High Concept: The District 9 Dilemma

Posted on 10/26/2009 at 3:26:41 PM

Katleho “Katt” Ramaphakela

Most educators or literary works on the screenwriting art will be quick to tell you that a film-producer is sure to be easily blown away by a “High-Concept” idea. After all, this is in itself “larger than life” and a proven money spinner. But as far as exceptions to all rules go, I can safely come to the conclusion that South Africa is that broken law…

But is this a disillusioned predisposition on my part, living in a country with such vast stories waiting to be unleashed to the global community, or should I be content with the proven, simple fact, that “numbers don’t lie!” Truth is, I don’t even consider myself much of a writer; I guess I’m that good an actor that I’ve managed to convince so many that I can string a couple of sentences on paper. So who am I to even think I can comprehend the meaning of the term “High-Concept?”

I’m currently attempting my 3rd “unfinished” screenplay (and this time I’m striving towards a completed draft *cough-cough*). Yet even after all this “vast experience” *cough-cough* (must have something in my throat), I’m still trying to come to terms with this whole idea of “high-concept” in a South African story…

My impasse is what I call “The District 9 Dilemma.” You see, Neill Blomkamp (the-now-acclaimed-creator of this film-phenom, District 9) has managed to successfully set the global film-world alight with this South African based Science-Fiction tale; with the absence of a glorified American actor, yielding a butchered South African accent. Let’s face it, a story about a group of aliens whose spaceship gets stuck in Johannesburg and the consequences emanating from separating these creatures from humans, is as warped and as “high-concept” as you’re going to get, right?

So from this example, the sheer understanding of “High-Concept” should be quite lucid shouldn’t it? But let’s for one second, imagine that I, Katleho, aspirant writer and filmmaker, had approached every financing institution with this very same “larger-than-life” concept, of high-budget CGI and action sequences. With my relatively unknown producer in tow, the very first question a financier would want to know is: “How much is making this script gonna cost me son?” Now, not even my most deserving attempt at a Best Actor Oscar would help me pull off the line, “$30 million sir!” (Did you notice the dollar sign in front of the “30”? And that’s good-ol’-American greenback. Not to be confused with that printed by a neighbouring Reserve Bank).

Reality strikes! Unless you introduce yourself as a writer with the last name Cohen, or you’re backed by someone else whose last name happens to be Spielberg, Bruckheimer or Jackson (you get the drift) then this “High-Concept” script of yours will probably be in development “indefinitely.” You can then forget about the $30 bar South African script dream! But this is where Mr Blomkamp played his aces, with the right surname up his sleeve; his producer was little-known *cough-cough* (I really need to get this thing checked out) Peter Jackson!

Without discrediting Neil’s extraordinary achievement in the least, I think his accolades should go to the fact that he managed to turn a Hollywood Movie into a South African concept and not necessarily the other way around. (Yes, yes, I am fully aware that the film was based on his short, which was made in South Africa pre-Hollywood/Canada migration, but what qualifies it as a Hollywood film and not a South African one is that “$30 million pricetag”). If anything, this is where our lesson should be learnt from. In fact, this should be the starting point, and most of the time is, for all screenwriting lectures: Who are you writing the film for? If you’re writing this film for South African audiences, then I would think one would need to tread carefully around the “High-Concept” dance floor, but if you’re aiming to make millions internationally, then by all means be as wild and wacky as your keyboard’s desire (bearing in mind which surname you wish to have in your pack of cards).

A case in point: If Disctrict 9 was made for South African audiences, then it would most definitely go down in history as the biggest squander of Tito Mboweni signed papers on a film (and probably on any investment for that matter). As I said before, “numbers don’t lie.” Now, I’m not delusional to the fact that the film may be construed to be churning good figures at the South African Box office, having taken over R2 million in its first weekend and tallied over R4.5 million by the second weekend. But then again, when we do the maths, what are these figures (these Rand figures, I might add) being compared to? Ah! Off course! It’s recent South African hits like Tsotsi and White Wedding, which were made for about a minuscule fraction of the District 9 Budget! Or perhaps the Mr Bones sequel, which made more than District 9 in the same period on a reportedly mere 10% of this budget right?… Yes. By this stage of your film’s cycle, your financier is surely patting you on the back for the return on his investment (or perhaps his 200kg-weighing henchmen have been sent to do the patting for him).

In Hollywood, Neill Blomkamp may, after this phenomenon, be the most sought-after Director by film-studios, with his ability to recoup money on a fairly low-budget film (in Hollywood terms), within the first weekend of release. However, if this film had opened in South African theatres alone, with overseas territories only secondary to South Africa, Mr Blomkamp might have found himself on the wrong end of a producer’s favourite cliché: “You’ll never work in this town again!”

I’ll be the first to admit that the aforementioned South African flicks are far from being “high-concept” ideas. Let’s see: A small-time gangster hi-jacks a car, only to find an infant in the backseat; Two best friends take a road trip to the one’s wedding and lastly, a White Sangoma… (Well, I haven’t actually seen Mr Bones 2 to know what it’s about but I’m sure it’s not as High-Concept as I think). For the sake of transparency though, I will disclose that I saw the first one. So then what does “High-Concept” mean for a South African Film, because District 9 would suggest that I can go as wild as I want to, whereas the producers would tell me that I’ve lost my marbles…

Perhaps then, we shouldn’t be talking about “High-Concept” stories in a South African context and rather learn from simple ideas that films such as Tsotsi and White Wedding have taught us… Damn! I just realised that if that’s true, then I guess I’ll be moving on to my 4th “Unfinished” Screenplay. But then again, I’m not offering a solution really; just posing the question. Hopefully, the answer, whatever it is (Hey! I’m no guru! I’m not even a writer!) shall help South African screenwriters write films that eventually create a profitable film industry, without a film needing the South African surname Schuster to make sure that it earns its money back…

Peace, Luv and Nappiness,

“I am not a writer!” – Katt