There are many script coverage buyer’s guides but I’ve never wanted to do one because I didn’t want to be part of the noise and bullshit that so many other script coverage services are churning out. But man, after seeing SO MANY “Top 5 Script Coverage Services” articles which are just flat-out stupid wrong and self-dealing, I said to myself, “Self, let’s write a script coverage buyer’s guide that cuts through the crap, once and for all.”
So lucky you. Here’s the only script coverage buyer’s guide you’ll ever need. And yeah, I promote my company a bit by doing it, but my goal is also to help you sort the good from the bad when making a decision to pay for script coverage.
So what’s script coverage? Real quick, script coverage, in a nutshell, is really just a short document that offers an opinion on a screenplay. When script coverage is good, it offers helpful suggestions and pulls no punches with its critique, and the writer or filmmaker receiving it can make improvements to their material.
But when it’s bad? Well, it can be bad.
And quite often, it’s quite bad. Primarily because writing script coverage is a task with a very low bar to entry. Literally anybody with a pulse can do this. Just like anybody with a pulse can make tacos.
Here’s all you need to call yourself a script coverage service:
A) Familiarity with how screenwriting and films and television work
B) An opinion
C) A computer, a keyboard, and maybe a website (though people can offer script coverage services through other websites, not just their own)
And that’s it.
And this low bar to entry is why so many producers and agents have traditionally leaned on unpaid interns to read scripts and write coverage. Producers and agents just need to know if the script is decent, or good. Or if it appeals to the college kid haunting their office for school credit.
So as you might imagine, in the real world, it’s extremely, extremely easy for script coverage services to exist. And so, voila: there are dozens, if not hundreds of services offering script coverage services on the internet.
But I run the original one, and, if you don’t mind me saying, the best one: Screenplay Readers. We’ve been around since 1999, and boy oh boy have a lot of really bad clones of us popped up over the years, but that’s tale for another time.
Anyhow, at Screenplay Readers, as you may have heard, one of our core beliefs is that you absolutely do not need to pay for script coverage. We’ve always encouraged screenwriters to get free feedback first, before coming to us, whether it’s from a writers group or friends or colleagues, online and off. And then when you exhaust all those methods and still feel you need a professional take on your draft, come to us and we can help.
But the difference between my script coverage service, Screenplay Readers, and many other script coverage services, is that we go beyond what “intern level” coverage and “script contest coverage” provides. That is, we provide more notes in our coverage, and we provide constructive suggestions, and our readers are vastly more experienced than the majority of script readers working for other services.
Not hype. Reality. How do I know? Screenplay Readers constantly receives resumes and sample coverages written by readers who have worked at or who are currently working at other script services. And after decades of seeing these sample coverages from other companies, it’s heckin’ obvious that we’re at the top of the pack when it comes to quality of the feedback. Most of those coverages that come to us are extremely remedial, or, at best, super skimpy and of little or no value to the screenwriter.
So when it comes to providing a bit of advice on what to look for when shopping for script coverage or development notes, we kinda know what we’re talking about, now going on 30 years of being in business.
Here’s what to watch out for if you’re considering ordering script coverage for your script. Hint: Put on your jogging shoes, because you’re gonna be doing a lot of RUNNING AWAY.
Script coverage buyer’s guide Tip #1: Make sure the readers aren’t anonymous
First and foremost, when paying for script coverage, you should be able to know who’s reading your script if you want. Some writers prefer to not know, but everyone should have the right to make that choice for themselves.
If a service doesn’t let you see who’s reading your script, or read a bio, or even know their name, then chances are, they’re having unpaid or low-paid interns or film newbies read your script for pennies on the dollar.
There’s nothing wrong with college kids or film industry newbies reading screenplays for a few bucks, but (A) they’re not as knowledgeable or experienced as they should be, and, as a result, often provide very poor coverage, and (B) you have the right to know that fact before you spend your money.
If a script coverage service just offers reader initials and a tiny blurb about the reader, they’re not being straight with you. Demand names, brief biographies of the readers so you know what kind of background they have, and photos if possible. People who aren’t proud of their work are the ones hiding behind anonymity.
Script coverage buyer’s guide Tip #2: Some script coverage services are just fronts for the same exact service
When searching for a script coverage service, you’ll find a ton of lists touting the “Top 5 Best Script Coverage Services.” Be aware that very few, if any, are honest lists. The now-defunct Screencraft script service purchased a slew of smaller companies and fooled dozens of writers by pretending those services were all distinct, individual companies, such as WeScreenplay, Coverfly, and Launch Pad.
Any writer who sent their script to any of those “individual” services was sending their script to the same exact readers. What’s more, their Coverfly service provided a “whitelabel” service. With this service, they’d offer script coverage services like mine, “Hey, why are you working so hard? Why deal with finding and hiring readers and having to deal with checkout and all that? Let Coverfly provide the readers, and we’ll take a cut of XX%.”
And a lot of smaller script coverage services signed up for that bullshit, which effectively fooled writers into thinking they were sending their script to a distinct, unique team of script readers, when they were actually just handing it to the same underqualified, underpaid or non-paid college kids that the company comprised of Coverfly, Screencraft, Launch Pad, The Script Lab (ALL THE SAME COMPANY) effectively exploited.
Worth mentioning, the frat boys at Screencraft/Coverfly reached out to me as well, asking me to hand over all my reading to their Coverfly readers. They reached out multiple times and I said repeatedly said no fucking way. The entire Industry Arts company (Screencraft, Coverfly, The Script Lab, WeScreenplay, etc.) was sold to a new company in 2025 and that company shut down all of them.
