If it's a movie I want to see, I go for it.

I tested ten loglines on seven of my friends and asked them to pick their top three or four. A couple of them said they were really only feeling three. They're all nice, supportive people but they're also forthright and blunt, so I think I got a pretty good idea of which ideas had potential, especially when one idea got seven votes and another got none.

I mixed five of my loglines with five loglines of real movies in production and then emailed them out to a whole whack of friends without telling them which were which. I then asked them to number the ones they'd pay money to see, 1 being a big NO! and 10 being a definite YES! Got some great and honest feedback. And if you have any friends who work in sales and marketing and like movies, definitely send them your ideas. They'll shine a whole other light on them that you didn't see.

Over the last month, I taught myself to write loglines. I wrote out 12 high concept loglines then I asked a random sample of 20 people, none of whom were close friends or family; it consisted mostly of coworkers that I don't know personally, the barista at Coffee Bean, the garage attendant, security people and valets. All of these people attend movies regularly. Out of the 12, 8 sounded good with some wanting to see certain ones and others being interested in others. Out of the 8, all 20 people said they would see the same three. I'm focusing on those three.

I use the method promoted by the late, great Blake Snyder. I go to movie theaters and talk to people in the lobby (or outside) and ask "Is this a movie you'd go see?" It's amazing how well it works (or doesn't). And with the right idea, just as Blake predicted, you can draw quite a crowd...

I don't often test my loglines with others but I do read a lot of them. At some point, I hear a "click" when I'm close. The ones I end up fleshing out are those that have an ideal mixture of commercial and "only I could have thought of this".

I give my friends potatoes chips. I pitch my concept. Then ask them how much chips they would give up to hear the rest of the story. It always come down to how many chips I get for every concept. By the way, I made sure, first, that potatoes chips come first before our friendship in their priorities list.

Firstly, I don't start in terms of commercial because commercial = commerce = $. My gut says if you think purely in terms of pocketing $ by putting fannies in seats, you're going to face resentment. Rather, I start from the heart: is this something that an audience is going to gleam some sort of meaning from? Does it deal with some universal situations which - by nature - speaks to people across all cultures, age, sex, religion, etc. Once I've found something in that realm that I want to personally invest myself in and explore, THEN I might think about putting it into a context that has some commercial appeal - but if the general premise is strong enough, I don't even bother. It's just a story worth telling on its own. Gene Del Vecchio, author of Creating Blockbusters!, recently posted in The Story Department's Linkedin group: In an analysis I conducted for my latest book on writing, I evaluated the biggest blockbusters of all time in terms of emotional fulfillment of the narratives. That is, what emotional strings did they attempt to pull, and how well did they pull them. As I stepped back and looked at the findings, I realized that the greatest narratives and protagonists (as measured by audience appeal) satisfied all of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs from early psychology (i.e. survival, belonging, self esteem, fullfilling one's full potential). These were present in large doses in The Lion King, Avatar, Star Wars, Harry Potter and many more. These are the things that represent the heart and guts of a story, the things that bring audiences back or create strong word of mouth. Setting it around a battle in the stars or wizards or aliens on another planet - that's just the context the story's true meaning is delivered in. If we look at The Blind Side as an example The story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family we see its premise is speaks to all the elements Gene mentioned. It doesn't hurt that it's based on a true story - something that speaks to audiences.

On the whole I have broad, but very mainstream tastes, so I have a very simple principle when I create a simple outline and its logline: Is this something that I would spend money or time to see? The answer should be yes. Always.

Maybe because my background is in marketing and copy writing I try and visualize the poster - any good? If so I move on to the trailer; is it still a movie I'd like to see? You've probably seen this story; a great proof of the poster power. No logline, but who doesn't want to see this movie? http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/risky-business/ryan-gosling-as-walt-disney-298604 But, then I guess the best validity on offer at the moment is The Quest!

