SELL YOUR SCRIPT: MUST #1 (Learn a Great Writer’s Secret: Grab the Reader)
by Dov S-S Simens on November 28, 2017
WANT TO SELL YOUR SCRIPT? “Grab the Reader”
In 1980, when I first came to Hollywood, and took four, almost useless, night school courses on Screenwriting, Financing, Dealmaking & Line Producing at UCLA, made a couple of alleged contacts, who’s father’s were heavyweights in the industry; and wrote a couple of scripts, practiced my pitch while, 3 months past and I became very tight for money; and out of necessity stumbled into “reading-for-a-living”.
(“Readers, in the early 80s, got paid $65 (90-120 page script), $75 (120+ pages), $85 (Book under 250 pages) and $95 (Book over 250 pages)” for coverage (2 page analysis)
During this time I, lived by myself with a mini-studio apartment in the Farmers Market/Fairfax district of Los Angeles and looked for any part-time movie related job(s) in order afford a monthly $475 rent.
The four scripts (Rom-Com, Action-Adventure, Psychological Thriller and First Kiss) I had written, registered, copyrighted and hustled to agents, deal makers, power brokers and anyone I met at a coffee shop, gas station, Pink’s or Oki Dogs during my first two years in LA… had not sold.
Sold!?! I didn’t even get the “B*ll Sh*t” standard Hollywood deal of $100,000… pause… with $1 Down and the remaining $99,999 upon “Commencement of Principal Photography” for a 24 month option with two eighteen-month extension periods.
I didn’t even get a bloody $1 option, a buck, a single buck, for my four screenplays.
Damn.
Plus, I had (still have) a family, who were about to relocate with me, and had to find a 3-bedroom apartment… so, to make rent I wrote movie reviews for 3-4 magazines (2/week/newspaper at $25 each got me $150-200/week or $600-800/month), which went to rent while hustling “independent reader” gigs, from small production companies that couldn’t afford a Development Executive, and learned to do “script coverage” ($25-$50/read) to pay for food and recycled funky clothes from the ’50s bought on La Brea/Melrose at some chi-chi boutique for poor people still hanging onto a dossage of panache.
If that same financial situation occurred today, 2017, I’d probably be driving Uber/Lyft with a recorder in the car and while waiting for my next LAX pickup I’d be orating a new story to be typed tomorrow that I got while talking to my last drop off… it’s amazing what people tell you when they’re in the back seat of your car and think they will never see you again and supplementing as a Starbucks Barista in Beverly Hills or Pacific Palisades where with a Latte, that I’m about to hand over to a rude Cable TV Mogul… I had 5 seconds for a pitch… or two.
SCRIPT COVERAGE IS IMPORTANT
Back to Script Coverage… The best job I found, that was within the film industry, was as an “Independent Reader” for small production companies to do what is called “Script Coverage”.
Getting “coverage” is the phrase used when a script is submitted to the company, but the owner, who has other things to do and has received 12-15 scripts in the last 3 days, has an assistant read and condense each one into a 2-page synopsis (aka: analysis) with the first page being the synopsis, a 1-page condensing, of the story and the 2nd page being an opinion of (A) story, (B) characters, (C) plot, (D) dialogue & (E) marketability.
From 1981-1985 I covered (aka: read) 2-3 scripts per nite and 4-5 per weekend. Pay was $25 for less than 90-pages, $30 for 90-120 pages, $35 for more than 120-pages. Plus, $40 for books less than 250 pages and $45 for books more than 250 pages.
Bottomline: over 4 years I read and covered 700-1,000 scripts/year and made just enough money to pay rent, keep my car full of gas and every now-and-then go to a movie. This pencils out to reading and being asked for opinions on 2,000-3,000 scripts over 4 years.
Here is what I learned….which is important because when you want to get your script to the big name actor, director or producer you have to get a good coverage report from a person like me before he/she will read it.
(“Best screenwriting software is Final Draft (easiest to re-paginate), best freeware for Screenwriting is Celtx… Writers Duet, Scrivener, Movie Magic Screenwriter and Fade In are also quite good.”)
1st: Type it properly. If you don’t have the proper format it is “binned” instantly.
