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Script Coverage: Hollywood's Most Necessary Evil
It is one of the many great mysteries of Hollywood. Its influence is powerful and far-reaching. It can make or break a writer's career, and is the lifeblood of many of the most powerful agents and executives in town. It is script coverage, Hollywood's version of Cliff Notes, those yellow and black books that you read the night before a test when you hadn't read the actual book.
Coverage is the little secret that keeps Hollywood going. Everyone hates coverage because they want the big people, the ones they sent it to, to read their scripts, not some reader or story analyst. It is a fact that no one likes, but there are too many scripts, short stories, novels, and comic books for a producer, studio executive, agent, director or actor to read.
Every script, when legally put into the system, whether it is from a hack or an established screenwriter, is covered. Most often, a script will make its way to a story department where anywhere from one to a handful of readers work full-time, depending on the size of the outfit. A reader will read the script, and draft a report that is generally comprised of three or four parts.
The first page covers the basics: title, author, genre, date, draft, time period, estimated budget, logline, etc. Then, sometimes the reader will break down the main characters with brief descriptions of the principal and supporting players. What follows is a synopsis of the plot, a beat-by-beat account of the story. Finally, comments. Comments are based on the reader's personal opinion of the material. Well-written comments address the storyline, character development, dialogue, and marketability of a property. And then there is the stamp: "Recommend," "Consider," or "Pass."
Seem unfair that your months of hard work followed by the agony of figuring out how to legally submit your script results in some kid plowing through your script in 45 minutes and then reducing it to three pages of insults? Of course it is. But script coverage is a necessary evil in Hollywood.
Consider: Tens of thousands of screenplays are registered with the WGA every year, and tens of thousands are written, but never registered. Development executives receive upwards of thirty scripts a week, which are usually sent directly to the company's story department. Typically, upon receiving the coverage back, an executive will look at the first page to see if the movie even fits some of the very basic criteria for the company. If an art house exec sees "big lizard eats buildings" on the front page of the coverage, he or she has done his or her job by throwing that script in the circular file without reading another word. Similarly, if the last word of the coverage is "Pass," the exec is likely to do just that without a second thought.
In the agency world, the same tough love is applied to the thousands of scripts that pass through these ten-percenteries. Talent agents do not have time to read the numerous scripts that are sent for their client's consideration, nor do literary agents have the inclination to sit through their nephew's best friend's script simply as a favor.
As with production companies and studios, an agency's first gatekeeper for almost all scripts is coverage. Who is this reader we speak about? Who is this little know-it-all who is determining the fate of your brilliant screenplay? No question, these places do not hire just anyone, and almost all of these readers have earned the trust of their superiors. But is there any assurance that the reader is representing a consensus about the quality of your script? Of course not.
Some agencies require their agent trainees to cover as many as three scripts a week for the agency when they are not pushing mail carts for twelve hours a day. Imagine, some kid graduates Penn, moves out to L.A. to make minimum wage by getting barked at by some high school drop out that runs the mail room, and is acting as the first line of defense between a new script and the Hollywood machine. The ink is not even dry on his bachelor's degree, and this kid is "passing" on your script! Logical? No. Infuriating? Absolutely. Is this inexact science ever going to change? Not any time soon.
Chris Moore is someone who relies on coverage to do what he does, and clearly recognizes its value: "Coverage is a crucial part of the process and should be embraced not fought. It is like going to see a movie or renting a tape. Do you ever do it without someone telling you they thought the movie was good? The same goes for reading scripts. It is narrowing down the options. So do not hate coverage -- use it to motivate you to write a script that makes a reader, someone who reads four scripts a day, remember yours. That is how it works and it is a microcosm of the movie world. Do you know how many movies are in theaters right now? Well, it is above 20 in most cities. So 'word of mouth' as it is known is what separates the hits from the bombs. Coverage is just the very beginning of the 'word of mouth' on your script."
To be sure, most coverage comes back negative. There is one reason for this: most scripts are bad. Anyone can write a script, but not everyone is a writer. Roughly one in thirty scripts are actually "recommended" by a reader, the rest are "considers," but mostly "passes." But take heart, readers in Hollywood are smart people, and their job is not to blindly pass on every script they read. You can bet a reader is hoping they discover the next "Usual Suspects" or "Seven." It benefits them as much as it benefits the writer.
Of course, this is a general outlook of the business. In fact, readers are qualified to be readers, because they are just like you and me, people who go to the movies and walk out with some opinion. Evaluating a script is a bit different and certainly requires some skill. Some men and women of power in Hollywood have had the same reader for years, and trust that the opinion of their reader is merely an extension of their own taste.
Nonetheless, it is important to note that an essential part to any script is finding something that sets it apart from the others. Give the reader a reason to notice your script, and they will notice it. The rumor is that the reader is perhaps the most powerful person in Hollywood. Probably not, but they are the gatekeepers who can recommend your script to the boss, or toss it into the recycling bin with all the other pathetic excuses for screenplays.
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