The Hollywood Reporter is calling the newest script buy from newbie screenwriter Chris McCoy a “novel twist” on the romantic comedy genre and I’d have to say I most definitely agree.
McCoy’s script Good Looking, which is his second sale to Dreamworks within one month, takes the concept of Internet matchmaking one step further by positing that in the near-future, a service arises where not only do you get that “soulmate compatability” that a site like eHarmony predicts through questionnaires and personal essays, but you can also know exactly what the person is doing at any hour of the day thanks to the integration of surveillance camera technology. The other “novel twist” of course comes when a man using the service rejects the person the service claims is perfect for him.
But let’s hear from the man himself:
“If someone could organize that information and know what everyone in London was doing and eating and who they’re dating and who they’re going home with [via the city’s existing surveillance camera technology], then that’s an incredibly powerful tool,” McCoy said. “I think I have an oddball brain or something, but then I started thinking about how all that stuff could be applied to matchmaking. It would totally subvert Match.com and eHarmony, (where) I think people lie about who they are or they say what they think people will want them to be. But Good Looking, my service, knows who they are and can put them together.”
The other script that was purchased is an untitled college comedy, and if the premise for that one is as inventive as this one, I’m definitely willing to find out more.