Yes, 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 bullpucky 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 all that bullpucky, once and for all.”
But rather than be like other services who make a list of competing script coverage services to rank and then put themselves at the top of the list (MAGIC! GEE HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?) and then expect you to believe they’re being objective, here’s a script coverage buyer’s guide that’s actually useful because it gives you a few key things to consider when considering buying script coverage, no matter where you get it.
So first, what’s script coverage? Here’s a big long tutorial on script coverage but in a nutshell, it’s really just a short document that provides human feedback and analysis on a screenplay (Key word: HUMAN, not A.I.)
When script coverage is done well, 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 has a very low bar to entry. Literally anybody with a pulse can write script coverage. Here are the only requirements 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 (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 (and now AI / LLMs) 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. And they’re breeding like rabbits!
But alas, I run the original one. Literally. My company 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 (some of whom even copied the Screenplay Readers website word for word and service for service, changing only a couple of images around), but that’s a tale for another time and we’d have to have a few beers first.
Here at Screenplay Readers, as you may already know, 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 writers have exhausted all those methods but still feel they need a professional opinion, sure, 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 way, way beyond what “intern level” coverage and “script contest coverage” provides: our notes are just more comprehensive and helpful because our readers are, well, vastly more experienced than the majority of script readers working for other services.
You ask, How do I know? Thanks for asking! I know because for almost three decades, readers have been applying to work at Screenplay Readers, and many have worked (or are working) with other companies.
And it just so happens these readers, when they apply, they often submit samples of the coverage they’ve written for those other companies. And a lot, lot, lot, lot of those samples are extremely bad, even remedial, or, at best, super skimpy and of little or no value.
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.
Anyhow, enough self-promotion that I promised I wouldn’t do. Time for those few key things to consider if you’re thinking about buying script coverage for your script.
Script coverage buyer’s guide Tip #1: Make sure the script 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 exact same company
When searching for a script coverage service, you’ll find a ton of lists of the sort I railed against at the beginning of this article, touting the “Top 5 Best Script Coverage Services” and so forth. Be aware that very few, if any, are honest lists.
Just for one example, here’s a list (see image) that the now-defunct Screencraft script service published. Note that Screencraft had purchased a handful of smaller companies then fooled hundreds if not thousands of aspiring screenwriters by portraying those services as distinct, individual companies, such as WeScreenplay, Coverfly, and Launch Pad. Many of whom are on this list (see image).
In other words, any screenwriter who sent their script to be covered by any of those services was, in reality, sending their script to just one company that used the same exact team of readers.
What’s more, the company, under the “Coverfly” moniker, aggressively reached out to still more small businesses and individuals offering script coverage, asking them to join up with Coverfly as a “white-label service.”
The pitch was basically, “Hey, why are you working so hard? Why deal with finding and hiring readers and having to deal with website shopping carts and all that?
Let us put ‘Proudly powered by Coverfly’ on your site and Coverfly will take care of the ordering process and handle all the money and we’ll have your customers’ scripts read by Coverfly readers and for all that we’ll only take a cut of XX% but you can still pretend to be your own company with your own readers. Sound good?”
And a few script coverage services signed up for it — essentially handing their screenplays over to the same exact under-qualified, underpaid or non-paid college kids at Coverfly aka Screencraft aka Tracking Board aka Launch Pad aka WeScreenplay aka The Script Lab (ALL THE SAME EXACT COMPANY, Industry Arts.)
So that means that three out of the five on this “Top 5 coverage services list” above were actually all the same company with the same exact readers. Absolutely mental, but they got away with it.
(Worth mentioning, the wannabe tech bros at Screencraft aka Coverfly aka WeScreenplay et al reached out to me as well, multiple times, trying to convince me to hand over my script reading business to Coverfly. I finally agreed to meet for a taco to hear them out in case they had some disproportionately amazing offer.
Alas, I showed up at Cacao Mexicatessan in Eagle Rock at the appointed time, but the script bros were a complete no-show. Facepalm!
But my bad for letting curiosity get the better of me. They tried repeatedly to reschedule but if they can’t follow through when it comes to tacos, why would I trust them in a business partnership?)
And then, ironically, cut to a few years later and the entire company (Screencraft, Coverfly, The Script Lab, WeScreenplay, etc.) was sold to Backstage. (And then Backstage was sold to Cast & Crew (who owns Final Draft), who shut it all down.) Cue trombone.
Script coverage buyer’s guide Tip #3: Don’t get baited into script contests and other hooey
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, yes, most script contests are flat-out scams).
Why it’s fashionable is because a huge percentage of writers looking for screenwriting feedback are, well, gullible, and for some reason 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 paid for the “opportunity,” and of that “50 writers who got a movie deal,” the deal was a low/no-dollar option or that it was with some dude in a van 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 read scripts and provide notes, not sell you the moon or a bag of magical beans.
If you’re being 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 screenwriting seminars
Similarly, look twice at any company claiming to be focusing on script coverage who holds events that promise “networking” or “pitching to agents and producers” at some weekend screenwriting seminar, typical comprised of the following ingredients:
(1) hotel ballroom near the airport
(75) other aspiring writers who paid $350 + airfare + hotel room
(2-8) self-styled screenwriting experts and/or podcasters riffing on Save The Cat (a decent, beginner’s screenwriting formula that’s been rehashed a billion times in a billion different ways)
Networking is good but you don’t need a screenwriting seminar to do it. Get out to any film town in the world and find your tribe via meetups, writers groups, cinema groups, you name it. Here are a few screenwriters Meetups in Los Angeles but search your own film town. Also worth checking out are events held by the Writers Guild Foundation.
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. Do they think you were born yesterday? Wait. Were you? If so, happy belated birthday.
Script coverage buyer’s guide Tip #5: Make sure the script readers have skill and actually care about quality
Running a script reading company since 1999 has taught me a lot. But one big takeaway I learned week one was that if a client doesn’t like their coverage and wants their money back, we still have to pay the 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 analysts 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 would go bonkers or start to turn in slop.
Yet many of our readers have been with us for over 10 years. Why? Because we pay the highest rate in the industry and we make sure they’re happy. We let them work when they want to work, so burnout is bit harder to achieve: if they get tired of reading, they can take a break and come back whenever they want.
And those sorts of things all add up to help make high-quality script coverage possible, which, in turn, allows us to feel absolutely comfortable standing by the work we do 100%.
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 the Screenplay Readers Happy Customers page, not only do we have hundreds of testimonials of the olde text-copy-and-paste variety, we also have happy Google reviews which you can cross reference on the actual Google, not just our website.
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 full names), you might want to reconsider your purchase.
Script coverage buyer’s guide Tip #7: Beware AI script coverage
I write more about the perils of AI script coverage here but just know that at least a dozen new A.I. script coverage services have popped up over the last year and the pace of new ones popping up each week doesn’t show any sign of slowing.
If you’re okay with your creative work being fed into an AI and okay with receiving generic, stilted, feedback that reads like a marketing brochure, by all means go for it, just know that A.I. script coverage services do indeed train their models on your screenplay (no matter what they’re telling you).
Yes, you can absolutely save some money buying AI script coverage, but don’t be surprised if you get AI slop for feedback. You get what you pay for is kind of a real thing, oddly enough.
Script coverage buyer’s guide Tip #8: Remember that paid script coverage is not your only option
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 Screenplay Readers.
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. Most 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 and hilarious imitators, 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, however you get it. That’s really 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 or curious things you might see out there in the world of script coverage, drop me a line here.
