Save the Cat!® Podcast: This Is Where I Leave You and the Institutionalized Genre
Jose Silerio
1 min read
It wasn’t a critical darling, but the recent dramedy starring Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver, and Jane Fonda is an excellent example of one of Blake Snyder’s less-produced genres: Institutionalized. In this podcast, Master Cat! José Silerio and Guy Thompson identify the three critical elements for the genre that are indeed in this story: 1) a group, in this case a family; 2) a choice for the protagonist (Bateman); and 3) a sacrifice that must be made, leading to one of three endings: join, burn it down… or commit “suicide.”
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Jose Silerio
José Silerio, a screenwriter who served as Blake Snyder’s Development Director, has been integral to the success of Blake’s workshops and classes as he worked alongside Blake schooling writers in the Cat! method. “José is my right-hand man when it comes to script consultations.”– Blake Snyder, Save the Cat!® Strikes Back – More Trouble for Writers to Get Into… and Out Of.
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1 Comment
“Institutionalized” is a very versatile genre. Look no further than the current top placeholder at the box office: Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper” — a “Military Institution.” And Academy Award Best Picture nominee “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is a “Mentor Institution.” All of Blake’s genres can account for stories that range considerably in style and tone, perhaps none more so than this one.