The blog
What studio executives actually look for, from someone who spent thirty years as one. On ideas, pitching, outlining, structure, rewrites and the business.
Featured: the pitch
What a buyer is really reacting to when a high-concept spec lands on the desk, and what the other studios missed.
Coverage & notes
What's in a coverage report, what pass, consider and recommend really mean, and why I give mine on a live call.
The idea
One sentence decides whether your script gets opened. How long it should be, what goes in it, and what to leave out.
Treatments & outlines
Length, tone and what to leave out, from someone who read hundreds of them at the studios.
Treatments & outlines
The outline is where most script problems are cheapest to fix.
Structure
How Face/Off and Pretty Woman actually break down, and why structure is a diagnosis, not a formula.
Television
A great episode isn't enough. Buyers need to see the engine for season two.
The pitch
What happens in the room after you leave, and how to shape the pitch around it.
The pitch
Why streamers don't take unsolicited scripts, and the realistic routes in.
Coverage & notes
A sample coverage report with the pass, consider and recommend grid, explained by a former executive.
Coverage & notes
Separating the note from the fix, and knowing which notes to ignore.