Script coverage buyer’s guide Tip #3: Avoid services that bait you into script contests
It’s become fashionable to entice screenwriters into buying feedback on their screenplays by tying it to online listing sites such as “The Black List” or script contests (PS, most script contests are scams). Why it’s fashionable is because a huge percentage of writers looking for screenwriting feedback are gullible, and believe that a script contest or listing site is the “only way” they can “break into Hollywood.”
The shame is that companies encourage that and reinforce that belief, sometimes silently and sometimes loudly, in order to line their pockets. It’s a mighty big fig leaf: the ability to say, “Oh, we’re not baiting writers. We’re providing a genuine opportunity to be in front of producers and studios. See? Look at these 50 writers over the last ten years who were on our list and now they have movie deals!”
They don’t tell you that there were 100,000 other writers who were given the opportunity, and that of that 50 writers who got a movie deal, the deal was a low/no-dollar option or that it was with some podunk company that put the script into turnaround and it never saw the light of day. Nor do they mention that of those 50 writers, maybe 1 is still working.
A script coverage service, or any company that provides script notes or feedback on your script, should do one thing and one thing only: read scripts and provide notes. Not sell you the goddamn moon or a bag of magic beans.
If you’re being upsold and asked to join a script contest or a list with the promise that “it will help your career” or “we will pass your script on to our powerful film industry contacts,” you’re probably being sold a bag of said beans.
Script coverage buyer’s guide Tip #4: Buy script coverage, not bullshit and hype
Similarly, any company claiming to be focusing on feedback and coverage who simultaneously holds events that promise “networking” or “pitching to agents and producers” is a company that is betting that you’re another sucker — part of the vast majority of aspiring writers who think that the only way to success in Hollywood is to pay $350 for a weekend in some hotel convention ballroom talking to 300 other aspiring writer-suckers who are in line to “network” with the convention’s star — usually the co-writer of an episode of a canceled TV show, or an actor from a similar situation.
The only networking you need to do is in real life. Out here in Hollywood or any film town. Any convention or seminar or pitchfest you pay to attend just to meet “big names” is likely a time waster and a complete waste of cash, because the “big names” are usually not that big, and even if they are, (a) you’ve likely dropped a lot of cash and (b) that “big name” is not likely to give you any sort of “in” or angle that helps your career.
Oh, and if that company holding the big convention is *also* hawking script coverage services? Yikes.
Script coverage buyer’s guide Tip #5: Make sure the script readers actually care
Running a script reading company since 1999 has taught me a lot. But one key takeaway has been that if a client doesn’t like their coverage and wants their money back, we still have to pay our reader who read the script and wrote that coverage.
That means we spend a lot of time on quality control — keeping the quality high for every script coverage our readers write. That starts with not only hiring the best script readers and screenwriters, but *keeping* them.
Script reading is one of those businesses where burnout is very, very real. Imagine reading 10 scripts per week and writing a script coverage for each one of them. Most people go bonkers.
Yet, many of our readers have been with us for over 10 years. Why? Because we pay what’s probably the best rate in the industry and we make sure they’re happy. We let them work when they want to work, so burning out on scripts isn’t something that’s in their vocabulary. If they get tired of reading, they can take a break and come back whenever they want.
All of that translates to high-quality script coverage. Which, in turn, allows us to feel absolutely comfortable standing by the work we do 100% and being there when you have questions about our feedback.
Script coverage buyer’s guide Tip #6: Look for real testimonials
We started collecting testimonials (quotes from happy customers) sometime in 2006 or 2007. Back then, all we could do was copy and paste their quotes on to our website, because those quotes usually came in the form of emails. Of course, we’d always ask their permission first.
So on our Happy Customers page, not only do we have hundreds of testimonials of the text-copy-and-paste variety, we also have happy Google reviews.
If a script service you’re thinking of ordering from doesn’t have testimonials, or if they look fake (for example, if all the quotes sound like they were written by the same person, or don’t have date stamps, or don’t list last names or even full names), you might want to reconsider your purchase.
But also keep in mind that script coverage companies can purchase *fake* reviews on Yelp, Google, TrustPilot, or wherever. What you see when it comes to testimonials — all of it can be 100% phony.
When judging whether a testimonial is real or not, read it thoroughly. Read the ones around it. Look at when it came in. Did the person who wrote the testimonial use their real name? Or just initials?
Script coverage buyer’s guide Tip #7: Remember that paid script coverage is not the only option for feedback
In closing, we’d be doing a disservice to the folks reading this article if we didn’t remind them that script feedback comes in many forms, and not just the kind you have to pay for at services like ours.
As mentioned above, writers groups, meetups, and online forums are great places to get your script read by your peers — and sometimes folks higher up the ladder — and get some great feedback. We tell our customers on our front page and elsewhere on our website: Go get all the free feedback on your script that you can, and *then* if you still want feedback, come to us.
The reason we’ve been in business for decades isn’t that we’re some faceless vending machine that takes people’s money and leaves them cold. Businesses don’t last long if they engage in those kinds of practices.
The reason Screenplay Readers has lasted this long, especially in the face of a never-ending onslaught of new imitators and new services popping up, is because we genuinely believe and promote the script feedback process as a whole, and we believe in free feedback most of all.
Paid script coverage is not the only path, nor should it ever be. Keep that in mind when considering purchasing script coverage from anyone.
But most of all, keep writing and keep getting feedback on your work. That’s the only way we can grow as screenwriters.
The goal, of course, is to not get ripped off on our way there.
If you have any questions about any script coverage service, or if you have any concerns with some shady practices you might see out there, drop me a line at support@screenplayreaders.com . I’m happy to help where I can.