Shaker sets up another drop, but Tom surprises everyone by appearing on live TV and saying he will pay no ransom. News of the shooting/ransom appears all over the NYC media, adding to Tom’s problems. Gunshots are traded, and the henchman is killed. The henchman flees, but police swarm the area. When Tom demands his son in return, the henchman is confused. Tom follows all directions and hands the $2 million to one of Shaker’s henchmen. Shaker anonymously calls Tom and arranges a dropoff. Shaker tells his conspirators that the boy will be killed once the ransom is given.
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. The Mullens call the FBI for help.Īfter being kidnapped, Sean is held in a basement. Tom and his wife KATE’s worst nightmares are confirmed when a kidnapper contacts them and demands a $2 million ransom. While he and his family are in Central Park, his son, SEAN, is kidnapped. "TOM MULLEN is a rich businessman who made his fortune creating a successful airline company from scratch. What about this one from Ransom provided by Writer's Digest? This example clues us in on the way to write and summarize even a complicated story.
It highlights the characters, world, stakes, and ties everything up neatly in the end.
This one is written as it belongs in a screenplay coverage. It takes the story of A Few Good Men and boils it down to all the relevant details. If you want to read an example, look at this one provided by Script Mag. On your first day as an intern, you might be asked to write four or five of them.
Also, as a writer, sometimes I send a one-page synopsis to producers to get them excited about reading my full draft or to help them sell it in the international market at a festival like Berlin or Cannes. If you're working on a film treatment or an outline, you want a synopsis to be able to communicate your story and its beats to an audience. Your screenplay synopsis is a great tool to master for your first job as a Hollywood assistant, mainly because you'll spend most of your nights and weekends writing coverage for your boss.
Today we'll learn how to write a synopsis, look at an example, go through a screenplay synopsis checklist, and get our film synopsis skills going. Being able to provide a synopsis is an excellent and essential skill to have across the board in this town. That story would be a synopsis, and when you work in Hollywood, you have to master that art. And if we told it well, we get the reaction we wanted. If we're tight on time, we've given them the highlights - just the big emotional punches and payoffs. But how can you compress the complex thoughts of your story into a one-page doc?Īt some point or another, we all have told a story to a friend. Knowing how to write a movie synopsis is an absolute must for anyone trying to shop a screenplay or work within Hollywood.