Life As a Script Reader

Reading scripts can be a great way for aspiring writers to get a good sense of story and character. Providing analyses of other writer's scripts can help and reader know what studios and production companies are looking for in scripts, which can only serve to strengthen their own projects.

To earn extra money on the side of assistant duties, I frequently dove into script reading for various production companies and agencies. The work was consistent, as there is no shortage of scripts being submitted to agencies and studios for consideration. You typically get a day or so to read and review the script, and get paid somewhere in the vicinity of $50 per script. While the money isn't great, it's not a bad way to spend a few hours, especially with the hopes that you are building solid relationships with the lower level executives at various companies (dealing with readers is generally a job for the low level executives or assistants). Another perk is the ability to see what type of scripts are making the rounds around town, and as a reader, you really start to learn the sensibilities of the different companies and what they like.

Though it's a great job to have on the side, the major downside is that you read a lot of material that, put simply, isn't very good. Many scripts, especially those submitted to agencies, are from people who either have no representation or are looking for it. Those without representation are typically, though not always, untalented, and it shows in their writing. The great majority of scripts, I would say something like 85-95% of scripts, deserve a "pass" grade, meaning the company receiving the script should pass on it. Very seldom do you see a good script that you can tell the company to consider. The rarest of scripts are those that you recommend. If, as a reader, you recommend a script, you better be able to defend the script against criticism from high level executives, because they will want to read the script right away and want to know exactly why you recommended it. If they don't agree, it's the easiest way to lose your job as a reader. So you have to be very discerning about the grades you give out to the scripts you read.

Though most of the scripts you will read as a reader are not good, it helps nonetheless in dissecting why it is not good and what the script did wrong. In this way, being a reader is one of the smartest things a writer or aspiring development executive can do.

Charles bloom