Script Coverage 101 OR “They don’t give Recommends, do they?”

In the late 1990′s, 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.

Some of my many jobs while working for Corman were re-writing scripts to meet budget requirements, coordinating script revisions and script page colors, making copies, getting scripts to cast and crew, and, ugh, answering phones (when I first started).

Corman made movies of all shapes and sizes, ranging across all genres, from westerns to musicals to nudie horror films to action thrillers to kids’ fare.  Corman did it all.  He made some of the shlockiest horror and sci-fi and exploitation films in history, and became one of the kings of b-movies, yet he and his wife Julie were also responsible for bringing to America some of the greatest foreign art films in cinema history.

As a result,  his development department was always very busy, and a lot of spec scripts flowed through there;  a good chunk of which were my responsibility to take home and read…  And to provide script coverage for.

So what the heck is “script coverage?”

Script coverage is basically a 1-2 page synopsis of the script’s story, followed by a 1-2 page set of comments on what the reader thinks about the script and whether it was a high-budget film or low-budget film, and whether or not it was similar to other films.

That way, instead of reading through a huge stack of scripts, the development executive above me could just read the script coverage instead of the whole script, saving her countless hours as it shifted the burden of actually reading these scripts to readers like me.

Script coverages also contain one of three possible ratings, adhering to the standards of script coverage which are still largely used industry-wide:

The Elusive “RECOMMEND” Rating

This is the highest rating, and it’s also the rarest.  Last year, my company Screenplay Readers gave only 2 of these.  When I read for Corman, if I rated a script with a RECOMMEND, it meant I was saying to my boss and the others responsible for greenlighting scripts to get made into a movie should actually take this script home and read it.

So naturally, I never gave a RECOMMEND.  Then again, I never really read anything while employed there that was stellarly recommendable. And I certainly didn’t want the attention of my higher-ups if they wasted their time reading a script I recommended.   And yes, I thought about submitting one of my own scripts to Corman and giving it a RECOMMEND, but quickly dismissed the idea, as I knew such a ruse would be ridiculously transparent.

The Considerable “CONSIDER” Rating

This is the middle/mediocre rating.  It means the script either has some interesting characters, or a good concept, but just isn’t great in other areas.   Maybe the plot was confusing, or there were too many minor characters, or the dialogue stunk.  CONSIDER is what I’d give to a script if I wanted to give a script a high mark, because I could always say “Hey, I didn’t RECOMMEND this.  So don’t come after me with salad tongs if you don’t like it.”  A CONSIDER is sometimes just as good as a RECOMMEND, depending on the ratio of crap scripts to quality scripts a company ordinarily receives.

And then, the lowest, but most common rating,

The Noble “PASS” Rating

This rating is what the majority of scripts would receive, and what the majority of scripts going out to agents and production companies now receive.  PASS is a noble rating.  When a screenwriter’s script receives a PASS, he or she should rejoice.  Because it means that screenwriter’s work has joined the vast, ever-growing pile of movies that will never get made.

Impatient readers (like younger me in the late 1990′s) would give a PASS to a script after just two pages.  Some, after just one page.  Because most readers can tell right off the bat whether or not the writer is a complete and utter drooling pinhead or has anything to say that’s worth their time.  And yes, to some readers (like younger me in the late 1990′s), they’re all drooling pinheads, and no, nobody has anything to say that’s worth anybody’s time.  They’re all bad.  All scripts.  All the time.

Hell, sometimes readers give a PASS when the script is good. Who knows why?  Maybe they’ve got a similar script idea and they don’t want yours competing with it.  Yes, it’s a vicious world. Oh, and by the way, waiters spit in your food, too.

But while the PASS/CONSIDER/RECOMMEND rating is important to studio heads and agents who don’t have a lot of time and just want the script’s grade, the real meat and potatoes of a coverage are the SYNOPSIS and the COMMENTS.  These two sections are the most important and useful to a screenwriter.  More about these sections later.

If you submit a script to an agency, a production company, a studio, a producer, or even directly to an actor or a screenplay contest, your script is probably going to be read and covered by a script reader.  And most of the time, you’ll never see that coverage.  You’ll never hold in your hands the actual coverage report that was written for your script.

Coverages are largely kept internal, within each company, and only rarely ever get back to the screenwriter.  Not to mention, the actual format and standards of what goes into a script coverage and how it looks vary widely from company to company.

So you need to accept the fact that you’ll probably never have any idea why any one company never called you back about your script, or why exactly you got that friendly form rejection letter in the mail.  It’s because either (A) Nobody bothered to read your script, or (B) Someone did read your script and the coverage came back negative.

But take heart, because you can still send your script to one of several script coverage companies on the internet,and for a fee, one of those companies will read your script and email you back the actual script coverage report for you to read.

