. Hence the new title "WAKANDA FOREVER" AH...this video was super interesting and informative!

[@teleportsaroundyou4629]

18:06 My man, I know you meant Cyberpunk, but I instantly visualized Ryan Gosling in a tophat with gears and cogs glued onto it

[@lonjohnson5161]

First, I disagree that a story world should force a given message or theme. For instance, one might think a courtroom drama should say, "Crime doesn't pay," but I think it should rather ask for an exploration of the theme, "Does crime pay?" Take the story world of Law & Order: Usually, the bad guy gets caught and convicted, but not always. As to his larger point of a story world needs to be interesting on its own, I largely agree. The world of Harry Potter is interesting even without Harry as THE CHOSEN ONE. In fact, if Harry Potter were a story about an otherwise ordinary kid unfamiliar with the magical world, but gets a chance to go to a school in that world, I'm in. I don't need Voldemort. I don't need world ending stakes. Just explore the world.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

Okay, first, I'll recommend you find your way clear to watch "Rosario Vampire"... I know I'm about to get bashed with "WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEB!!!!!!!!!" BUT it's an anime that's likely RIGHT up your alley. Second, maybe the point wasn't that a Story World should OVERTLY push any particular theme in your story. For me a theme that's OVERTLY pushed is simply due to piss poor writing... BUT themes are generally layered, provided they're done well and not being parodied for comical reasons. As for Law and Order... I'd suggest you read more Pratchett. He was often told that he should write courtroom dramas... BUT he preferred to make his social commentary in a staggering variety of layered fantasy territories... often mischievously disguising his subtleties with comedy and sarcasm. So maybe working with theme doesn't have to become an inherently incessant banging of a tambourine and reciting motto every few seconds... Instead, theme can be as simply applied as the color dominance changes in movies like "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon"... OR the weird angles and views mixing with some peculiar patterns of color in the original "The Shining". It's important to point out that not all themes are mantras, and even some mantras are better whispered than shouted... so maybe that helps. ;o)

[@pietzsche]

I think that's a misunderstanding of theme, "crime doesn't pay" is a moral, themes are more concepts that get explored, so the theme would be something more general, more even than "does crime pay", something along the lines of "how does crime manifest?" Taking in not just "does crime pay?" But things like why do people choose crime? Why do others hate it? Etc etc. What you're saying is correct, I just think it's not quite a response to what's being said here.

[@lonjohnson5161]

@@pietzsche Fair enough. I was going for a quick-and-dirty way of saying what I wanted to say that was also in line with what was said in the video. I agree with you that a theme should be explored and I agree with his point that a world should inspire a theme, so perhaps I should have said that I agree with him only that far and not as far as a world should inspire a specific moral.

[@pietzsche]

@@lonjohnson5161 Yeah I totally agree with that.

[@endymionas]

Exactly

[@gopro_audio]

I like this guy and love his advise. Thanks again Film Courage.

[@gopro_audio]

He gives great examples: Jupiter Ascending suffered due to its release on valentines day weekend, selling the wrong audience the wrong content, and what Howard says. Great point. Take all the characters out of the old tv series "Stargate" and there is still is a story world. I have done this with my Cleopatra saga, I can remove both Cleopatra and Egypt and still have a story world. :) #HighConcept

[@gopro_audio]

Video games have mastered Transmedia, excellent point. Screenwriters take notes on that comment.

[@reichsfuehrerniveacreme]

Advice.

[@eldo59]

Blade Runner, Road Warrior, Star Wars, Marvel Universe, are the definitely worlds that could be explored from various points of view without including characters we already know. Smaller known worlds like Inception and John Wick could work too.

[@reginayfavors]

Film Courage is really a film school! Thank you. I have had so much trouble understanding the differences between setting and the story world. This is so helpful.

[@filmcourage]

Glad it was helpful!

[@doyen86]

This was a great synopsis and exploration of the nuances of world building. But for the record.. . Will Smith's character in Fresh Prince was anything but a street hustler. He was a young wet behind the ears black kid who got into an altercation with a group of delinquents over a pickup game of basketball. His mother decided to send him to live with his upper class relatives so that he wouldn't get caught up with riff raff. It's literally in the theme song to the show..