2nd: Don’t design covers that you think are artsy-fartsy. Simple two-hole punch cardboard with the Title centered. Anything artsy-fartsy is binned too.
3rd: Grab the reader. Now let’s cut-to-the-chase.
You’re script eventually will be read by someone like me, when I was young, still naïve, a little arrogant and thinking I’m really a producer, temporarily out of money, who is barely paying rent do coverage at $25-$50 per read.
Point is whoever you pitch your script to it is going to be read by a person who like me when I was broke in the early ’90s that (A) is not excited about reading another script, (B) is paid very little money and (C) really thinks he/she is a producer-in-training.
Thus, GRAB THE READER instantly.
Grab him/her with your 1st Grabber on page-1 of your script by line 6.
If an average page of screenwriting, typed in the correct format, has 20-24 lines…then you better grab the reader (aka: a Grabber), within 15-seconds, on either line 4 or 5 of page-1.
4th: Grab the reader again: Then, on the bottom of page-1, you better have a 2nd Grabber that makes the reader desire to turn-the-page (remember who is reading is someone like me who is truly not happy about reading something at a mere $25-$50) and get that reader into a positive attitude.
(“Read your script and make sure it has 2 Grabbers on Page-1… Remember, “cut-to-the-chase.”)
Now, go back and read your script, that I’m sure you think is great, and more than likely you spent 7-15 pages trying to establish characters and settings and what you have just accomplished is a frustrated screenwriter, now a Reader, like I was 30 years ago, just threw it away.
Grab-The-Reader!
You gotta Grab-The-Reader!
Now, lets get back to you and your script… Re-read it as if you were a pissed-off-negative Reader and make sure there are 2 GRABBERS on Page-1 that grab him or her and make him/her want to read more.
Now the reader, he/she will read 10 pages…and his/her attitude has gotten a little positive.
Then, if the 10 pages are great… the reader will now read, with a positive attitude, the entire script.
If the entire script is great…
Voilla!
(“Want a great Christmas Gift? Give a career… My DVD series is perfect.r.”)
Welcome to Hollywood,
Dov Simens
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Dear Dov, Thank you for your decision to help me in any ways, I appreciated it very much I’d like to share with you that I’ve sent my book to Movie pitchers and have 2 tickets with reports of HJIGH and OPEN. I don’t know what does it mean. If you would like to explain what does it mean and what to do next, please, respond. Best wishes, Sofia
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Please I have a script entitled “the girl child” and I wanna sell it. Please reach me through my email address
I have beautiful scripts and need to seel them ..titles… Man in the mirror, luci, remi, fades, ink , I am Husain babangida. If ure interested ..WhatsApp me on +2348138552327 or email me
Hi Dov, thanks for publishing this piece. I doubt you will read this reply– but I actually learned something! Grab the reader. Makes sense. I’d like to read more.
Rick Miller
Hello people, I am a screenwriter who wrote for nothing, I would like to introduce my greatest script ever written”CONFRONTED”. 105 pages, it’s wonderful. Let me tell you about the story: A story of a man name Mark Williams whose life turned upside down after he made a decision to move to New York from Florida to attend a new relationship with his baby’s mother, his son two year old son name Johnny. In the building apartment where he came to live there was a suspicious theft organization going on, probably the superintendent of the building might be the head of the theft going on ; he gave access to the other thieves to come to steal in the building. Mark Williams became a target by them since he knew their secret and telling the police of what’s going on out there.
How are you doing people? My name is Pierre Ronald, I have an amazing story, it’s a good couple script”BERTO&CARRIE”. I would like to send the script over to you in order to read it. THANK YOU.
