logline

Or log line

[lawg-lahyn, log-]

noun

1. a one to two sentence synopsis of a program, script, screenplay, or book, often used to sell the work to a producer or publisher.

   We've got to make sure the logline is perfect when we go pitch this idea.

2. Nautical,  a length of rope with knots tied 7 fathoms apart, by which a log or patent log is streamed in order to measure the speed of a ship.

Word History and Origins

Origin of logline¹

First recorded in 1605–15

Example Sentences

“Serial killer. Grave robber. Psycho. In the frozen fields of 1950s rural Wisconsin, a friendly, mild-mannered recluse named Eddie Gein lived quietly on a decaying farm — hiding a house of horrors so gruesome it would redefine the American nightmare,” reads the show’s official logline.

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There was the part of me that was slightly skeptical seeing a logline that leaned on two of the biggest Asian-led shows ever, but the part of me that grew up on a steady diet of chanbara is excited by the idea of a battle royale with samurai — and that part has completely won out.

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The 10-episode Apple TV+ dramedy “will center on the codependent relationship between an 18-year-old actress in a hit kid’s show and her narcissistic mother who relishes in her identity as ‘a starlet’s mother,’” per the logline.

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The logline portends a comedy, possibly a parody, even a satire.

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Stine’s bibliography, “The Prom Queen,” logline more or less intact: Shadyside High is revving up for the prom, and everyone’s excited, including a maniac decked out in a grim visaged mask and a crimson latex coat, stalking prom queen candidates in the school’s hallways with an ax.

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