"Some pictures play wonderfully to a room of eight people. I don't go for that. I go for the masses. I go for the end effect." --Billy Wilder, per: http://m.imdb.com/name/nm0000697/quotes

Traci, great quote. At one end of the spectrum are what they call "popcorn movies," big films with a wide audience, the kind of crowd that shows up for an event movie and overpriced popcorn. But even if you're writing a smaller movie -- and that goes for indie fare as well -- you have to be mindful of these questions: * Who is your target audience? * Is your story a movie they will WANT to see? * Will this story compel a consumer to drag their ass off the Barcolounger and drive down to the local multiplex to see it? In other words: "Is this a movie?" By that, I don't mean something you can go out and shoot. I'm talking about a MOVIE, a commodity a buyer will buy, produce, distribute and market that ends up generating revenue? I don't know of any professional screenwriter who can't look at the scripts they write through that lens. It's one of the first tests I go through when assessing a potential story concept: its commercial viability. Because believe me, that IS the first test buyers put it through.