The Do’s and Don’ts of Writing Professional Script Coverage

Becoming a professional script reader is one of the most coveted jobs for up-and-coming screenwriters—beyond the wants and needs of selling a screenplay. Sometimes, you may not want to be a screenwriter. Some people want to work in development or become a Hollywood producer. Writing professional script coverage is a necessary stepping stone to accomplishing those goals—as is being able to evaluate screenplays with an objective eye. 

Hollywood Pays People To Read Screenplays?

“You mean I get to critique people’s screenwriting and get paid to do that?”

Yes, but it’s not the dream job that most people think it is. Writing professional script coverage is a laborious process that involves hours of work for each screenplay. The kicker is that you need to do it not just for the excellent screenplays you may come across but for the other 99 percent of horrible scripts.

Read More: What to Do When Your Script Coverage Tells You Your Script is Terrible

That’s right. A majority of the screenplays pro script readers read are either not ready or just plain terrible, yet you still need to put in the work to write professional coverage for every one of them—whether they are great, good, or bad.

If you read that and are still curious about the job, yes, Hollywood pays people to read screenplays. 

The Do’s and Don’ts of Writing Professional Script Coverage

Okay, let’s say you’ve managed to get a job as a script reader or story analyst. Maybe you’ve managed to write some script coverage along the way. Maybe you’re about to learn as you start your new position as an intern, assistant, story analyst, or freelancer.

Here are some key guidelines for what you should and shouldn’t be thinking or doing as a professional script reader and script coverage writer, provided by insight and experience at the major studio level in those roles (by yours truly).

Do Your Script Coverage Homework

Ask your employer to provide you with some script coverage samples written by their company’s readers. While there is a general form and format for industry script coverage, coverage will vary from company to company based on internal wants, needs, and preferences. 

So, the first thing you should do is ask for as many coverage samples as you can. 

Don’t Just Read the Enticing Coverage Samples

Sure, it will be fun to read coverage on screenplays that made it to the big screen with huge success. However, finding those types of gems is uncommon in your day-to-day (even your week-to-week, month-to-month, or year-to-year).

When you ask your company for coverage samples, don’t just read the successful scripts—request all of the passes, too. You’ll benefit by getting an idea of what the company wants and doesn’t want. That will be invaluable knowledge as you write your coverage for them.

Do Your Reading and Script Coverage with Objective Eyes

When you’re a professional script reader—particularly working for studios, production companies, networks, streamers, management companies, and agencies—you need to base your analysis on the industry guidelines and expectations, as well as the wants and needs of your employer. 

• You may love unique and quirky indie flicks, but your employer may specialize in developing high-concept fare for mass appeal
  
• You may hate formulaic thrillers and action flicks, but your employer may need them to sell projects to the foreign market
• You may not understand certain types of comedy, but your employer may be a fan
  

The key thing to remember is that your job is to look for projects that will benefit your employer. They will have their wants and needs. It’s your job to work like a sports scout would work for a head coach or general manager. Go find the prospects that fall in line with the team’s plans. 

Don’t Let Your Subjective Eyes Blind You

Being a professional script reader is nothing like being a movie critic. Movie critics are paid to give their personal opinions so that loyal readers can use those opinions to gauge what they want to see. That’s not what script readers do. And that is not how you write professional coverage.

Read scripts through the eyes of your boss. Sure, there will be companies that ask you to find diamonds in the rough. Management companies are always looking for new and exciting talent that stands out. But most studios, production companies, networks, and streamers are looking for particular boxes to check for their development and production slate.

Don’t let the latest formulaic high-concept script fall through your fingers because chances are another company will get their hands on it, and your employers will ask why you didn’t recommend it when it was in your hands.

That said, you can use your subjective viewpoints to find worthy scripts just as long as you’re looking for your favorite versions of what your employer wants to pay millions of dollars to purchase, develop, and produce. 

