… or your one-page. Or one sheet. Or two.

If you’re querying your feature script to prodco’s, chances are you’ve been asked for a synopsis of the script. In my current round of queries I’ve been asked several times. Early on, I didn’t have one. I had a two page synopsis, but most seemed to specifically ask for a one page. I got one now. Didn’t wanna get caught with my pants down again.

Anyway, we all make a big deal of the logline and, yes, a big deal should be made of that. But what about the synopsis, which I think is just as important as the logline, if not more so? How many of you have one, use one, and what kind of work do you put into it? Would love to see some examples, or maybe start a critique page solely for the synopsis.

What do you think?

Steve

Steve, I wrote one for a longish short of mine.
Will try and dig it out.

I put a lot of effort into it cause I believe it's a first impression/pitch, big-sell moment.

I did quite a bit of research at the time into most specifically what to include, what not to include. In my mind I wanted some things left as a surprise but I think I discovered the whole plot needs to be covered, but not every single detail.

This article has some good pointers.
https://www.scriptreaderpro.com/how-to-write-a-synopsis/

As with loglines a lot of writers find them a chore & though they're definitely the grunt-work part of our job I think if you can write a script you should be able to learn how to master this.

Quoted from LC Steve, I wrote one for a longish short of mine. Will try and dig it out. I put a lot of effort into it cause I believe it's a first impression/pitch, big-sell moment. I did quite a bit of research at the time into most specifically what to include, what not to include. In my mind I wanted some things left as a surprise but I think I discovered the whole plot needs to be covered, but not every single detail. This article has some good pointers. https://www.scriptreaderpro.com/how-to-write-a-synopsis/ As with loglines a lot of writers find them a chore & though they're definitely the grunt-work part of our job I think if you can write a script you should be able to learn how to master this.

All true. Should cover the plot all the way from beginning to end (reveal). Not to be left as a cliffhanger. That’s not what it is.

Basically this — once you hook a producer with the logline, he may ask for the synopsis first before he/she asks for the script. Now it’s up to the synopsis to hook them in and get that script in their hands. Equally as important.

5 Tips for Writing an Effective Movie Synopsis
Follow these synopsis-writing tips to effectively summarize your screenplay.

Stick to the main plot points and main characters. One page is limited real estate, so focus only on what's necessary to tell your story. This means you should omit smaller subplots and secondary characters that aren't essential to your script's A-story.

Write in the style of the movie's genre. Use language that elicits feelings associated with the tone of your screenplay's genre. For example, a comedy movie synopsis should convey how funny the script is, an action movie synopsis how exciting the script is, a horror movie synopsis how terrifying the script is, etc.

Create narrative propulsion. Each beat in your synopsis should be the cause of the next beat or the effect of the previous beat. This ensures that every beat has a narrative purpose and launches into the subsequent beat.
Emphasize character development. It's easy to be so focused on hitting your plot points that you forget to pay attention to your character arcs.

Make sure your protagonist’s motivations are clear and that you point out their emotional turning points throughout the synopsis. Additionally, every main character should have one or more distinctive characteristics to make them stand out from the other characters.

Spoil the ending. This isn't the time to end on a cliffhanger. Your synopsis should include spoilers for all your screenplay's main plot points, including the ending. Give your synopsis a satisfying conclusion and tie up all the loose ends that you introduced.

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-movie-synopsis-to-sell-your-screenplay

A great topic to bring up, Steve.  I too would like to see some examples from SSers.
Dave, Anthony, Warren, or anyone else?

Are you going to post yours, Steve, or keeping it under wraps?

I wonder how many people (if they didn't research), thought a synopsis should be left on a cliffhanger? I'm sure quite a few...

Here's a Pro example.

Ransom provided by Writer's Digest.

"TOM MULLEN is a rich businessman who made his fortune creating a successful airline company from scratch. While he and his family are in Central Park, his son, SEAN, is kidnapped. Tom and his wife KATE’s worst nightmares are confirmed when a kidnapper contacts them and demands a $2 million ransom. The Mullens call the FBI for help.