SYNOPSIS: Berto & Carrie is a fantasy & drama independent film, which is based on a reality life. It’s also a controversial question about men and women; an extraordinary couple, Berto and Carrie can cause the world lots of trouble. A mastermind, Berto set up a plan to rob julia 15,000,000$
An ex-husband, the Dominican Prime Minister killed by the Italian Mob. FBI is on the way to investigate the crime scene, while Berto is doing his part. The Prime Minister was a wealth to do; he was trafficking drugs and involving in their business. Before the Prime Minister was murdered, he left a bank account of 15, ooo, ooo million US dollars under his wife name’s Julia. Although Julia is not aware of the transaction, there are people who after taking the money; the FBI agents, CIA agents and including ex-bank robber, Berto. Berto is the most wanted man for the bank robbery took place in California two years from the present. In order for Berto to do his job smart and clean, he’s pretending to be an officer. Put alongside Carrie, his ex-girlfriend. As a couple, they are thieves. They are doing anything together. Their previous relation was completely over when Carrie shut him half of a million after rubbing a bank in California. They were not seeing each other from that since, Berto moved to New York to have a simple life, but Carrie was remaining unknown till the end, Berto was surprised Carrie called him for another deal.
JUST FOR A RIDE BY PIERRE RONALD
HELLO PEOPLE HOW GREAT ARE YOU? I AM PIERRE RONALD, I HAVE A GREAT STORY OF MINE FOR A POTENTIAL VIEW, WHY DON’T YOU TAKE THAT GREAT ADVANTAGE? OPPORTUNITY ONLY ONCE, THIS IS IT, TIME HAS COME AFTER YOUR HARD WORK, THANK YOU.
SYNOPSIS: A member of drug trafficking mobsters putting up together a plan to run an operation, but things were not quite going well the way the plan was set up on the table to execute it. The driver was the one who supposed to deliver the merchandise to the big boss, but later on, one friend of the gang called them, noting that the driver might be possibly dead because the truck he was driving had caught up fired. The boss after all, had suspicious over the fact of the matter. Entering one drug dealer’s load depot, made a massacre to his fellow co-workers, a lot of dead bodies in this place. When the special service officers and FBI were coming, DEA on its part was doing their job, but all of the gangsters and drug dealers were gone out, remaining the dead bodies in this place.
JUST FOR A RIDE BY PIERRE RONALD
A GREAT STORY OF MINE FOR A POTENTIAL VIEW, WHY DON’T YOU TAKE THAT GREAT ADVANTAGE? OPPORTUNITY ONLY ONCE, THIS IS IT, TIME HAS COME AFTER YOUR HARD WORK, THANK YOU.
SYNOPSIS: A member of drug trafficking mobsters putting up together a plan to run an operation, but things were not quite going well the way the plan was set up on the table to execute it. The driver was the one who supposed to deliver the merchandise to the big boss, but later on, one friend of the gang called them, noting that the driver might be possibly dead because the truck he was driving had caught up fired. The boss after all, had suspicious over the fact of the matter.
Entering one drug dealer’s load depot, made a massacre to his fellow co-workers, a lot of dead bodies in this place. When the special service officers and FBI were coming, DEA on its part was doing their job, but all of the gangsters and drug dealers were gone out, remaining the dead bodies in this place.
HELLO PEOPLE, I AM PIERRE RONALD, YOU CAN TRY THIS ONE, VERY IMPORTANT AND VERY GOOD; I HAVE IT READY FOR YOU. THANK YOU.
ON EAST 21ST, NEIGHBORHOOD OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. A SPOT LOCATED RIGHT ON THE CORNER. A GANG THE MOST DANGEROUS ONE. NO ONE WOULD NEVER DISCOVER THE SECRET HIDDEN BEHIND. FROM BACK IN THE DAYS, IT USED TO BE A LIVING HELL. POLICE AND GANGSTERS STUFF LIKE THIS, SHOOTING OUT BETWEEN BOTH PARTIES. THEY WERE ENEMIES EVER SINCE. THE OTHER PART OF THE STORY AFTER ALL REMAINING THE YOUNG GENERATION, KEEP HINDING THE SECRET OF THE OLD ONES IN ORDER NOT TO GET CAUGHT BY THE POLICE ON THE LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD.