Do As Much Script Reading As You Can

The more scripts you read and the more script coverage you write, the better you’ll be at analyzing screenplays. 

As you continue to read, review, and cover screenplays, you’ll begin to build intuitive skills that will help you in your professional career as a script reader. 

You’ll be able to:

• Scan scripts a bit faster and retain the necessary information
• Spot a script that is not ready very quickly
• See what works and what doesn’t work with ease
• Judge what scripts stand apart from the rest

Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew

While it’s great to read and cover as many scripts as you can, you need to be sure that you don’t make promises you can’t keep without losing the quality of your work. 

Don’t chase a big paycheck if you’re a freelancer or getting paid by the script. As we mentioned above, good coverage takes at least a few hours per screenplay. 

• You need to read the script (1-2 hours)
• You then need to write a 1-3 page synopsis (depending on the company’s preferences) of the whole story from beginning to end, hitting all the major story beats, characters, and plot points
• After that, you need to write pages of analysis on the story, characters, plot, pacing, concept, and overall writing
• Don’t forget that you need to grade the script as well

That’s a lot of work. So, if you’re getting paid per script, don’t fall into the trap of chasing a big paycheck by breezing through an extra “stack” (we know, it’s all digital now) of screenplays.

There’s a flip side to that coin, though. You do need to handle a considerable workload, especially if you’re on staff as an intern, assistant, or in-house union hire.

Do Your Best to Recommend a Great Script

Finding a gem as a script reader is like winning the lottery. The odds are against it because there are too many screenplays and screenwriters out there. But that doesn’t mean you assume everything you get will be terrible.

It’s very easy to become cynical as a professional script reader—especially if you want to be a screenwriter yourself. In that case, you can easily fall into the trap of thinking, “How come all of these terrible scripts are getting read, but mine aren’t?”

Keep the hope alive that you’ll find that diamond in the rough. That’s sometimes the only thing driving you forward in this job.

Don’t Recommend Scripts Just to Recommend Something

You must choose, but choose wisely. It’s easy to want to recommend a script, especially when you’re new to the job. Most newcomers want to show their worth by recommending a script quickly when the truth is that employers will appreciate you not forwarding unworthy scripts their way. 

Be diligent in your search knowing that 99 percent of the script you cover will (and should) never be passed up the ladder. Your boss knows this all too well, so don’t worry about them thinking you’re not doing anything. If they meet with you and ask if you’ve found anything good and you tell them you haven’t, they’ll appreciate you wading through the bad so they don’t have to.

Do Embrace the Consider Rating

Considers usually add up to maybe four percent of what you read, which means that if you read 25 screenplays, one of those will be a “consider.”

The consider rating is something you shouldn’t ignore. It can usually lead to finding a quality screenwriter for potential assignments or a concept worthy of further development.

Don’t Use the Consider Rating as a Crutch To Send Something Up

We know what most were thinking. “Oh, I can still show that I’m worthwhile by giving some of the slightly above-average scripts a consider.”

Considers should be nearly as difficult to come by as “recommends.” If you find yourself sending multiple considers up the ladder to your bosses each week, you’re not doing your due diligence as the necessary Hollywood filter system.

Do Your Best To Learn From the Scripts You Read

There’s no better screenwriting education than being a professional script reader and coverage writer. 

• You’ll learn the wants, needs, guidelines, and expectations of the industry via an inside look into the development process
• You’ll learn from the great scripts you’ve read
• You’ll learn even more from the bad scripts you’ve read, as far as what not to do

Forget film school, forget screenwriting courses, and forget screenwriting articles and books. The best education you’ll ever receive in the art and business of screenwriting is by reading and evaluating screenplays.

Don’t Ask Your Bosses To Read Your Scripts

Don’t take the job if you’re only looking for an in to push your own scripts. You’ll be wasting their time, and yours. Take the job for the education and experience. Leave the script peddling to the hours when you’re not on the job for them.