[@chrisformby3039]

He would win the Olympics for non stop talking.😊👍

[@timtitus7861]

That painter’s world is now a video game too

[@directormattoliveira]

What a great video!! Lots of good information.

[@alexhasnobudget]

The part on the storyworld needing a message blew my mind

[@ronmendez22]

Inception great concept

[@beastemeauxde7029]

This was the game. He just gave us the game.

[@Dreamaster2012]

Insanely powerful discussion. Took my ideas and added a whole other dimension. My challenge has been to give the characters dimension and purpose. With going to the Story World instead and making it really interesting the characters who need to play off the world become interesting themselves. Genius ideas here.

[@filmcourage]

Best to you Erial!

[@alexmejia980]

So as an avid reader i have many concerns with this idea but the biggest one is the whole "have a message and design a world that needs that message". And the concern is that if you do that then it is no longer art but is now propaganda. The goal is of a story is to learn, not to teach. Thats the differnece between a good story and a great one

[@673Subliminal]

Isaac asimov's world is my favourite.

[@673Subliminal]

@V1ctor In his robot series there are 50 spacer worlds. I haven't gotten around to reading his foundation or empire series yet. But I imagine that number increases. But as it stands, the worlds given to us in the robot series are awesome.

[@DeeDee-ie1my]

Hi, thanks for this interview! However, at 15:28 you described the character Will from “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”, as being a street hustler from Philadelphia. HE WAS NOT A STREET HUSTLER. He was a regular kid who moved away after he was bullied by gangsters in the neighborhood. Listen to the opening theme song : ) FYI the narrative portrayed about black people in film/tv matter.

[@TurtlePower718]

One little fight and his mom got scared. Such a great mom lol

[@OmarCruzOfficial]

This man is a genius

[@rjprofilms6601]

Amazing! Thanks

[@kuramobay2445]

A story world could also be a professional milieu. In Rocky the story world is professional boxing. In the Bourne series, the story world is the CIA's global espionage programs. A story world is primarily a set of values, not a geographical location. Cool movies are set in a cool story world.

[@PumpernickelCoconut]

Supply and demand... but for stories. Very insightful.

[@ryannixon4138]

16:08 Thanos? He even snaps!

[@thebuzzmeade]

Amazing . Mind blowing

[@knowen32]

Houston has solutions! Thanks :)

[@deepchatt3397]

This let me see things different with books

[@danielvalleduarte]

This was extremely helpful, top 10 videos on here

[@filmcourage]

Cheers Daniel!

[@callmemrwilkes]

Eye opening content here

[@roblinnbailey2359]

It would be great to hear from some non Americans. I could be alone but don’t have much interest in American/Hollywood cinema. There are a lot of countries making amazing films (some would say a lot better than American) it would be great to hear from them.

[@markothwriter]

so don't watch this video.

[@animetrip18]

Great!

[@MalachiVanHaynes]

Wow, what insight!

[@JohannesBuc]

I get the point, but I have a huge problem with that whole marketing shit. It feels like you have to create a Story World to make Money. I only can speak for my self but I don't want to make movies because i want to make money. I just want to make and see good movies. So I think not every story should have a high concept story world if it is just a character driven Story. Don't get me wrong I like most of the movies he mentioned, but they are often unrealistic. I take his example, the story World of Rocky isn't that interessting, but that makes it more realistic and relatable because our World doesn't have wizards or vampires or superheros. And I don't want every movie to have some. So don't suggest to kill some great movieideas, just because their world isn't that catchy and clickbaity. (My opinin: As an artist you are not an service provider)

[@Kbwtor19]

What are some examples in episodic media (TV, streaming, etc.) and video games that follow these principles well? And not so well?

[@kinglewisjtl24]

Love craft country has a great story world

[@lifeonearth4223]

Brilliant!

[@howardkoor2796]

Great interview

[@Jazzi_Jeff]

Thank you for these gems!

[@filmcourage]

Glad you like them!

[@micahsalaberrios]

Amazing video!!

[@jjcruz4307]

Rocky is an underdog story. The story world of Rocky is a blue collar, hard scrabble neighborhood in Philadelphia full of underdogs. Rocky is the local boy that makes it. The underdog that beats the odds.

