The logline is the single most important sentence you will write about your film. It is the sentence the programmer uses to decide whether to read further. It is the sentence the festival will quote in the catalogue if you get in. It is the sentence a sales agent will paste into an email when pitching your film to a distributor at 9 in the morning, before they have had coffee, with 40 other films in their queue.
Treat it as a single deliverable that deserves its own afternoon of writing. Most filmmakers do not, and it shows.
The three things a logline must contain
A working logline tells a stranger, in one sentence, three things: who the protagonist is, what situation they are in, and what is driving the conflict. Optionally a fourth: the tone or angle that makes this film not the next one.
Generic logline: A young woman struggles to come to terms with her past. That is a category, not a story. The reader cannot picture the film.
Specific logline: The night before her father's funeral, a 17-year-old finds the man's diary and discovers he kept a second family in the next town. Now the reader can picture the film, and they want to know what happens next.
The fix between the two is not stylistic. It is informational. Specifics replace abstractions: not "her past" but "her father's funeral", not "comes to terms" but "finds the diary".
The length rule: 25 to 40 words
Aim for 25 to 40 words. Loglines longer than 50 words almost always have two competing ideas, and one of them is doing nothing. Cut. If you need a longer pitch, you have a synopsis, not a logline.
One sentence is the target. Two short ones if the rhythm demands it. Three is a synopsis pretending to be a logline.
Name the role, not the character
Programmers do not yet know who Sarah is. Use the role or status, not the name. "A burned-out paramedic", "a debt-collector's teenage son", "a striking nurse on the last day of her hospital's ward". Naming the protagonist by their first name is a tell that you are writing for friends, not for someone who has never heard of your film.
Active verbs only
"Struggles", "fights", "discovers", "infiltrates", "outruns". Avoid passive constructions and avoid abstractions like "learns about herself" or "realises something important". The verb should describe what the protagonist does, not what they feel.
The logline does not reveal the ending
This is the rule most filmmakers get backwards. The logline sets up the engine of conflict, it does not resolve it. The synopsis is where the ending goes (more on that in the synopsis guide). Mixing the two rules is the most common materials mistake first-time filmmakers make.
Write two versions
A punchy industry one (25 words) for sales agents, FilmFreeway, and Twitter. A slightly longer festival or competition version (35 to 40 words) for cover letters, synopsis fields, and grant applications. Both contain the same engine of conflict, the longer version adds one detail of tone or stakes.
A test that works
Read your logline out loud to someone who has not seen the film. If they ask a follow-up question that you cannot answer with anything in the logline, you are missing something the reader needs. If their first response is "huh, OK" with no follow-up, your logline is generic. Either way, rewrite.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a film logline be?
Aim for 25 to 40 words. Loglines longer than 50 words almost always carry two competing ideas, and one of them is doing nothing, so cut it. If you need more than that, you have a synopsis, not a logline.
What should a logline include?
A working logline tells a stranger three things in one sentence: who the protagonist is, what situation they are in, and what is driving the conflict. Optionally a fourth thing, the tone or angle that makes this film different from the next one. The fix between a generic and a specific logline is informational, not stylistic, so replace abstractions with specifics.
Should a logline reveal the ending?
No. The logline sets up the engine of conflict, it does not resolve it. The ending belongs in the synopsis. Mixing the two is one of the most common materials mistakes first-time filmmakers make.
Should you name the main character in a logline?
Use the role or status, not the name, because programmers do not yet know who your character is. Phrases like a burned-out paramedic or a striking nurse on her last day tell the reader more than a first name. Use active verbs that describe what the protagonist does rather than what they feel.
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