Does your story have an engine — or just a mood?

The Pitch Room

Context

A studio pitch room. Three chairs: the pitcher holding the concept, the skeptic armed with hard questions, and the producer who's heard a thousand pitches and only greenlights the ones with an engine—not a mood, not a vibe. The producer votes yes or no alone; the skeptic advises but does not decide. You have exactly 60 seconds to state the named character, what forces them to change, and what they stand to lose. At 60 seconds, time is called and the room moves to the skeptic's first challenge. If you don't greenlight, the project is shelved.

Mission

Use the generative-ideation workbench to prompt AI for divergent story options, select against the criterion of a clear dramatic engine, and produce a signed one-pager naming the character's specific want, the forced change, and the tangible stakes—then defend that engine under live skeptic pressure.

Finish Line

An approved trailer concept

Team Roles

The Pitcher

Ships a bulletproof concept.
- Produce a signed one-pager with three lines: (1) Named character and specific want (who, what they need), (2) The forced change (the irreversible break in the world), (3) The real stakes (what they lose if they fail). One sentence each. No backstory, no mood language.
- Pitch the one-pager aloud in 60 seconds or less, leading with the character name. At 60 seconds, the pitcher stops and the skeptic speaks. No exceptions.
- When the skeptic lands a hit on one of the three engine parts, either defend that part with a specific example or revise that line on the one-pager in writing and re-pitch it in 30 seconds. The revised one-pager becomes the document the producer scores.
The Skeptic

Names the weakest link.
- After hearing the 60-second pitch, produce a written critique that names ONE of the three engine parts (character want, forced change, or stakes) and poses one hard question that tests it. Write the question down and read it aloud: 'Is the character's want clear enough?' or 'Can they actually not face this change?' or 'What happens to them if they fail?'
- Ground the question in the engine part itself, not the mood or delivery. Ask 'What specifically does the character stand to lose?' not 'Did you feel the stakes?'
- If the pitcher revises the one-pager, re-read the new line and ask one follow-up question. If the pitcher cannot revise, name which of the three parts is missing or broken.
The Producer

Votes greenlight or pass.
- Score the final one-pager (original or revised) against the three rubric bands: Named character (is the character named and does the want match a specific loss if they fail?), Forced change (is it unavoidable and irreversible?), Real stakes (is there a tangible loss the character and viewer both care about?). Score each as bronze, merit, or distinction.
- Greenlight only if all three parts score at least 'merit.' A distinction in one part cannot cover a bronze in another.
- Produce a signed greenlight or pass statement: 'GREENLIGHT: The character [name] faces [forced change], and the stakes are [named loss]. The engine will carry the story.' Or: 'PASS: The [part name] is too weak—[reason].' The producer's call is final and ends the exploration.

Exemplars

Golden Trailer Awards
Golden Trailer Awards

The industry awards body for movie trailers — the exemplar bar for what a finished, professional-grade trailer looks and sounds like.
Runway AI Film Festival
Runway

The premier festival showcase of finished AI films — the "this is what pro AI filmmaking looks like" gallery. Complements the Golden Trailer Awards craft bar.