There’s nothing more cringy in Hollywood than a low-level employee who “secretly” wants to be a professional screenwriter asking their executive bosses to read their script. It’s instantly awkward. It’s not a good look for you.

That said, if you’re a screenwriter, you know that sometimes you need to take a shot in the dark. With that in mind, here’s how you should handle this. Listen carefully to what types of scripts they are looking for. Learn every box they want and need to check to greenlight something. If you have something that falls in line with those wants and needs, do a polished rewrite to ensure that you hit each checkbox. If you don’t have something that falls in line with that, consider writing a project inspired by what they are looking for.

Then, and only then, should you try to find a moment to say, “You know what, I’ve got something that you may want to check out.”

But you better have an elevator pitch ready. And the script needs to be written and ready to read. 

Read More: How Writers Can Master the Elevator Pitch

How Do You Get a Job as a Professional Script Reader?

Professional script readers come in many different forms within the industry.

Internships

If you’re attending college and want to embed yourself within the industry, internships with studios, networks, streamers, production companies, management companies, and agencies are the easiest way to get the experience you need—and it is a great way to build an early network.

Just a couple of decades ago, internships were unpaid positions where employers could utilize interns for a variety of daily duties. Thankfully, that has changed. Interns now make a small wage for their work. 

One of those duties usually involves reading incoming screenplay submissions. Interns learn how to write professional script coverage and can take that experience and skill up the Hollywood ladder after graduation. 

Read More: A Screenwriter’s Guide to Script Coverage

Assistant Jobs

The next step of the Hollywood development ladder above internships is assistant jobs. You can work your way into the industry by taking on a job as an assistant for several industry insiders, including:

• Development executives
• Producers
• Managers
• Agents
• Directors

You’ll be on staff with them, usually in full-time positions. Assistant jobs entail the various daily office duties that an internship would do regularly—only now you’re likely tasked with more responsibilities. 

Reading scripts and writing coverage will be a big part of your daily routine as an assistant. You may get the initial first considers or recommendations from interns, but you’ll still be handling most of the reading and writing coverage for the incoming screenplay submission. 

Union Story Analyst

If you’re a union story analyst, then you’ll be making the union minimums.

The script readers union is an offshoot of the Editors Guild and offers dedicated professional script readers a more lucrative earning compared to an assistant position. However, it takes some time and money to join the union. You need to work a confirmed thirty days within a guild signatory company and then pay upwards of $2,000 in initiation and processing fees, just like you would when joining any Hollywood union or guild. 

Freelance Script Reader

You also have the option of working as a freelancer in the script-reading trade. This means you can go to companies and offer your services or respond to job listings for contractor positions in the script reading field. 

Coverage fees will depend on the offer made by the company or individual. 

Script Consultant

If you have experience writing coverage in the industry, you can work for script consulting companies to read screenplays of paying customers hoping to get industry feedback. 

Read More: How to Become a Hollywood Script Reader

Getting any of these positions requires industry networking, cold querying, and often being at the right place at the right time with the right person. 

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You’ll only get one opportunity to take this chance, so save it for that kismet moment when your writing may align with their wants and needs. Otherwise, it’s best to embrace your job as a script reader and stick to writing professional script coverage for them.

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Ken Miyamoto has worked in the film industry for nearly two decades, most notably as a studio liaison for Sony Studios and then as a script reader and story analyst for Sony Pictures.

He has many studio meetings under his belt as a produced screenwriter, meeting with the likes of Sony, Dreamworks, Universal, Disney, Warner Brothers, as well as many production and management companies. He has had a previous development deal with Lionsgate, as well as multiple writing assignments, including the produced miniseries Blackout, starring Anne Heche, Sean Patrick Flanery, Billy Zane, James Brolin, Haylie Duff, Brian Bloom, Eric La Salle, and Bruce Boxleitner, the feature thriller Hunter’s Creed, and many Lifetime thrillers. Follow Ken on Twitter @KenMovies and Instagram @KenMovies76

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