This is not a question of whether or not it "should" be this way, it's just an honest question. An honest answer could be very helpful advice! Amateur screenwriters have it hammered into us that our scripts must be low-budget, high-concept. However, some contests and festivals urge entrants to write unconventional protagonists such as foreigners, women of color, or LGBT people. American society is both obsessed with and highly critical of media regarding "marginalized" people, and there are still teachers who say things like “there are too many women in this script” as a critique. If the subject matter is controversial, that adds another level of issues that can further pigeonhole a script. Is an unconventional protagonist (that is to say, not a white male) more often a selling point or a strike against a script?

katerama, let me take a whack at your question as this particular contest is now closed. There is a conventional wisdom in Hollywood. It is organic, so nothing etched in stone, but generally accepted 'beliefs' about what works and doesn't work. Your instincts about that are probably closely aligned with theirs. So your concerns about women of color, LGBT, "marginalized" people are a fair ones insofar as you are talking about mainstream commercial movies. But two things. First, they are not rules. As soon as someone says, "You can't make a successful mainstream movie with a bunch of female leads," along comes Bridesmaids and blows that theory out of the water. Second, oftentimes the writers who get discovered and promoted with the most enthusiasm in Hollywood are those who DARE to defy convention. Little Miss Sunshine, (500) Days of Summer, Juno, those are just a few examples of writers who told stories that didn't slot neatly into any Hollywood 'slots.' And yet those writers have ALL gone onto great success precisely BECAUSE they embraced their own distinctive creative voice. I have posted about this several times. There are two broad paths to success in Hollywood: Write what they're buying or sell them your dreams. They're both equally difficult, but for different reasons. The former has a lot more writers competing for a limited number of buyers. The latter traffics [largely] in the indie film world and it is super hard to get a movie produced. So I would advise spending some time figuring out what type of writer you are. Do you love mainstream genres like Action, Comedy, Horror, or Thriller, and popcorn movies are your thing? Then you will probably best be served by trying to write what they're buying. There you may have a bit of latitude in terms of exploring unusual narrative elements, but by and large the mindset there is dominated by 'similar but different' thinking. Or are you more concerned with writing from your own unique creative perspective, smaller more niche audience, indie sensibilities? Then sell them your dreams. There's no right or wrong path, just the one you find, create, explore and write.

Oops--wrong post, wrong date! But I'm glad I made that mistake, cause you've provided a thorough answer of good old-fashioned logic filtered through the words of someone who knows better than to paint broad strokes in black and white. Thanks for your answer. I'm new to the site, but I now read it voraciously!

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