FAQs
Are you the newest Script Consultant/Doctor in town?
Someone’s always the new kid on the block, at least for a while. Even people like Michael Hauge, Dara Marks and Philip Shelley were the new script consultants once. Obviously, most us, if not all, have experience in our backgrounds of writing for the screen. And we decide we’d like to help other aspiring screenwriters to make their screenplays and treatments better and, hopefully, more saleable.
What are your prices based on?
When I was looking for a script consultant myself, naturally one of the things I looked at first was cost. My prices are based on a few things:
- First: What I’m writing a report about – Treatment, Pitch, Short Film, TV Pilot, 130-page Script.
- Time, of course, is money. I factor in reading time, thinking time, any potential research I need to do to get a better handle on what you’ve written and the time it takes to write the report.
- I’ve looked at other Script Consultants and Script Doctors out there and come up with what I think are fair prices.
There’s a lot of us out there. In the end you should always pick someone you think is the best fit for you.
Do you give standardised responses?
Never. That’s not the way I think. I’m excited by stories. As soon as I read something, anything, I’m examining, thinking, questioning – I can’t help myself. So all of my reports are responses to your work.
Do you give honest feedback?
Always. Some script consultants are accused of just telling writers what they want to hear. I have one goal: get your script in good enough shape to sell. The only way to do that is by me being honest. Sure, if we’ve got a good working relationship, I’ll be happy to keep honing and revising with you. But only to the point where we both think that no more can be done to improve the script.
Why should I trust you over Script Consultant X, Y or Z?
Like I said before, I think you have to choose the script consultant or doctor that’s the best fit for you. Most, if not all, script consultants and doctors out there are the same as me: passionate about storytelling and about helping people tell their stories for the screen. We’re all trying to make a living doing that. How do I build trust? By being as honest and as straightforward as I can. By bringing my expertise and experience. And, hopefully, making the process fun – after all writing should be fun. (*Look, we all know writing can be tortuous at times. But hopefully I can make lessen the torture by giving help, support, sense-checks, things as writers hammering away in our rooms alone, we sometimes need!)
Before you contact me you should:
- Read your script/treatment/pitch again and think how you’d improve it yourself.
- If you want to be a novelist, the best is advice is to read novels. A poet, read poetry. So it follows that if you want to be screenwriter, read scripts. They’re easy to find with an internet search, and a great resource for learning about formatting, pacing, dialogue, etc. etc. – I’ve got a library of about 50 that are invaluable.
- And watch films. Seems obvious. But if you’re stuck on a particular scene, think of a film you might have watched before and see how a similar scene is constructed, how the characters interact to tell the story, how the action moves the story along.
If you’ve done all of the above and still think you need my help, then get in contact.
Is there a certain genre or style of film you can most help with?
The answer to that is, no. I loving writing and cinema. Everything from Tarkovsky to Tony Scott, Godard to Spielberg. Whether you’ve written the next Top Gun or Last Year at Marienbad, Andor or Fawlty Towers, I can help.