15. Inside Out
Written by Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen, Meg LeFauve, and Josh Cooley (with additional story material and dialogue credited to Michael Arndt, Simon Rich, Bill Hader, and Amy Poehler
After young Riley is uprooted from her Midwest life and moved to San Francisco, her emotions – Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness–conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house, and school.
Why It’s Innovative: Despite the sequels of late, Pixar has always managed to find fantastic and original cinematic narratives. This script explored an area within our humanity that has never been truly tackled—our emotions. And it managed to imagine what it would be like if our feelings were actually living beings, each with a purpose to serve us well.
What other successful innovative screenplays did we miss?
Chasing trends and trying to keep in touch with industry demand is part of the grind of being a screenwriter—you do need some of those types of scripts stacked within your deck. However, a majority of the time it’s those innovative scripts that rise above the rest in the screenplay market through contests, competitions, fellowships, and networking.
Sometimes it’s about writing the craziest concept you can think of—but writing it well. Other times it’s about finding innovative ways to tell otherwise familiar stories.
Regardless, don’t be afraid to be different. Different is good. And different is sometimes necessary to stand apart from the rest. MM
This post originally appeared on the blog ScreenCraft. ScreenCraft is dedicated to helping screenwriters and filmmakers succeed through educational events, screenwriting competitions and the annual ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship program, connecting screenwriters with agents, managers and Hollywood producers. Follow ScreenCraft on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
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