Generating Concepts - The "Netflix" Strategy

Remember, the vast majority of the concepts you generate will suck. And that is okay. You need to give yourself permission to be crazy, stupid, out there, and messy when you’re trying to figure out what to write. Don’t edit yourself. The goal is to just have fun with this and generate as many ideas as you can. You’ll then review the concepts and see which ones get your attention, which ones can be tweaked into a better concept, and hone in on the marketable ones.

Always remember, “Sharknado” is a thing. It’s not only ridiculously dumb, but was ridiculously successful. Just have fun with this.

​This first “Netflix” strategy was once my favorite, but the Netflix interface is no longer compatible—especially the way it auto-plays previews. It used to show a grid of movies, where each row more or less contained a different genre…and scrolling through that grid was what helped me generate ideas.
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Luckily, Google offers a great alternative. Search “movies on Netflix,” and results show up in a grid as shown here.

​And here comes the fun. Pick two movies in the same genre, and a third from a different genre or category and try to get yourself to see something by combining the three. 

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For example, I’m going to latch onto This is the End, Senior Year, Synchronic. If I don’t know what the movies are about, I’ll watch the trailers or read the synopsis:

• THIS IS THE END: Six (famous actor) friends are trapped in a house after a series of strange and catastrophic events devastate Los Angeles. As the world unravels outside, dwindling supplies and cabin fever threaten to tear apart the friendships inside. Eventually, they are forced to leave the house, facing their fate and the true meaning of friendship and redemption.
• SENIOR YEAR: After a cheerleader (Rebel Wilson) falls off a pyramid and into a 20 year coma, she wakes up as a 37-year-old woman, ready to return to high school, regain her status and claim the prom queen crown that eluded her.
• SYNCHRONIC: The lives of two paramedics in New Orleans are ripped apart after a series of horrific deaths are caused by a new designer drug. From the trailer, it looks like one of the paramedics experiences time travel when he takes the drug.

 
List the basic components from each film:

• THIS IS THE END: Famous actors, Armageddon, friendships tested as they try to survive dwindling supplies and getting chased by demons.
• SENIOR YEAR: Once popular cheer captain wakes from a coma 20 years later, returns to high school, has to learn social media, fights to regain top of social status, humbles herself
• SYNCHRONIC: Paramedics, New Orleans, Designer drug causes death, time travel element

 
Swap out the elements and see if it sparks any ideas. Remember, again, “Sharknado” is a thing. Also, if one of your new ideas sparks ideas down another path, just run with it. There are no rules here.

1. A team of paramedics race through New Orleans to save their families when a Day of the Dead celebration actually raises the dead and triggers Armageddon.
2. After ingesting a designer drug, a famous actor falls into a coma where he lives out a fantastic dreamlife that triggers real-world consequences.
3. When Armageddon strikes during their after-school detention, a gang of mismatched teens rely on one another’s strengths to defend the school so that they can survive.
4. When a famous actress returns to her alma mater to give a speech during Homecoming, the current Homecoming Queen plots to have her kidnapped for stealing her thunder.
5. Everyone in the world wakes to discover Armageddon happened while they were sleeping…twenty years ago. Can the survivors pick up the pieces and reclaim a world that’s been overrun by mother nature?
6. Jesus returns, but only on social media. Is he a nutjob, or is he exactly who he says he is?
7. A famous actor whose star is dwindling creates the performance of a lifetime and convinces people that he is God’s prophet. Fans turn into followers, and just as it looks like his con is beginning to fall apart, the miracles start happening.
8. When a bus transporting a high school football team is exposed to psychedelic spores and crashes, the team is convinced they’re being attacked by demons. Survivors of the crash fight each other and their hallucinations on their way back to the safety of home…only to discover the entire world has been affected. Or has it?
9. A high school geek dabbles in the occult to try and switch roles with his bully, only the magic goes wrong and now all the outcasts are in charge. Will they rule any differently?
10. When a demon-child shows up as the new student in their school, people end up dead…but is it the new student, or the would-be saviors who are doing all the killing?

 
Okay, so none of these concepts are stellar…but most of them have potential with some tweaking. And although none of these ideas closely resemble the three movies, those three movies sparked ten concepts for story ideas that I didn’t have just a few minutes ago. If you do this exercise daily, you will:

• Amass a library of concepts you can always use to spark better ideas.
• Generate ideas more easily.
• Generate quality ideas more easily.

For the next week, give this exercise a shot daily. Try to generate 10 concepts each day. Right now, shoot for quantity over quality. Have fun with it, and see if you can get 70 story ideas by the end of the week.