After being kidnapped, Sean is held in a basement. There are not one but five kidnappers, all working together—led by violent police detective JIMMY SHAKER, who resents rich men like Tom who can buy their way out of trouble and are oblivious to the hardships of those around them. Shaker tells his conspirators that the boy will be killed once the ransom is given. Shaker anonymously calls Tom and arranges a dropoff. Tom follows all directions and hands the $2 million to one of Shaker’s henchmen. When Tom demands his son in return, the henchman is confused. The henchman flees, but police swarm the area. Gunshots are traded, and the henchman is killed.

News of the shooting/ransom appears all over the NYC media, adding to Tom’s problems. Shaker sets up another drop, but Tom surprises everyone by appearing on live TV and saying he will pay no ransom. Instead, he offers the $2 million as a bounty on the kidnapper’s head. He says if Sean is released, he will press no charges. The bold move is met by disapproval by the media, the FBI, and most especially Kate, who screams at her husband to take back the bounty and pay the ransom. Tom explains that he would pay any amount of money if he really thought Sean would truly be returned, but he believes the kidnappers have no intention of giving Sean back; therefore, a bounty is his best option. Kate is unconvinced.

More Shaker phone calls come, and threats are exchanged. Despite the pleading of Kate and the FBI, Tom publicly ups the bounty to $4 million. Shaker calls and fires a gunshot, making the Mullens believe Sean is dead. Tom collapses from despair. Meanwhile, Shaker’s cohorts all want to abandon the plan, kill the boy, and leave town. Realizing his plan has unraveled, Shaker kills his remaining co-conspirators, under the guise that he, a policeman, came upon an apartment where the tenants opened fire. Sean is found and rescued, and Shaker is hailed as a hero cop by the media.

Soon after, Shaker arrives at Tom’s apartment to collect his $4 million reward. As Tom is writing the check, he notices his son in the next room urinate in fear (as the boy recognizes Shaker’s voice). Shaker knows the jig is up and threatens to kill everyone in the house, but Tom convinces him to go to the bank so the money can be wired. En route, Tom tips off police to the situation. Cops converge on Tom and Shaker outside the bank. Shaker panics and opens fire. A running shootout ensues, and Shaker is killed when both Tom and the police return fire on Shaker at the same time."

https://nofilmschool.com/how-to-write-a-movie-synopsis

P.S. Still looking, but can't find where I put my synopsis.

Thanks for posting that, Libby! That’s an awesome example, and def gives an idea how it should be done. Sure, I’ll post mine.

I Want You For Christmas
Julia Hill is a breezy and tireless young country singer who’s tasting some real success. Her latest single, I Want You For Christmas, is a surprise smash and she’s playing to sold out auditoriums everywhere. Also, it doesn’t hurt that her grandmother, legendary singer Brenda Hill, is country music royalty.
But with Christmas right around the corner, Julia is feeling the stress of the road, not to mention her daughter, Katie, is growing weary of home-schooling and wants nothing more than to be a regular kid. As the latest tour comes to a close, Julia decides to forego the tour bus and drive home with her daughter for some quality time together. That is, until they break down near Julia’s hometown of Holly Falls.
Enter Billy Owens, a local entrepreneur with a heart of gold, fresh from a stint in California and back home to stay. He’s also Julia’s ex-boyfriend, who just so happened to have inexplicably left her at their high school Christmas dance, breaking up their band in the process. When Julia brings her car in for service at one of his shops, Owen’s Cares, it turns into a meet-cute that has been years in the making.
With Julia stuck in town, she reconnects with Billy’s sister, Trish, her high school bestie, who convinces her to stay at her house a few days. While there, Julia is surprised to learn that her feelings for Billy are still alight. Further surprising is the fact that Billy is on the planning board for this year’s Christmas dance, and they’ll be doing Julia’s song. But a problem arises when Kenzie, the student chosen to sing the song, develops vocal issues, leading to reluctant pairing of Julia and Billy to right the ship.
Later, after Julia’s first day as vocal coach, a playful argument erupts with Billy in the school parking lot. Julia hasn’t forgotten their past, and when a group of kids record their blowout, it soon goes viral, making them America’s favorite bickering couple.
Julia’s mortified, thinking this may hurt her brand, but it has the opposite effect. It seems her song has been pushed to number one on the charts, something even her legendary grandmother never achieved.
As Julia’s edges soften, she realizes she may have played a bigger role in Billy leaving her all those years ago. Armed with that epiphany, Julia, Katie and Billy engage in some local Christmas revelry, all the while feeling the pull of a rekindled flame they thought was extinguished long ago. The stage is set for love.
But with fame comes opportunity. Del Travis, America’s hottest country superstar, places a call to Julia’s mom, Helen (who also doubles as her manager). Seems he’s heard of Julia’s success, and wants Julia to fly to Nashville immediately to record a duet with him. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime gig.
Julia’s torn. She knows this could do wonders for her career, but it’ll also mean she’ll have to miss the Christmas dance. Billy is understandably hurt, and what was destined to be a merry Christmas quickly turns into a bittersweet goodbye.
As the night of the dance arrives, Billy and Kenzie are ready to crush Julia’s song together. Just as Kenzie takes the stage, Julia emerges through the crowd. When pressed as to why she returned, Julia explains that this – this night together – is also a once-in-a-lifetime gig. And one she couldn’t bear to miss.
With the evening a massive success and, having made their amends, Billy and Julia stroll through the town square with family. As snowflakes slowly begin to tumble, they share a kiss beneath the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree. I Want You For Christmas, indeed.

