What's a Look Book and Why Filmmakers Need One

It might seem like a pretty straightforward process to take an idea or script for a film (or television show) & bring it to any of the legacy movie studios (or streaming studios) & have them "greenlight" it because it's such an amazing idea that needs to be made.

But it becomes a little bit more complicated than that. See, there is a bridge that needs to be made between the filmmaker pitching the idea & the executive who is hearing the idea being pitched to them.

A filmmaker will come into a studio with their project pitch that they hope to sell to that studio. This consists of not only the script, but of a visual representation of their intentions for the look & feel for the project. This is known as a "Lookbook".

The reality is that it is quite difficult to get anyone to read a script & the tone or feel for what the filmmaker envisions doesn't rely on words alone. Cinema & television are visual mediums after all & having visuals only makes the pitch stronger.

"A picture is worth a thousand words", as the saying goes, is no truer when communicating an idea to the people who may hold the keys to the next step in the process of making it a reality. If they don't see it, then they don't greenlight it.

So what is a Lookbook? A lookbook functions as a frame of reference for the audience. It can go into detail on specific elements like cinematography, color, production design, editing, & casting.  The lookbook is a visual blueprint for the project. 

Writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, costume designers, set decorators, and makeup artists all use lookbooks. They're ubiquitous across Hollywood, with people making them for movies, TV shows, web series, and commercials, among other projects. 

So if you have a script that you absolutely love & want to further your chances of it being made then you can't go wrong with creating a lookbook to show to a studio or to get people excited about the project in general. "Show, don't tell" is the best approach.

An example of a successful pitch that convinced Netflix to make their show is from the Duffer Brothers. They put together a pitch with their lookbook for "Stranger Things" that laid out not only story & characters but through their design of the lookbook conveyed a tone.

Another example comes from the feature film "Black Mitzvah" in which there are very colorful pages that give you a sense of the fun tone & story & characters that make up the film.