So me and a friend have spent the last year or so working on a movie script. My first time writing anything so large (122pg), and…whew! Not as easy I would have thought going into it!
We sent out about 50 query letters, and received about 8 requests for our script. Not sure if thats good or bad, but we were excited! I got the last rejection a few days ago, which is fine. I never expected to sell my first script anyway.
The problem however, is of course they never tell what they didnt like. Is it the plot? Story? Writing? We have passed our script around to friends and family for input and all we ever get is “It is good”. Which is nice to hear, but I refuse to believe that nothing is wrong with it, and that no opportunity for change exists!
So we are looking at perhaps using a script reader service on the net. Some of them look okay, but again, I am new to all this. Prices range from 150.00 to 300.00 for various treatments and summaries.
Has anyone used a service like this before? Is there any value from doing so? Any thoughts would be helpful!
No clue. However, I occassionaly visit sites that archive movie scripts, (still no Beetlejuice). They also include movie scripts of movies that were never made, and include the author’s e-mail address, and a request for comments. For example, a totaly bizzare version of Catwoman
I don’t know about movie scripts, but, in general, anyone who asks for money to analyse/edit your work is to be approached with extreme caution. Not all are scams, but the percentage is high enough that you should be very wary.
You need to ask any of these some very important questions:
What authors have you worked with?
What scripts have the authors sold after you worked on them?
Can I contact the authors for a reference?
If they refuse to answer these questions, no matter how plausible their reasons seem to be, stay away.
The key test to see if the script reader is any good is results. If they won’t tell you their results, they are hiding something.
Check out Zoetrope.com. There’s a section on Script Writing - complete with forums and review groups - and I’m sure you’ll find more than you ever wanted to know about script writing and reviewing.
Can I read your script, I would be more than willing to give you constructive feedbakc for nothing. I don’t do this professionally, but I have read many friends screenplays (I live in L.A.) and have been told I give reasonably good feedbakc. You ware always free to reject what I say.
If you prefer not though, I can give some possible ideas:
Script readers rarely read the whole script. If they read the first ten pages and nothing much has happened, tr it feels to “done before” there is a good chance they will throw it in the rejection pile.
If it looks “expensive” or nigh impossible to make, they will reject it unless it is outstanding. A small character driven script is more likely than an outer space shootout, to be considered.
Presentation, although I doubt, this is a problem with your script. Scripts are expected to be formatted a certain way, bound a certain way. It sounds shallow in some ways, but it is what it is.
Of course, what you would hope ti s the main reason scripts are accepted or rejected is n their quality, that is what may get a reader to read the whole thing, is if the dialogue and action is good, snappy or interesting and productive to the storyline. Really, the key is gettng them to read the whole thing actually. It is possible that a reader randomly opened up your script to the least interesting, least cohesive section. Make sure every scene is important and propels the story. (not just for the readers sake, but for the quality of the script as well.
Readers are generally paid to say ‘No’, 8 out of 50 is pretty good, but constructive feedback just isn’t going to happen because they go though hundreds of scripts.