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57 Comments
- MattS, on 03/03/2009, -0/+21Quick - bury this!! Its original, interesting, not about Apple, Obama, or Ganja. We cant lose control of Digg like this... Quickly - make it disappear! </sarcasm/>
Very interesting article, but in the end I don't know if script coverage services is worth the price... - LotosDescendant, on 03/03/2009, -0/+20I don't know why people are strongly against this being on Digg. I think it's very interesting.
- humperdinck, on 03/03/2009, -5/+20"I don't want to learn anything new about anything, so I am burying this."
- Rhodamine, on 03/03/2009, -0/+14Ahhh. A little more of the old style Digg shows through the cracks.
How refreshing. - PWoT, on 03/03/2009, -1/+11Having watched many movies, I refuse to believe every script gets put through this filter. I swear 75% of the movies I watch are missing half of this *****. Maybe because the star demands rewrites half way through the shoot to make his character "more heroic" and all this other stuff goes out the window.
- badwithcomputer, on 03/03/2009, -2/+12i'm going to print this up and put a copy in the bathroom at my local starbucks. i think there are a few people there who will find it very useful.
- heyblue, on 03/03/2009, -0/+8Professional script coverage services charge $100-$300 for this kind of review and I've often wondered what you get for that price. I found this very interesting.
- coboman, on 03/03/2009, -0/+8Nice! Certainly would like to have more posts like this in the front page. Screenwriting is a hobby of mine, and it is refreshing to see another subject in the front page.
Great stuff. Keep em coming. - Slick50, on 03/03/2009, -0/+6You're a douche. Go back to watching The Bachelor.
- 12916studios, on 03/03/2009, -2/+8I currently have Final Draft (screenwriting software) open right now to the second half of the feature script I am finishing up. I have another month and a half to work on it before I will send it off to the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, which is highly regarded as the most prestigious and only worthwhile screenwriting competition in the world. If you can make it to the quarterfinals, you are almost guaranteed calls from agents, production companies, and managers. Given the task I have ahead of me, to try and make this script good enough to win, reading actual coverage (which is rarely ever seen) is like manna from heaven, because it is on this scale that my script will be graded on in the competition.
And if I win...I will be the youngest in the history of the competition to do so. - Slick50, on 03/03/2009, -0/+6Bury on you douche. This is what Digg needs to be more about (like it was initially). Not the lame LOLZ crap that idiots like you whom have come and ruined Digg with.
- cadmiumpaint, on 03/03/2009, -1/+7This is just a commercial coverage. its what hopefull/less writers pay a service to give them a crit of their usually crappy script. Hollywood is full of them, and they make a lot of money giving hope to crappy writers. The key is giving the writer enough "constructive criticism" so they send back revisions paying a hefty fee for each go around. Its a bit of a scam, but it feeds on the hollywood hopes and dreams factory.
having done coverage for a production companies in the past, I can say its nothing like this. I'd read dozens of scripts and most were duds. Usually i give it 20 pages max, then skim through the rest, unless it was really good and then i'd read the full thing so i could do a really accurate but short coverage.
The duds usually got a short detailed reason why its an instant pass. And the story summary would be cut and paste from the log letter. It would be something like
"Feels like an under researched historical action movie with bad dialog and incredibly elaborate expensive action scenes. The writer is caught up in directing every scene instead of telling a story. The story is concept is forgettable, and the characters are genre stereotypes. Needs too much work to be a viable project. Pass. " - noupsell, on 03/03/2009, -0/+5no... this script filtered its way up through a peer to peer review process at triggerstreet.com using their algorithm and after that it earned itself coverage at no cost to the author
- peterjmag, on 03/03/2009, -2/+7If this is the rubric they use to judge screenplays, no wonder most movies are so formulaic.
- Killerfilm, on 03/03/2009, -2/+6This is actually something I'm interested in since I run a film making blog...but honestly how much of digg is going to actually give a ***** about this?
- MiloMindrbindr, on 03/03/2009, -0/+4I always ask our readers to get synopsis AND comments into one page, but it usually bleeds over to a page and a half. Word economy is key! This type of coverage is completely overboard, even for most studios, and probably from one of those *****/scam artist places that give notes on your scripts for a few hundred bucks.
- Peko, on 03/03/2009, -1/+5"Feels overly narcissistic and falsely precocious. Lacks pacing. No pathos or investment. Lack of awareness of target audience. Pass."
with homage due to cadmiumpaint =) - ReaverKS, on 03/03/2009, -0/+4You hit the nail on the head with that one, I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one that noticed how narrow the topics on digg are these days.
- Killerfilm, on 03/03/2009, -0/+4Wow yeah really...looks like I was proven wrong
- MillurTime, on 03/03/2009, -2/+5This is great timing. I was just putting the finishing touches on my new screenplay: Adventures in Slutopia.
- LilRabbitFooFoo, on 03/03/2009, -1/+4Correct. This is NOT a good example of real Hollywood coverage. And yes, I do know of what I speak.
- 12916studios, on 03/03/2009, -0/+3Every movie, barring maybe a handful, gets put through that kind of coverage.