[@Damacles9]

But it could be any other city and therefore Philly itself does not convey underdogs win, if anything, it conveys that they lose because the city is chock full of them. Without Rocky, the city/"world" is blaise much like The Sixth Sense. I think that was his point.

[@katerinalongoria9750]

Wow so he really taught me something about potential here BUT i don’t understand then how so many stories have stood the test of time without a high concept world. Like Romeo and Juliet. And then there are huge successful movies like 50 shades that were set in a normal world... so I’d like to know more about his thoughts on regular places as settings. Like crime dramas, law dramas, medical dramas... so successful and so normal...

[@XXavierTaylor]

I think Romeo and Juliet is a great example, actually. If you take Romeo and Juliet out of the equation, you have an epic war between two families, full of characters who could have any number of adventures or their own tragedies. Now, talking about creating the story world that needs what the story provides is part of where the stand-the-test-of-time part comes in. Romeo and Juliet are in love. The ideological family would be bound by and thrive because of love. Instead, two families fight to destroy one another’s love so they can keep their own. Romeo and Juliet are the would-be breakers of that mold. The tragedy on an emotional level comes from how it is the pressures of their families, from whose love they should be uplifted, that they lose their own love and their lives. So, while the world isnt exactly unique in itself, the richness of how the values of different groups contrast, such as a family vs a love-pair, yet interact in the same story world laws (Capulet And Montagues At War Forever) is where it becomes something people are always drawn to. Think about the Godfather. 1940s-1950s NYC. Nothing really remarkable, but those story world elements are intoxicating, not just by how they are, but by how they exist in the same space and contrast and conflict with each other. I think those conflicts even work with 50 Shades Of Grey. The story world of disparities between characters creates something akin to the Beverly Hills Cop example in that, it is the contrast of elements within one story world that makes it memorable.

[@figbella23]

I feel like this only really applies to stories that need to be furthered. In another interview he used the example of Rocky... nobody wants to see a movie dedicated to some other character in Philly with the movie label "Rocky" placed on it. Why? Because it's obviously a cash grab. If you're going to use this method, make sure it right for the story you're telling, and not for a story and ends and doesn't need further exploring. This is great for sci-fi and fantasy and a lot of other genres, but honestly I don't think we need a spin off of Moonlight about some other random woman who can't pay her bills or something idk. Slapping the title of 'Moonlight' or whatever story world you come up with just seems cheap and has been done before to no avail.

[@TheSepia1]

I love this!! Thanku!!!

[@dominiklehocky1486]

So sci-fi and fantasy is the way.

[@muhammadichsan5297]

Thank you!

[@filmcourage]

Thanks Muhammad!

[@alenabayti5622]

Great story and great world, can you relate example?to understand? shortly

[@check4ninobeige]

I keep thinking that the shows Seinfeld and Friends totally defies his point on story worlds, or yet that maybe a great story world can enhance your IP but the lack of doesn't mean you don't have something meaningful and potentially successful on your hands. I don't think it's a one size fits all proposition.

[@StravaigingMTB]

it doesnt defy his idea, those are character based show where the location is basically irrelevant. If you take the characters out of the show there is nothing intrinsically interesting about the location in terms of how it shapes the narative. Is Toronto an important element of Fraser? No that show, like Friends, like Seinfeld are character based and are location neutral. Move Fraser to Vancover or Boston and the show stays the same. If the show was Fraser adjusting to the culture shock of moving to a London radio station and the location played a part in shaping the narative that is interesting without the characters, then that is a story world as he is describing it .

[@check4ninobeige]

@@StravaigingMTB yeah you just actually made my point. Star Wars without the characters is still interesting which is why Disney is able to produce so much content out of that world, whereas Seinfeld without the characters is just plain old New York, the show is totally character driven, but the show was still a massive success, same as Curb Your Enthusiasm, but the worlds they exist in are limited.

[@tolvfen]

What is it called, if characters have things with them, that change the story world, into a new? So you got two kinds of world logic,,,

[@visionaryventures12]

The world of the objective story in Rocky is boxing. His personal story and relationship with Adrian dominate the screentime, though.

