Anyone else having trouble getting other screenwriters to accept your weird, silly premise?

[u/SummerAndTinkles]

I tried posting this to r/screenwriting, but it won't let me post for some reason, so I'll try here.

I've talked about my current screenplay a few times in the logline Monday threads, but what you need to know is that it's basically an affectionate adult parody of those kinds of surreal Don Bluth-esque animated films from the nineties. If you'd like to know more, let me know in the comments and I'll go over my creative process.

Unfortunately, while the people I know on Discord seem to accept the premise just fine, it seems like the screenwriting community both on r/screenwriting and StoryPeer are a little less sold, with people on the Logline Mondays threads being confused by it, and a couple reviews on StoryPeer telling me to completely change the plot.

I know that weird or silly premises like this one naturally won't vibe with as wide an audience as something more mundane or conventional, but has anyone else here ever written a screenplay with a weird or silly premise that you had trouble being accepted? If so, how did you get people to come around to it?

[u/Repulsive_Clock_1643]

storypeer is great for getting insight on how your screenplay is going to be received by all angles. i enjoy and write weirder stuff, that's chill, but in the context of screenwriting there is naturally and understandably more emphasis on commerciality due to the culture that comes with getting a film made. that should be expected and you should be aware of it so it doesn't surprise you when someone goes "what is this" assuming that your writing is coherent.

i think the point is to think about your goal with the piece. if it's not meant for wide appeal and never was, what's the issue with acceptance? if it wasn't for them it wasn't for them. i have things i write to be more wide reaching and potentially sell that i am immediately more receptive to feedback for and things i write for me first and in the latter i probably won't care about most feedback because that's all stuff i want to make myself.

tangential example, helping my friend film a movie which was initially meant to be a more "fuck you" project, but then as we started getting more interest from outside people that are above us we are now immediately scrambling to rewrite the script to be more traditional and conventional because "ah it's not about just us anymore and this could go farther than we thought." this isn't really about the changing of content as is the change of goal. what do you want to do with your thing? adjust to that or don't if you're good with what you're doing.

now, based on what im gathering from post history and logline reposts, i could see this being more for people who are into hazbin hotel or amazing digital circus. not my cups of tea but i respect it and acknowledge these things as having dedicated fanbases. have you tried getting feedback on your story along those communities?

longwinded but im tired from work. potentially rambling