Tell everyone you trust. The more people you ask the better idea you'll have if the idea has mass appeal. Watch their initial reaction. If their eyes light up, they smile, laugh -- you have them. If they are nodding their head waiting for the next bit, you probably need to rethink how you're telling it to people. If their eyes glaze over or they interrupt you, you probably should scrap the idea or dramatically overhaul what you are telling them. Gauge the average reaction. Opinions differ. Take them all with a grain of salt. Search for the average truth. Are you getting the reaction you want just from telling the idea? You should be. Get to the point. My nephew does this thing where there is so much setup before he gets to the point of what he wants to say (like this sentence) that the point is often missed. Boil it down to the essential idea and just pitch that. Cop teams with dog to bust international drug ring. It doesn't even need to be a complete logline -- just the hook. It's good practice to gauge if your hook is even a hook at all. There's some ideas that are interesting, well-crafted, big, high concept ideas -- that no one wants to see. These are exactly what you should be weeding out by asking people. About people stealing, sorry, I mean "borrowing" ideas. It happens. You just have to deal with it. Whether it's intentional or not, it is part of being a screenwriter. Sometimes great minds think alike. Sometimes the network asks an established writer to do a page one rewrite on a TV pilot that's already going to series and the freshest thing on their mind is that funny spec by an unknown they just read and magically some of the jokes wind up in the new rewrite and are broadcast to the world. It happens. I'm guessing most of you guys aren't one trick ponies. You're in it for the long haul. So, a few pieces/bits/gags/ideas being stolen, borrowed, or simply put on screen before you could get it there isn't going to cripple your career. If you're writing, you'll come up with something else, or move on to a new idea. And if you think about it -- if material and ideas you write are constantly ending up onscreen -- you're probably on the right path to becoming a writer. (Either that or you need to seriously reconsider who you are giving your scripts and ideas to :p).

I LOVE that poster! And I'm glad you mentioned that point because if you have any drawing or artistic capability, creating a poster of your idea is a great way of visualizing. In fact, I've known writers who create collages which they use as a visual reference point for when they write a script.

Tell no one and do not make light of the mystery of creativity. Because It is a mystery and a gift. You're pressure cooking something - so never let the steam out of the pot until it's done. Again - tell no one. Bottom line is any idea is commercial that shows the story of the crucifixion, redemption and resurrection in an honest way. Any story. If you can embed that original story you will connect with everyone. It is THE story we are all living one way or another and it oddly moves us to see it - yet we don't know why... And I'm no fan or student of Joseph Campbell. He's the Martin Luther of storytelling. That's my opinion of what makes an idea commercial. And consider this - nobody wanted to make Field of Dreams. Folks read that script and couldn't wrap themselves around the idea of dead ballplayers walking out of a corn field. It's one of the most successful indie films of all time. It has the magic ingredients that I noted above. As does all movies that people love deeply.

Michael, the list of successful movies that no one wanted to make is... hey, that's a blog post waiting to happen, isn't it? E.T., Star Wars, to name two. Dozens more.

I used Field of Dreams because it was made outside of the studio system. Yes that would be a great blog post. Especially contrast and compare each pics journey to the screen - studio money or private equity production.

Read scripts. Watch movies. (as a wise man once said). If after reading scripts in the same genre, you still believe in your own writing, your own ideas...well then it just might be a winner. If it doesn't stand up against the best, scrap it or keeping working till it does!

I agree with #1 LisaAldin. Its GOT to be a movie I'd pay $10 to see. I also try to employ the "give me the same, but different." If I've got a pretty good idea (I think), I'll try to find its popular, already-made counterpart and see if I can take a similar-but-different approach. If it worked once, and I can make it new again, it should work again. Just did that with my latest script, a twist on Jurassic Park -- we'll see......

When I write the short pitch (X meets Y via Z) that accompanies my logline, I always try to make sure that either X, Y or both is a popular well known movie or tv show that hopefully did great box office/ratings.