Nietzsche deserves the opportunity to rattle our cages, here, a century later. Harness the spirit of his life and intentions and his words to tell a good story; don’t get bogged down in the historical accuracy of his life.
I’m in good hands I can tell, because the writer uses the term “micro beer.” A minor thing for me to say, perhaps, but when I know the writer cares enough to use details like that, it tells me a lot about the character in one phrase: “He takes a pull of his micro beer.”
Keep your chaos and your craziness. That’s what makes the story interesting and the writer’s voice shine. But speak the language of the idiot script reader, or idiot producer’s assistant. Try to make it make sense to them. Ease us into it, or this is a dead project.
It’s the age-old question every screenwriter asks herself: “To cover my script, or not to cover my script?” Well, not really, but it’s still a valid question. Does screenplay coverage help a screenwriter to improve her script? Like any notes from anyone, free or paid, it all depends on who’s giving them. But let me … Read more
I recently ran into animation writer Steven Darancette at a local awesome coffee shop. Steve and I had worked together on several features in the past, but hadn’t hung out for a while. In the interim, Steve had written for a ton of produced shows, including some for Warner Bros. (Ozzy & Drix, Biker Mice … Read more
“Jingoist” is a sci-fi concept that suffers from a lack of clarity and tends to raise a lot of questions. Because of the opening voice-over, which sometimes doesn’t match what is being shown, the audience is likely to get lost rather than hooked.
A friend I’ve known for 30 years stopped in for a few days, visiting from the UK. We’ve always been close, so he knew I ran a company that did something with screenplays, but didn’t know exactly what that meant. So he asked, and I showed him how Screenplay Readers worked: Agents, writers, and producers … Read more
I’ve worked with all types of screenwriters here at Screenplay Readers, good, bad, friendly, evil —you name it. And having written, directed and produced five feature films, I’ve had the fortune of being exposed to (or inoculated by, you might say) an even wider variety of the species known as screenwriterus domesticus. So, since the … Read more
If you’re a screenwriter looking to sign with a literary agent, you’ve probably got the basics down: you can tell a reasonably-entertaining story on paper, you’re a hard worker, and you’re a nice gal. But, alas, it takes more than that to win the affections of an agent. Here are five things lit agents look for when … Read more
How you react to critical feedback on your script defines you as a screenwriter. It’s that simple. To be fair, there is such a thing as good critical feedback and such a thing as bad critical feedback, but a smart screenwriter will be ready to use either variety of feedback to their advantage. My company … Read more
Has your screenplay ever received a RECOMMEND when getting script coverage? As a script analyst running my own script coverage company, Screenplay Readers, I’m constantly bombarded with questions from screenwriters and producers, but perhaps no question is asked more than: “What do I have to do to get my script rated as a RECOMMEND?” (As opposed … Read more
There are screenwriters who write one script, mail it off to Hollywood, and sell it for $500k. And then there is the rest of us screenwriters with day jobs: working our butts off in the trenches, slogging through bills, slaving away at some soul-sucking day job so we can pay the rent and keep writing … Read more
Are your screenplay pages too long? Sure, you’re a good screenwriter, but are your script’s scenes filled with too much description? Does your dialogue take forever to slog through? Are you simply using too many words? It happens to the best of us! Take my easy five-question screenwriter quiz to see if your script pages … Read more
As the owner of Screenplay Readers, interacting with dozens of writers on a daily basis, I’ve seen it time and time again – screenwriters simply giving up, and getting out of the business. It’s always a bit discouraging to see talented folks, and folks with potential, simply throwing in the towel when it comes to … Read more
With every script that comes in and piles up here at Screenplay Readers, I can’t help but wonder how many new screenwriters know how stacked the deck is against them. And I also wonder how many of them know how essential it is to know that in order to get a script sold and represented. … Read more
If you’re a screenwriter looking to network at a Hollywood party, you’re in for a wild ride. It’s the age-old cliché of Hollywood: the industry party, loaded from wall to wall with wannabes, fakers, hangers-on, and phonies. And they’re all nobodies going nowhere who think they’re somebody. If you go to an film industry party … Read more
In the late 1990s, I worked for legendary B-film maverick Roger Corman, who made Bucket of Blood and the original Little Shop of Horrors, and whose film company gave some of Hollywood’s greatest filmmakers their first shot at directing – Ron Howard, James Cameron, Joe Dante, Martin Scorsese – the list goes on and on. … Read more
Script formatting errors plague every writer at every level. So don’t worry about formatting too much. But if you really want it to give off that professional vibe, make sure your script formatting is as clean and polished as it can be. So before you send that script out, give it a quick look to … Read more
If you’ve written a script, open up your script right now and turn to any page in the script. Read the scene. Then answer these questions below. Run every scene of your screenplay through these five questions, systematically, to find out if it can be improved: 1) Is the scene even necessary? If yes, go … Read more
Screenwriting at Starbucks can be great. Free wi-fi, a nice jazzy environment with woody overtones, baristas unionizing, etc. And there really are a ton of screenwriters who love working in Starbucks (or Peet’s or Coffee Bean or similar). On their laptops. But frankly, I have no idea how they can do it. Me, I need peace, quiet, … Read more
“A screenplay’s page count should be no longer than 120 pages.” We’ve all heard it time and again about script page count, whether in film school, or just as an anecdotal whisper on the screenwriter wind. 120 pages? Maximum? Isn’t that just a bit arbitrary? Why not 121? Why not 119? After all, The Godfather, (a great … Read more
A screenwriting critique – It can be fun to do one, but it’s not always fun when it’s your script that’s being critiqued. If you’ve ever received script notes on one of your screenplays, you know how frustrating it can be if the reader who read the script just flat-out didn’t like it, and/or gave your script low marks, or … Read more
I’ve written five features that have gotten made into films, and have been compensated as a screenwriter on all of them, even if it was just a small amount of cash, or even just a net points deal (a percentage of the revenue after the film makes its money back). I know too many screenwriters that … Read more
My company Screenplay Readers has been reading scripts and providing script coverage since 1999, and we’ve run across all types of script readers who have been a part of our team, or who have applied to be part of our team, but didn’t make the cut. Here’s a list of the script reader types you should … Read more
So you’ve gone to all the trouble of writing a script, which you happen to think is the greatest little romantic comedy since they invented Romantic Comedies in 2018. And you’ve gone to all the trouble of getting feedback on that script from friends, writers groups, and even paid for script coverage from a script … Read more
I’ve been reading scripts and providing coverage for over a decade now, and I’ve seen a few screenwriters come and go without really maximizing their script coverage experience. So I thought I’d share a few quick tips. If you opt for paid script coverage from a service like mine, Screenplay Readers, here are few ways you … Read more
Screenplay feedback is nice. But at what point does a screenwriter stop writing her script and start pitching it? That is, how is the screenwriter supposed to know when the script is finally, truly ready? When is that script, at long last, a final draft she can be proud of and send out to screenplay … Read more