[@acousticvibrations6186]

The point he's making is perfectly valid, but doesn't necessarily apply to all kinds of story. Some stories are purely based on character, and that's their nature. In those cases, there is no need to focus so much on the story world, although a rich story world would give more appeal to the story, of course. In general, I have two problems with his arguments. First, a writer is a creator whose source of inspiration is within not without, so telling a creator to follow the rules of the outer world is like telling him to shut down his inner child, or his deep source of creativity. Second, no rule applies to all creative work. If a rich story world works for video games and certain kinds of movies or TV shows, it doesn't mean that everybody has to stop what they're creating and focus on the story world. This is exactly how we end up with formulaic works that are doomed either to fail or to bore the audience.

[@infinitysalinity7981]

Holy shit this guy is smart

[@djanitatiana]

So Night Shylaman is just loading his Glock following those Philadelphia comments...

[@James-nv1wf]

Can't a studio just steal your story world and say..oh, didn't know you had the same thing going on in that little short film of yours.

[@HonestArttsEntertainment]

So is he saying Rocky isn't a good movie? Is the fresh prince not good? All in all, if u take the high concept character out of the world and it doesn't work, does it mean that the movie really isn't good?

[@nr1229]

He just says that the plot of Rocky is pretty much independent from the universe it is set in. In Lord of the Rings on the other hand, Middle Earth is almost like a character. It's about different approaches in storytelling, not judging movies ;)

[@HonestArttsEntertainment]

@@nr1229 I understand that. I was just curious if he thinks that story worlds that will not with without those rocky types characters (taking those characters out of the world) stand a lesser chance to be marketed.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

The short answer is "yes"... BUT everything in marketing (especially in movies and storytelling) is more complicated than that... If you take Rocky Balboa out of the "Rocky World" of Philadelphia, you get plain old Philadelphia... SO the only relevant market value to the Rocky Franchise is Rocky... Take a look at the latest edition, "Creed"... The movie COULD be done as Apollo Creed's son rises through Golden Gloves, gets to the Olympics, and eventually becomes a long standing Veteran Professional... and you COULD make a whole series out of it... BUT the audience will see the teaser for "Creed" and unless they're TOLD about Rocky, or referenced to Rocky and Apollo... etc... You got nothing. It's "another dumb-ass boxing movie"... So what? THAT is why the producers HAD to plug Stallone in as Rocky, passing the figurative torch to Apollo's son in Creed... Building him up to become a champion in his father's stead... Rocky makes the Rocky franchise, and without him, it's on troubling territory. On the other hand, The World of Harry Potter... It's a whole new and Independently interesting place to explore. You don't need to write script after script with references to Harry, Hermione, and Ron... OR for the matter, ANY of the original Harry Potter Characters to keep telling amazing and interesting stories about Hogwarts, or any of the other schools in the Wizarding World... It's mystical and magical and going to guarantee interested fans showing up to watch it, even if they couldn't stomach "Another Chosen One" storyline... Regular kids finding their way into the ranks of magic for even short terms like getting lost, falling through portals, accidentally identified as magical, poisoned or enchanted or any of a thousand ways to "become infected as monsters" or "transformed"... and you've got another and another and another storyline to sell... SO yes, in some technical sense, simply because the franchising and world concept around Rocky is ENTIRELY interesting just because of Rocky Balboa, the movie and sequels will be Narrowed in their scope of sales... making them less marketable than The Lord of The Rings, Harry Potter, or Discworld (I can't help reference Pratchett when I get onto world building)... That's not to say you can't even possibly have a great movie without an interesting story world to put it in... You certainly can. It's just going to narrow your scope of market potential to do so. Hope this helps you cut through the "judgment" to the core of purpose. ;o)

[@HonestArttsEntertainment]

@@gnarthdarkanen7464 Yes this does help. Thank you for your response.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

​@@HonestArttsEntertainment Always welcome! ;o)

[@easybullet3]

so the story-world needs to be interesting (ie: Matrix), but also the story-world doesn't have to be interesting (ie: Rocky) !! It seems like most of his advice is directed at Science Fiction. I'm not sure how it fits Drama.

[@dessyyasmitasbk4255]

I think he keeps saying 'IP'. What is that?

[@coloaten6682]

Hi, I was thinking the same thing! I thought it might mean Intellectual Property so I did a quick look up on Google and this was the answer given: Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.