Kinda makes me think mines a bit too long, for starters, but this did fit onto one page.

I think overall you've nailed it, Steve.

So, now to my picky bits which obviously you can take or leave.

You could condense that opening paragraph.
Do you need 'breezy' and 'tireless' and 'young'? I'm not sure those adjectives & that many, are strong enough.
Ambitious perhaps?

Do you need the detail of the grandmother in the opener?
Combine that fact something with like this below and reduce to two lines?

Suggest something like:

Born of country-music royalty, Julia Hill is a young singer with her star on the rise, experiencing her first taste of success with a surprise hit single (‘ I want you for Christmas’) (or just hit song) and playing to sold out crowds all around the country.


Enter Billy Owens, a local entrepreneur with a heart of gold, fresh from a stint in California and back home to stay.
Fresh from a stint etc.
It might just be me but it sounds like it didn't work out and that he failed in the big city?
A successful entrepreneur perhaps?

Julia is feeling the stress of the road
Julia is feeling the stress of (constantly) being on the road?
However, given she's just about to take a road-trip with her daughter, just to vary things, perhaps: feeling the stress of (non-stop)touring...

Owen’s Cares
I can't remember from reading it, is there a pun there, or is it a typo and should be: cars?

Julia is surprised to learn that her feelings for Billy are still alight.
Alight? Meh.
Her feelings for Billy are still strong (or haven't changed)  after all this time?

But with Christmas right around the corner,
I'm not convinced you need a 'but' to start that sentence.

left her
Abandoned her might be stronger?
Or, stood her up at the school dance?

Armed with that epiphany, Julia, Katie and Billy engage in some local Christmas revelry, all the while feeling the pull of a rekindled flame they thought was extinguished long ago...
Just the way you've worded that it sounds a bit ambiguous like there's a threesome going on there.

they’ll be doing Julia’s song
they'll be performing or showcasing Julia's song.

And finally, the song title & script title.

I Want You for Christmas
'All I want for Christmas is You' is obviously taken, and been done before.
Something's not quite working for me with your existing title though.

It strikes me that the words you use towards the end in the synopsis are crucial and might make a better song & movie title:

Once in a Lifetime.
Or: Once in a Lifetime Love.

Although there's no Christmas in the title...

A Once in a Lifetime Christmas

FYI, I use & love this tool for titles on when and when not to Cap words..
https://capitalizemytitle.com/#

Hope that helps. But even so, it's very good and says it all as is.

Thanks, Libby. Great notes! I like the title suggestion. I thought the title of the song was a better fit. When I query this again perhaps I’ll change the title — I did that on another script.

I do recall you mentioning previously Owen’s Cares maybe confused with cars. It is Cares, btw.

Like to see some others post theirs!

Good topic, Steve. I try to keep mine to no more than 500 words. I have no idea if they are good or not. By way of example - here is the one for THE BEGINNING OF THE END AND THE END.

