Romantic Comedy & Romantic Drama. But can you say Romantic Comedy Drama?

ILove2Write · Jun 13, 2008

So, I wrote a Romantic script that has a lot of comedy in it, but it also has a lot of drama. How would I pitch this in a query? Should I just pick either Romantic Comedy or Romantic Drama and forget about the other until they can read it for themselves?

jennifer75 · Jun 13, 2008

ILove2Write said:
So, I wrote a Romantic script that has a lot of comedy in it, but it also has a lot of drama. How would I pitch this in a query? Should I just pick either Romantic Comedy or Romantic Drama and forget about the other until they can read it for themselves?

Romantic Dramedy.

Jersey Chick · Jun 13, 2008

Rats - Jennifer beat me to it...

**sigh**

Monaco · Jun 13, 2008

Each comedy should have enough drama in it, so my guess would be a Romantic Comedy.

LIVIN · Jun 13, 2008

jennifer75 said:
Romantic Dramedy.

I'll co-sign that.

zeprosnepsid · Jun 13, 2008

Yeah, it's a Dramedy. That's actually what it's called. Like American Beauty or Steel Magnolias or something.

Buddikins · Jun 13, 2008

zeprosnepsid said:
Yeah, it's a Dramedy. That's actually what it's called. Like American Beauty or Steel Magnolias or something.

Really? I learnt something new today

I would have said Light Drama or something, if you werent comfortable calling it a Comedy.

Raghu · Jun 13, 2008

Romdrady

Jon-Luke · Jun 14, 2008

Its true there is such a thing as Dramedy here's the Wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramedy

ILove2Write · Jun 16, 2008

Interesting ok. So if the agent accepts Romantic Comedy or Romantic Drama then I should have no problem sending something that says... "I have just finished a Romantic Dramedy called..."

?

Jon-Luke · Jun 16, 2008

Hmmm. I dunno.

If you Google Romantic Dramedy it comes up with about 2 results and asks if you meant Romantic Comedy. So I don't know exactly how accepted the term "Dramedy" is.

I think its better to market it as a Drama. Good Drama should have Romance, Tragedy, Comedy, Suspence and as many other good story telling elements as possible. Some people may disagree with me but if you look at a film like "Forest Gump" which I would consider a good Drama it obviously contains elements of Romance and Comedy as well.

Just a side note; the IMDB classifies Forest Gump as a Romance / Drama / Comedy but various other sites tend to classify it as a drama and I guess this is part of your dilemma. Never the less in my opinion I think using the term "Drama" is the safest.

clockwork · Jun 16, 2008

Monaco said:
Each comedy should have enough drama in it, so my guess would be a Romantic Comedy.

I'd echo this. I think it's a given that romantic comedies contain drama. The natural interlaced highs and lows of drama and comedy in Four Weddings and a Funeral et al isn't unusual, it's just good storytelling at work. What romantic comedy is all humour all the time?

I'm sure 'dramedy' is a term some people use but I don't think I could bring myself to say it without grimacing. I'd say 'romantic comedy' or, if I really felt the need to mention the drama I'd say it's a 'romantic comedy drama.' Even that seems less goofy to me.

I know there are a lot of different film-making styles these days but I always ask myself, "What shelf would you find this on at Blockbuster?" They don't have a 'Romantic Dramedy' section as far as I'm aware and in my experience, the industry tends to operate on simpler ways of classifying these things.

:Shrug:

VMMV

ILove2Write · Jun 18, 2008

I agree that Dramedy sounds strange, but...now I'm really confused as to what I should do! Some people say romantic comedy, others say romantic drama. My script has a lot of comedy in the beginning and middle, but its ending is pure drama with a lesser comedy aspect.

zeprosnepsid · Jun 18, 2008

I hold to the fact that while it's not a shelf in Blockbuster, anyone who works in the industry will know what a Dramedy is.

But from the sound of it, you're better off with Romantic Comedy than Romantic Drama. Because Romantic Drama to me says like weepie. Like The Notebook. I think you can go Romantic Comedy but try to infer in your logline that it dramas up a bit in the end.

Romantic Comedy & Romantic Drama. But can you say Romantic Comedy Drama?

ILove2Write

Jaws has nightmares too

jennifer75

SupahStah!

Jersey Chick

Up all night to get Loki

Monaco

LIVIN

zeprosnepsid

Buddikins

Raghu

Slumdog Screenwriter

Jon-Luke

Anomalous crusader

ILove2Write

Jaws has nightmares too

Jon-Luke

Anomalous crusader

clockwork

In the zone...

ILove2Write

Jaws has nightmares too

zeprosnepsid