Finding the Right Script Consultant by Victoria Lucas
June 9, 2008 by clive
You’ve just finished the third rewrite of your script. Your friends think it’s wonderful and even the screenwriters in your group heap praise upon you. You go to sleep with visions of Oscar acceptance speeches dancing in your head. But is the screenplay ready to be sent out? How can you tell if will impress producers and agents the same way?
One way is to consult a professional script analyst.
There are thousands of good scripts floating around Hollywood, some with clever plots, others with engaging characters or dialogue. But “good” isn’t usually enough to mean a sale.
Many writers become too close to their material and need to be challenged to see the story and characters in a new and fresh way. Even seasoned professional writers often send a new script to a trusted and equally experienced colleague for comments and suggestions. Lacking a friend with studio credits, many writers will turn to a script analyst or consultant for unbiased and constructive feedback.
But how can you be certain the consultant you choose is right for you? Try Googling “Script Consultants”: you get 271,000 hits. If you don’t have inside knowledge – or a friend in the industry – how can you sift through all the options?
A great way to find a good script consultant is through a referral from a writer who’s had a productive collaboration with that person. Writers groups and screenwriting blogs can be helpful with recommendations, but there’s nothing like being able to hear from a colleague that an analyst’s notes improved his or her script. Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all. As with any creative undertaking, certain writers just click with certain editors. Because most writers don’t have the luxury of trying several analysts, doing your homework will save time, money and frustration.
Many web sites for consultants offer coverage – providing a log line, synopsis and critique of the script. Coverage is designed to be a screening tool to help studio executives and producers gauge whether a script has potential. For the writer, coverage may be interesting as an indicator of whether a disinterested reader understands the tone and intent of the script, but it is not designed to help him improve his script. I believe a writer is better served with an analysis of what works or doesn’t work in the script, with specific creative ideas to solve those problems, not merely a retelling of the story. The goal is to make your good script even better.
Look for someone with solid credentials: a writer, producer or development executive with experience in your specialty. If you have a half hour comedy pilot you’d like analyzed, try to find someone with credits in that genre. While a consultant with a feature background would be able to give you help with character and story, he might not know the current tricks of the sit-com trade. Check testimonials if possible.
Most good analysts will provide some form of follow-up as part of the service. This could be a phone conference and email exchanges to provide clarification of the notes. If you are challenged and energized by the notes you receive, some analysts offer brainstorming sessions, usually for an additional fee.
In general, it’s best to use a consultant to polish, not construct. If you know your hero is too passive, for example, try to fix that before submitting the script. But sometimes you are simply beating your head against a wall with an intractable problem and need some outside help. In this instance a good consultant can sometimes provide the key.
One last piece of advice: get your screenplay in good shape before sending to an analyst. It’s a waste of your money to send a script to a consultant merely to give you notes on misspellings, format errors or “ghosts” (things left over from previous drafts).
As a writer it can be nerve-wracking when you send your baby out into the world. With an unbiased and educated assessment, a good script consultant can make the difference between having a “good” script and making a sale.
After Victoria kindly wrote this article we exchanged a couple of emails… which I’m going to reproduce in the comments section, because I think they’re useful:
CLIVE:
“Hi Victoria
Thank-you. The article is exactly what I wanted. Would you mind if I drop a couple of annotations with links into the text… so, when you say “check their background” I’d like to stick in (an IMDB search is a good way to do this. Clive)
The only other thing that occurred to me, was if I’d never used a script consultant I’d probably ask “how much should I be paying?” Do you want to stick in a few lines to cover that… or, you could leave it as is and if it comes up in the comments section, I could drop you a line and you could dialogue with the readers in “comments”… whichever works best for you.”
VICTORIA’S REPLY
“Dear Clive,
Glad you like the article. It was interesting for me to try to put my thoughts in order to write it…
In terms of annotations, please go ahead. IMDB is, of course, the best place to see a potential analyst’s produced credits.
Unfortunately produced credits are not always indicative of a career or experience — though it is the best resource we have. For example, a development or studio executive may have worked for decades on very high profile films or television shows and not be listed in IMDB. Executives don’t get screen credit, and screen credit is what counts in that database.
I would suggest checking the consultant’s website (if available) as well. If most of the credits are as an exec, then it makes sense that the listing on IMDB might be sparse. (I am aware of this as the vast majority of my work in the film business has been as a development and production executive. My produced credits are not impressive — hey, most of the films aren’t either — associate producer, production supervisor or researcher. Judging solely from IMDB, I wouldn’t hire me!)
The money issue is also tricky, which is frankly why I avoided it. In just random checking around I found huge differences: from well over a thousand dollars (US) down to under a hundred for analysis. In this instance, I don’t think it is entirely “you get what you pay for”. Linda Seger, author of many solid books for screenwriters, charges $1500 to analyze a script with notes. You’d get her vast experience, but how much personalized attention? Maybe a great deal, I simply don’t know.
That’s why I feel that the single best indicator is a referral. Alex Epstein (of Crafty Screenwriting fame) and I were development executives starting out, with offices across the hall from each other. I’d give him notes on his early scripts and we developed a respect for each other’s talents — so when I told him I was hanging out my shingle he was kind enough to give me a recommendation in his blog. Incidentally, Alex was after me to raise my fees, as he felt writers wouldn’t take the service seriously if they weren’t paying more. I’ll wait and see about that. As the third generation in the film business, and the daughter and granddaughter of screenwriters, I am acutely aware of what it takes to write a script, and I genuinely like writers.”
[...] Victoria Lucas recommends, in her very fine article on “script consultants,” the best weapon against getting ripped off is research… and I totally agree with her [...]