Holding a script coverage in your hands gives you real leverage on your screenplay, allowing you to make sure your script is absolutely the best it can be before you send it out to actual real agents and producers.  It’s the first real-world test of your script, outside your friends and family.  An actual stranger with experience in reading scripts and providing script coverage will write a script coverage, but instead of hiding it away from you and keeping it locked up for company eyes only, they’ll send it to you.

I started my script coverage company Screenplay Readers in 1999 and have seen hundreds of scripts and hundreds of coverages, and the biggest thing I’ve learned by doing script coverages for a decade is that most screenwriters write in a vacuum. They’re adrift on their own little desert islands, writing their “epic screenplays” all by themselves, and they and their scripts have little or no contact with anyone with industry experience or insight that can help act as a sounding board to call them on their script’s weak spots.

Most screenwriters finish a draft, maybe do a few tweaks, then fire it off to agencies and producers, unsolicited, looking for representation.  As I’ll explain later, that method only rarely works, but more importantly, these screenwriters are sending out scripts that have only been read by themselves!  No other human, save for a spouse or a friend with little or no screenwriting knowledge, has read their work.  And they’re expecting to sell that stack of paper for millions of dollars by sending it out cold to agents and producers.

And just an aside:  It has happened, so don’t get me wrong.  First-time screenwriters have come out of nowhere and sold scripts – some terrible, some terrific – but they’re the exceptions.  They’re the lightning strikes and lottery winners.  If you’re more comfortable planning your life around lightning strikes and winning the lottery, then by all means light this entire article on fire.

But if you’re more inclined to hedge your bets as much as possible and take real-world, tangible action steps to improve your chances of your script getting read and sold, then get your script read and covered before you send it out.

And now back to what I said about the SYNOPSIS and COMMENTS sections in a script coverage being the most valuable to you as a screenwriter.  Why is that?

The SYNOPSIS Section

First off, the SYNOPSIS. Think about it.  A complete stranger, the script reader, is having to synopsize your script; she has to squeeze down your 100-page screenplay into 1-2 pages of synopsis.

Reading that synopsis as the screenwriter gives you incredible insight into what that script reader, a total stranger, judged the major story beats to be and how they all linked together.  It’s an eye-opener for a lot of screenwriters, who are surprised to find that their synopsis skimmed over, or didn’t even mention, parts or characters or beats which the screenwriter thought were hugely important or valuable to the story.

And if those parts are indeed important and/or valuable, the screenwriter, armed with the synopsis, now has the opportunity to beef them up and make them stand out more clearly.

The COMMENTS Section

But the juiciest part of a coverage is always the COMMENTS section.  This is where the script reader gives 1-2 pages of brief script notes, in his or her own personal style, about where the script goes right and where the script goes wrong.

If the comments are done properly and by a professional script reader, they’re focused on the script’s strengths and weaknesses; not on those of the screenwriter.  Here are some comments from recent scripts we’ve covered at Screenplay Readers:

“Although there wasn’t a vast number of characters, I could see that there was effort in giving everyone their own voice.  For the most part I think this was successful, although some dialogue didn’t sound natural. “

“Some other character moments felt missing.  When Jerry and Michelle reunite towards the end their meeting is low-key.  I understand that the two of them are in shock and aren’t sure what to say, but the meeting could have an air of discomfort around it instead.  As it is they seem perfectly civil and polite, but lacking emotion.”

“The script’s formatting needs some attention.  There were too many words and sentences in all-caps and/or underlined which interrupted the flow of the story.  These techniques are good to bring attention to a specific character or plot point but not for every new object that gets introduced.”

“I liked Sarah’s involvement not being clear until almost the end.  Her character existed in a completely separate world for the most part, only crossing over briefly.”

The worst that can happen is that you end up with a lousy script coverage company who employs rushed, underpaid, know-nothing script readers and your coverage comes back with absolutely nothing in the comments section that you can use.  Stuff like this:

“The writer is crap. I don’t understand why this person should be allowed near a word processor.”

“I was bored, bored, bored.  The script is a total waste of time. I hated every minute.”

That stuff’s great if you’re a frustrated script reader who needs to take out your cinematic aggressions, but it absolutely does nothing to help the screenwriter improve her script.  If you get notes like these in the comments section of a script coverage you paid for, make sure you avoid using that company again.  They’re obviously not using professional readers.

If you think script coverage can help your script, Google script coverage and do your research.  Don’t spend too much money.  Just get whatever valuable comments you can about your script and make your improvements.  If you’re sending out to producers and agents, cold or even non-cold, use script coverage as a tool to make sure you’re sending your best possible work.  And remember, script coverage is NOT a must-have. It’s just another tool in your toolbox.