Short Stories Are Having A Moment. David Boxerbaum From Verve Talent Agency Explains

Hollywood is expanding its reach in terms of where it sources new material, particularly original stories that can be adapted into films and television shows. Producers have scoured through podcasts, magazine articles, and increasingly, short stories. David Boxerbaum, an agent at Verve Talent Agency, spoke with Creative Screenwriting Magazine about the success he’s been having in selling short stories to producers and studios.

Short stories shouldn’t be considered as a proof of concept or an abridged version of novel by writers that are necessarily, a means to an end. They are legitimate literary forms that may exclusively exist in that short format, or they can be adapted into larger pieces. “I think it’s a really interesting new prose that is becoming much more sought after in the marketplace right now,” says Boxerbaum. The agent is somewhat surprised by how sought-after the format has become recently after Verve has sold around 15 short stories in a row, some through bidding wars. “It’s almost replacing the spec script, but definitely becoming more sought-after than the spec. To me, the short story has become a real opportunity for writers, novelists, and playwrights, to really make an impact with a different way of showing a story, unlike we’ve seen quite some time,” he continues.

Short stories have been published for many years, but the way they have changed the industry, especially in the horror-thriller genre, is very exciting. Horror and thriller short stories have made the biggest impact in a similar way that true-crime has impacted podcast adaptations into films and TV series.

The agent compares the excitement of short stories to the explosion of spec script sales during the 80s and 90s. And it shows no signs of slowing down.

“I think it’s remarkable the way you can tell a story in the 25 to 40 pages; sometimes in as few as 4 or as high as 60. We’ve seen a different way that it triggers someone’s thought process when they’re reading them compared to when reading a normal spec.”

David has enjoyed professional success selling spec scripts and he doesn’t want writers to feel that they will be imminently be replaced by short stories. Writers should continue to write original stories in their preferred formats.

Although horror and thriller short stories have dominated this space, Boxerbaum doesn’t see them as the only genre that can work. “I definitely think sci-fi is a very big genre and there’s an absolute white space for that too. I also think we’re going to explore straight action, but I think the most successful ones will be action thriller.”

The agent hasn’t seen romantic comedies lend themselves to the short story format, since they are more sourced in the spec script, novel or IP spaces.