No added bells and whistles. Just expert script analysis and story notes. If you need help with your logline, formatting or basic presentation, I’ll let you know anyway without tacking on greedy fees. And if I give your script a “recommend”, I’ll pass it on to industry contacts free of charge, if you wish. I can’t promise anything, but I’m always happy to put in a good word for a great script.

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Coverage

The same objective critique that agents, producers and studio execs refer to before deciding whether to actually read your screenplay. This is typically your script’s one shot at getting through the door to decision makers.

Coverage gives you an accurate appraisal of how your script will “read” to industry professionals, provides insight into your script’s strengths and weaknesses and suggests possible narrative fixes.

Includes: A details page, offering a brief summary of my comments, a logline of your story and a “grade” for each of the script’s key elements, including its overall potential. This is followed by three to five pages of comments where I carefully analyze your premise, storyline, characters and dialogue and then provide clear suggestions for how to improve the script. (4 to 6 pages)

COVERAGE – $175

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Story Notes

A detailed, in-depth analysis of your entire script that pinpoints the story you were trying to tell and then helps you tell it. These are not “page notes”, which usually amount to on-the-fly comments that never address the totality of a script.

I provide comprehensive analysis of every element of your screenplay: The clarity and freshness of the premise; the narrative logic, emotional impact, dramatic drive and structure of your storyline; the motivations and dimensionality of your characters and the strength of their arcs; the wit, economy, humor and power of your dialogue; the rhythm, pace and tone of the script and your specific “voice” or writing style.

Most importantly, I redirect you toward the ideal story you were after in the first place by providing narrative ideas and strategies that spring from your script, not from my “take” on your premise. My notes typically run eight to ten pages in length, but are often longer depending upon the needs of the individual script. I know I’m done when I stop writing. (8 to 10 pages)

STORY NOTES – $450

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Rewrite Story Notes

If I’ve provided story notes on an earlier draft, I offer discount notes for your rewrite. The rewrite notes thoroughly analyze all of the changes and provide fresh ideas for further improvement of the script. (6 to 8 pages)

REWRITE NOTES – $275

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Synopsis

For an added fee, I can also include the classic “synopsis” page found in traditional script coverage. This is a one to two page summary of your story to illustrate which narrative elements readily come across to the reader, and which do not.

SYNOPSIS – $50

The Plan

Using the PayPal buttons, add the script service you need to your shopping cart and check out. Once PayPal sends you your receipt, simply email your screenplay to Leo@ScriptGuy.com. You can send your script as either a Pdf or a Final Draft file. I’ll reply by email when I’ve received your payment and your baby… and then the fun begins.

On average, I will email back your story notes 2 to 3 weeks after I’ve received your script. If I am really swamped it might take slightly longer, but I will notify you in advance. Coverage is often returned much sooner.

On a side note, I don’t offer one-on-one consultations in person or over the phone because, frankly, I’m not nearly as objective when I hear a fellow writer’s hopeful voice. I’m far more honest on the page, which is what you really need.

I see a raised hand! To wit, why are some script consultants more expensive and why do they have longer turnaround times? In a word, because we are professionals. I don’t offer twenty pages of story notes overnight for eighty dollars. If you are promised something this grandiose, this guarantee comes from a factory script service.

Exhausted men in rags are chained to oars, rowing for their lives in a Roman ship.

At the factory, screenplays are farmed out to amateur readers in bulk, who get paid two thirds of that fee… as long as they can turn each script around blindingly fast. In other words, someone who is chained to the oar and rowing through your script at “ramming speed.” That’s not me…