I disagree, there's plenty of imagination it's just misplaced. There are many, many, many, creative and talented writers and others with great ideas for films, television shows, etc. What's lacking is courage and imagination in the corporate offices where the people who sign the checks live.
Ironically, one need only look at some of the newest commercials to see where a lot of the talent is working. There are some major film directors who go "slumming" to make commercials because they're given a lot of latitude and until recently, some pretty amazing budgets. I've worked on commercials which had budgets that shamed some feature length films.
As for original stories, there are only what, 12 story lines in the world? It's all about how you use the elements at hand when you're telling yours.
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JohnE
"and all the lousy little poets
comin round
tryin' to sound like Charlie Manson"
The Future/Leonard Cohen