[@pietzsche]

@@coloaten6682 yeah that's what it is, here it refers to the entire thing, everything in the star wars universe is a single ip, same goes for Lord of the Rings etc. I'm just clarifying here because it also refers to music or painting etc, here it's specifically everything within a given fiction

[@dessyyasmitasbk4255]

@@coloaten6682 yeah, that might fit. I replay the video. The first time he sais IP was ' ... brand or IP'. So I think, yeah, it is about intellectual property. Thanks, Col!

[@samhippensteel]

It is 100% intellectual property

[@atlaskomaneri8708]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, people write characters and plot and leave the "story world" in the background? Connect me with one of such individuals, I make amazing story worlds, but creating personalities and conflict between characters is rocket science to me. Perhaps I need to meet my match somewhere.....

[@alenabayti5622]

Matrix great concept !but bed world?I think

[@ivanmoreno5387]

#mindblown

[@solidsnakejake185]

Not to say his advice is bad but where are the credits for this guy? Like a few of the interviews on here, I can't find a single piece of work, why should he be telling me how to tell a story when he can't put one out himself?

[@arjoels7437]

He's a teacher, not a writer. His book proves his genius. His advice is some of the best out there - the information is just common sense and should be followed.

[@darkdream1469]

@@arjoels7437 true

[@convolution223]

Great stuff. But Neverland isn't ironic.

[@arjoels7437]

It's a world where people don't age in which KIDS are invited, yet kids seem to age the slowest because they are young. If only ADULTS who are much older could stop aging, they would be young forever. It is ironic.

[@convolution223]

@@arjoels7437 Hook dispels everything you just said.

[@arjoels7437]

@@convolution223 The ONE adult in the entire world? I don't think so - he was thrown in to be the villain. Obviously they wouldn't have a child villain.

[@TimMaxShift]

It's sad to hear that all his conversations always revolve around money and how much and to whom you can sell. He suggests looking at video games because there's more money there. So he's suggesting that movies have lootboxes and battle passes? And gacha mechanics. "That's a great plan, Walter. That's fkn ingenious, if I understand it correctly. It's a Swiss fkn watch." You get the impression that this man is part of the problem.

[@BlackPartyFilms]

His gaming comment is iffy to me and here’s why. Paying attention to video games isn’t the pool of inspiration, it’s Anime. Asian animation and story telling has been influencing just about every corner of American entertainment for decades. When he talks about trans-media story worlds and how it’s some sort of secret sauce to differentiate yourself; I get it and it’s true but it is nothing new. There are mangas that become games that become tv shows that move onto to animated features and sometimes live action features. This is happening by the calendar season, hundreds of stories are developed and adapted into new media forms all the time. Anime had $20 Billion in earnings an that was 2017 it continues to rise. Most of the gaming industry market share is in Asia-Pacific. If there’s any one section of entertainment to watch closely it’s Anime. Become an Otaku 😂

[@Acrosurge]

True! We should take step deeper and analyze why it is that eastern storytelling is dominating the western market. What are these creators doing that grabs western consumers? Where are western creatives failing or being stifled?

[@gorequillnachovidal]

he just called blade runner steampunk????????????????????????????????

[@futurestoryteller]

People whining about idelogical storytelling - if you have nothing to say, don't be a writer, because no one wants to hear your nothing.

[@PHlophe]

Chile, this is some major tea that was revealed here. How did i not know about this before tsk tsk !

[@JoanieDoeShadow]

Mostly great video and advice, however I would say Rocky is an example of the story world not just being a geographical location but culture, because Rocky's story world is the World of Boxing. It isn't just Philadelphia though that makes up a huge part of the world of Rocky. Furthermore, any real world location/culture/sub culture can be interesting but they're Not exclusive to any particular franchise because they are real living breathing cultures.

[@gordo6908]

interesting subject, but this man is incredibly verbose

[@wigglywaggly]

stopped at 8 minutes. All examples that "work" according to him are Sci Fi. The Godless example could be in any community before 1900

[@evanmichaelhardin]

Gee, I wonder if this guy is a feminist.

[@sdfhdz]

cringe

[@arjoels7437]

Are you an aspriring writer?

[@seanmckee8106]

He's sounds like a "woke" filmmaker.