What is ‘high concept’ in storytelling?

One of the finest elevator pitches: 'A hilarious comedy of youth to outwit an old genius'. Much before the phrase 'elevator pitch' became common, the movie folks and advertising folks used to have the 'high concept'. A high concept is nothing but the summary of an idea that one can succinctly communicate or pitch to a client/ studio.

This movie, Chupke Chupke, is about 48 years old and Hrishikesh Mukherjee nailed the elevator pitch perfectly (see the encircled line) - 'A hilarious conspiracy of youth to outwit an old genius!. Those days, one did not have YouTube and very few movie halls could play movie trailers so the poster had to do the heavy lifting in terms of communicating the idea.

Here's a simple way to improve your elevator pitch muscle. Write down the names of 10 of your favorite movies or ads. Now, imagine you are pitching the idea to a studio or a client. How would you describe the main idea in one line in a way that explains it and also excites the listener to know more? Do feel free to write in your high concept ideas/ elevator pitches for movies. Who knows, I may just send a gift to the one i like the most.

Here's one for the movie Godfather: 'I am going to make him an offer he just CANNOT refuse.