A KINDLY MAN JOHN, HE’S SPYCHIC. HE TRAVELED FROM BACK TO NEW ORLEANS TO THIS PLACE IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK TO DO A MISSION FOR HIS BOSS OVER THERE. THE MISSION WAS A DRUG DEALER WHO GOT TWISTED BY THE GROUP AND MOVING TO BROOKLYN, NEW YORK WITH SOME DIRT MONEY IN HIS HAND WITH A STOLEN DIAMOND CROWN. WHEN JOHN FINALLY MADE IT TO BROOKLYN, NEW YORK HE CALLED THE BI BOSS BY THE WAY, IN FACT HE SUPPOSES TO MEET WITH THE GUY WAITING FOR HIM BY THE AIRPORT, THE GUY PICKS HIM FROM THE; HE’S KIND HAVING A BUSINESS GOING WITH HIS BOSS FROM LONG WAY TO NEW ORLEANS, HE SUPPOSED TO MEET WITH JOHN OVER THERE IN ORDER TO BE TAKING CARED THE BUSINESSES GOING ON, HE HIMSELF HAS GIVEN JOHN SOME GOOD INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT THE BUSINESS GOING ON TO GET IT DONE AS WELL AS PROPERTY THE WAY IT SUPPOSED TO BE EXECUTED IN A GOOD FANCY FASHION WAY.
HELLO PEOPLE, I AM PIERRE RONALD, I HAVE THIS SCRIPT READY FOR YOU. THANK YOU.
ON EAST 21ST, NEIGHBORHOOD OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. A SPOT LOCATED RIGHT ON THE CORNER. A GANG THE MOST DANGEROUS ONE. NO ONE WOULD NEVER DISCOVER THE SECRET HIDDEN BEHIND. FROM BACK IN THE DAYS, IT USED TO BE A LIVING HELL. POLICE AND GANGSTERS STUFF LIKE THIS, SHOOTING OUT BETWEEN BOTH PARTIES. THEY WERE ENEMIES EVER SINCE. THE OTHER PART OF THE STORY AFTER ALL REMAINING THE YOUNG GENERATION, KEEP HINDING THE SECRET OF THE OLD ONES IN ORDER NOT TO GET CAUGHT BY THE POLICE ON THE LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD.
A KINDLY MAN JOHN, HE’S SPYCHIC. HE TRAVELED FROM BACK TO NEW ORLEANS TO THIS PLACE IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK TO DO A MISSION FOR HIS BOSS OVER THERE. THE MISSION WAS A DRUG DEALER WHO GOT TWISTED BY THE GROUP AND MOVING TO BROOKLYN, NEW YORK WITH SOME DIRT MONEY IN HIS HAND WITH A STOLEN DIAMOND CROWN. WHEN JOHN FINALLY MADE IT TO BROOKLYN, NEW YORK HE CALLED THE BI BOSS BY THE WAY, IN FACT HE SUPPOSES TO MEET WITH THE GUY WAITING FOR HIM BY THE AIRPORT, THE GUY PICKS HIM FROM THE; HE’S KIND HAVING A BUSINESS GOING WITH HIS BOSS FROM LONG WAY TO NEW ORLEANS, HE SUPPOSED TO MEET WITH JOHN OVER THERE IN ORDER TO BE TAKING CARED THE BUSINESSES GOING ON, HE HIMSELF HAS GIVEN JOHN SOME GOOD INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT THE BUSINESS GOING ON TO GET IT DONE AS WELL AS PROPERTY THE WAY IT SUPPOSED TO BE EXECUTED IN A GOOD FANCY FASHION WAY.
HELLO PEOPLE, HOW ARE YOU DOING? I AM PIERRE RONALD, I HAVE THIS SCRIPT READY TO READ. THANK YOU.
ON EAST21ST, NEIGHBORHOOD OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. A SPOT LOCATED RIGHT ON THE CORNER. A GANG THE MOST DANGEROUS ONE. NO ONE WOULD NEVER DISCOVER THE SECRET HIDDEN BEHIND. FROM BACK IN THE DAYS, IT USED TO BE A LIVING HELL. POLICE AND GANGSTERS STUFF LIKE THIS, SHOOTING OUT BETWEEN BOTH PARTIES. THEY WERE ENEMIES EVER SINCE. THE OTHER PART OF THE STORY AFTER ALL REMAINING THE YOUNG GENERATION, KEEP HIDING THE SECRET OF THE OLD ONES IN ORDER NOT TO GET CAUGHT BY THE POLICE ON THE LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD.