- Moetownslick, on 03/03/2009, -1/+4that actually sounds like an entertaining premise.
Id hit it. - Slick50, on 03/03/2009, -1/+4I'm actually impressed by the maturity of most of the comments here. I would think the usual Digg crowd would bury something as interesting and inside as this. I guess the usual Digg "crowd" isn't back from watching The Bachelor yet and have a few hits left on the bong before they check out Obama's Twitters and then come and bash this.
- Winkythecat, on 03/03/2009, -2/+5This coverage isn't very well done. Less is more.
No exec is going to even read the "shark grid"
In traditional coverage only these items are represented (Varies by Studio, but are very similar):
-Premise
-Characters
-Dialogue
-Story Line
One page synopsis. 3 or 4 paragraphs of comments (max). The trick is to make every word in your coverage count. The more analytical and condensed... the better.
However, this is a very insightful look into the mechanics of a script. Very few movies stray away from three act structure (ie: The Dark Knight is a five act). Screenwriting is very creative, but can also be formulaic. - DThatsMe, on 03/03/2009, -0/+3Kinda makes me aware of how much work my own scripts need. D'oh.
- LilRabbitFooFoo, on 03/04/2009, -0/+2Talk to anyone in Hollywood. Everyone is always looking for good readers. It's not as easy as it seems and it never pays all that well. :)
- Winkythecat, on 03/03/2009, -0/+2Check out this book, "The Screenwriter's Bible" by David Trottier.
- WriterSD, on 03/06/2009, -0/+2I've always wanted to write screenplays. This is very helpful.
- Fruit45, on 03/03/2009, -0/+2Good luck!
- Slick50, on 03/03/2009, -0/+2Looks like more than I ever thought. I'm surprised that we seem to be getting a throw back look of the old Digg.
- Winkythecat, on 03/03/2009, -0/+2I lol'd. Why do people go into starbucks to write their scripts?
- bodhibay, on 03/03/2009, -0/+2I ,too, am in the film business.
- LilRabbitFooFoo, on 03/03/2009, -2/+4Agreed. This is NOT pro coverage. The main grids are irrelevant and never used. Only the top summary one.
- LilRabbitFooFoo, on 03/03/2009, -1/+3No one cares if you are the youngest. They only care if you write a great script. And after that, then they will only care if you can repeat that.
Good luck - LilRabbitFooFoo, on 03/03/2009, -0/+2Unfortunately, a lot of scripts are then editing/massaged/rendered generic by studio execs/clueless producers/three directors/etc. until the original story is hardly recognizable anymore.
This is very often the real reason why Hollywood films often feel so very pat and cliche, btw. - heyblue, on 03/03/2009, -0/+2Have you been a reader? If so, how does one get into that business? I'm intrigued.
- virtualonliner, on 03/03/2009, -1/+2So has anyone made a movie on this?
- LotosDescendant, on 03/03/2009, -1/+2I wish you the best of luck with your script!
- MiloMindrbindr, on 03/03/2009, -0/+1Best of luck. Age doesn't matter, quality of the material does. That's it. If you can get pacing down and not shoot your wad in the first act, you've already beat out 99% of the scripts sitting in the agency/management co/production co submission boxes.
- neonoodle, on 03/03/2009, -0/+1Have you ever tried to write a script in your studio apartment when your 3 roommates are home?
- LilRabbitFooFoo, on 03/04/2009, -0/+1Luck covers the rest, because almost all of those agency/management submission boxes are manned by utter creative imbeciles. The saddest thing in Hollywood is the dearth of people who can tell a great script from a bad one.
- JLichtenberg, on 06/07/2009, -0/+1LilRabbitFooFoo -- I am so glad you commented on this coverage post. Reading the form, I thought it seemed more aimed at the writer (like grading a school paper) than at an exec (trying to find the right product to invest in).
Perhaps this form is actually one from a textbook teaching people how to write coverage? How to arrive at those top-line assessments component by component?
If so, posting it here was very instructive. - CTK14A, on 03/03/2009, -0/+1To pick up girls, duh.
"Yeah I'm just working on my new screenplay... it's gonna be wild. My agent (my mom) says its a real winner, and I've got an interview with Spielberg (the hiring director at Bed Bath & Beyond) this week..." - Pzycho, on 03/05/2009, -0/+1Tell me about it. I do it, and I still hate it. The fact of the matter is that I slack off less when I feel like people are watching/judging me. I'd rather be the idiot in Starbucks writing a screenplay than the idiot in Starbucks reading about gadgets in the middle of the day.
Though I still manage to slack off by blogging about all the weird stuff that happens in Starbucks. bradandcoffee.com - junskey, on 03/03/2009, -0/+1look on craigslist and mandy for internships
- MiloMindrbindr, on 03/03/2009, -0/+1Get an internship that exposes you to coverage writing. No one's going to hire a reader who hasn't done a sizable amount of coverage with good examples to back it up.
- gattaca86, on 03/03/2009, -1/+1thanks for the rules, time to break them
- t0x2c, on 03/03/2009, -1/+1It's a critic rubric. The only reason people dugg it up is because they feel it's over their heads.
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