==========================================================
EMILY STANTON ( 35), is a marriage counselor who lost her husband four years ago. However, she’s not a grieving widow. She is content in the fact that she at least had one shot at true love. She simply wants to focus her energies on her counseling practice located in a downtown Los Angeles office building.

One day GEORGE NELSON (42) moves into a vacant office adjacent to Emily’s. He’s a sharp-witted divorce attorney who, after handing numerous nasty divorces, has become romantically jaded. At first, Emily’s objection to George is a professional one. She believes that having a Divorce Lawyer located next to a Marriage Counselor has to be bad for business. George, of course, sees no problem with the situation. He believes that he and Emily are just part of the inherently flawed romance food chain. She being the beginning of the end - he being the end. George wins round one as Emily’s petition to the building landlord to move George to another location provides no relief.

And that’s when the office wars commence. George and Emily battle over everything - parking spaces, noise, client stealing and other issues that eventually end up escalating into a series of sophomoric office pranks that would make any fraternity or sorority house proud. Although she maintains a public hatred for George, the office battles serve an odd purpose for Emily. They re-energize her. They convince her that she has been treading water since her husband’s death and it is time to move on. She’s going to date again.

Her first efforts are a disaster. Not only is Emily a little out of practice, the man she dates, although very attractive, is too reserved, low energy and a just bit too polite. There’s just no spark there. Unlike there is with – damn – George Nelson? No, it can’t be. He, after all, is still the asshole that won’t move out of the building.

Due to a power outage, Emily becomes trapped in an elevator with, of all people – George.  At first, it is business as usual – nothing but sarcastic banter between them thinking that surely the power is going to be restored any minute. No luck – the outage is citywide. They are really trapped. As they enter hour four of their captivity, they start to talk – share life experiences and start to learn a little about each other. A nice start to an adult relationship, but sadly, at the end of their captivity, George can’t keep his foot out of his mouth and, as the elevator doors finally open, their office battles begin again.

Those battles come to a halt when shortly after their entrapment together, a fire destroys Emily’s office. George overhears Emily breaking down as the building landlord explains to her that she’ll need to vacate the building. That weekend Emily returns to the building to remove her personal items only to discover that George has moved from the building and instructed the landlord to give his office to Emily. She is overwhelmed by the gesture.

Emily fools George into returning to the building and in cahoots with the building landlord arranges for her and George to be trapped in the elevator again. This time, they’re not leaving until they figure out where they want to go in life and if they want to take that journey together. By the time the doors open, we know the answer is yes.  

Quoted from SAC Thanks, Libby. Great notes! I like the title suggestion. I thought the title of the song was a better fit. When I query this again perhaps I’ll change the title — I did that on another script. I do recall you mentioning previously Owen’s Cares maybe confused with cars. It is Cares, btw. Like to see some others post theirs!

Yep, I do recall that. I think the pun worked in the context from memory. Out of its element it just threw me.

I see where you're at with matching the song to the script title too. It's a great idea. That particular song title just missing something for me, didn't grab me.

P.S. Good on Dave!
I found part of my synopsis but couldn't find the completed one unfortunately, so it's a mess and no great example  

There should totally be a "review my synopsis" area of the boards.

After seeing this I started writing one for 42.2 and boy do I wish I wrote the synopsis first lol Getting the story down onto a single page, hitting beats that lead to the next in a concise manner was actually a great exercise.

Will post it up when I am done, I keep changing the story as I go lol

Quoted from eldave1 Good topic, Steve. I try to keep mine to no more than 500 words. I have no idea if they are good or not. By way of example - here is the one for THE BEGINNING OF THE END AND THE END ...

Love that synopsis, Dave.

Quoted from Matthew Taylor There should totally be a "review my synopsis" area of the boards. ...

I moved this from the Screenwriting Class thread to the new Queries and Pitches section.

Hmm, we could add Review my Synopsis to the Review my Logline thread, I suppose. Or, it could be separate.
Up to Don, ultimately.

Suggestion noted.
Will pass it on if Don doesn't see this.  

Quoted from Matthew Taylor Love that synopsis, Dave.

Yeah, that is a good one. And it’s exactly that — a mini screenplay idea you will. Beginning, middle, end. On one page. No easy feat.

Am still impressed with the Ransom one, though. Nails it.