A KINDLY MAN JOHN, HE’S PSYCHIC. HE TRAVELED FROM BACK TO NEW ORLEANS TO THIS PLACE IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK TO DO A MISSION FOR HIS BOSS OVER THERE. THE MISSION WAS A DRUG DEALER WHO GOT TWISTED BY THE GROUP AND MOVING TO BROOKLYN, NEW YORK WITH SOME DIRT MONEY IN HIS HAND WITH A STOLEN DIAMOND CROWN. WHEN JOHN FINALLY MADE IT TO BROOKLYN, NEW YORK HE CALLED THE BIG BOSS BY THE WAY, IN FACT HE SUPPOSES TO MEET WITH THE GUY WAITING FOR HIM BY THE AIRPORT, THE GUY PICKS HIM FROM THE; HE’S KIND HAVING A BUSINESS GOING WITH HIS BOSS FROM LONG WAY TO NEW ORLEANS, HE SUPPOSED TO MEET WITH JOHN OVER THERE IN ORDER TO BE TAKING CARED THE BUSINESSES GOING ON, HE HIMSELF HAS GIVEN JOHN SOME GOOD INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT THE BUSINESS GOING ON TO GET IT DONE AS WELL AS PROPERTY THE WAY IT SUPPOSED TO BE EXECUTED IN A GOOD FANCY FASHION WAY.
EXT-STREET-NIGHT
WE FOLLOW JOHN ARRIVES TO NEW YORK, ON THE LOCAL PHONE BY THE AIRPORT HE CALLED THE BIG BOSS.
ON EAST21ST, NEIGHBORHOOD OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. A SPOT LOCATED RIGHT ON THE CORNER. A GANG THE MOST DANGEROUS ONE. NO ONE WOULD NEVER DISCOVER THE SECRET HIDDEN BEHIND. FROM BACK IN THE DAYS, IT USED TO BE A LIVING HELL. POLICE AND GANGSTERS STUFF LIKE THIS, SHOOTING OUT BETWEEN BOTH PARTIES. THEY WERE ENEMIES EVER SINCE. THE OTHER PART OF THE STORY AFTER ALL REMAINING THE YOUNG GENERATION, KEEP HINDING THE SECRET OF THE OLD ONES IN ORDER NOT TO GET CAUGHT BY THE POLICE ON THE LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD.
A KINDLY MAN JOHN, HE’S SPYCHIC. HE TRAVELED FROM BACK TO NEW ORLEANS TO THIS PLACE IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK TO DO A MISSION FOR HIS BOSS OVER THERE. THE MISSION WAS A DRUG DEALER WHO GOT TWISTED BY THE GROUP AND MOVING TO BROOKLYN, NEW YORK WITH SOME DIRT MONEY IN HIS HAND WITH A STOLEN DIAMOND CROWN. WHEN JOHN FINALLY MADE IT TO BROOKLYN, NEW YORK HE CALLED THE BI BOSS BY THE WAY, IN FACT HE SUPPOSES TO MEET WITH THE GUY WAITING FOR HIM BY THE AIRPORT, THE GUY PICKS HIM FROM THE; HE’S KIND HAVING A BUSINESS GOING WITH HIS BOSS FROM LONG WAY TO NEW ORLEANS, HE SUPPOSED TO MEET WITH JOHN OVER THERE IN ORDER TO BE TAKING CARED THE BUSINESSES GOING ON, HE HIMSELF HAS GIVEN JOHN SOME GOOD INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT THE BUSINESS GOING ON TO GET IT DONE AS WELL AS PROPERTY THE WAY IT SUPPOSED TO BE EXECUTED IN A GOOD FANCY FASHION WAY.
EXT-STREET-NIGHT
WE FOLLOW JOHN ARRIVES TO NEW YORK, ON THE LOCAL PHONE BY THE AIRPORT HE CALLED THE BIG BOSS.
Hello people, it’s me again. I am a screenwriter. I have 5 scripts. Wrongful death, berto&carrie, confronted, just for a ride, situate parties. Those are can make great motion pictures. If you want the scripts call me at 917 965 8657. Thank you very much for allowing me your time.
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