Script readers are Hwood’s threshold guardians. Nobody who is involved in the script acquisition and development decision-making process reads a script without coverage. But a script reader, or more accurately story analyst, is much more than merely about providing script coverage.

I asked one of my online screenwriting students and longtime story analyst, D.C. Mar, to answer a series of questions I posed to her. She sent back a remarkable document that includes some of the most important information for screenwriters, aspiring and professional, I have ever seen.

* How would you describe what a script reader/story analyst does?

We can be likened to the gardeners whose job is to weed out everything but the few rare blooms that might actually have a chance at becoming a movie.

We’ve all heard that readers and coverage exist because the executives don’t bother to read. That’s not entirely accurate. Yes, most execs will have only read the coverage or even just the logline or summary on the coverage. But they do read the scripts that intrigue or excite them based on favorable coverage or something in the coverage that catches their fancy. And sure, the studio chiefs and the production company heads only read the very few scripts that reach their desk after it’s been thoroughly screened and championed by everyone from the lowly reader and assistant on up to the VPs and Presidents of the company. It’s impossible for these execs to read every single script, book and other property that is submitted to them. And that’s where readers come in. There are fewer of them and a lot of us and our job is to thin down the pile to only the few and most promising gems.

We do have to read everything that is submitted and determine which of the few merit a closer look by those in the position to make decisions about moving it on up the pipeline for potential acquisition and development. If we readers rave about a script in coverage, and the executive requesting the coverage agrees and also raves about it, this script will be passed on to the highest level exec or producer(s) in the company who have the ultimate say so on whether a property is acquired or not.

Of course, as with everything, there are inexperienced readers and veteran readers ranging from the intern doing his/her first coverage to the weary, skeptical pro who’s read thousands upon thousands of scripts. The best readers take into consideration many factors and one of the most important is the specific tastes and filmmaking philosophy of the company/entity for which they read. Something I recommend for the Weinstein Company might not be right for New Line or vice versa.

The industry calls us “script readers” or more often just “readers,” but the term is a misnomer since we not only read and analyze scripts but also (fiction/non-fiction) manuscripts, books and book proposals, treatments, teleplays, pilots, comic books, graphic novels, magazine and news articles and watch VHS/DVDs of foreign movies or classics for remake potential. “Story analyst” is the more accurate term since we evaluate just about anything that could potentially be translated into a movie (or TV series/miniseries). Certainly a big chunk of what we evaluate is screenplays submitted from talent agencies, other production entities, actors, directors, friends of the head honchos or less frequently the writers themselves. But because Hollywood loves adaptations sometimes more than screenplays, a sizable percentage of submissions are also books and manuscripts from publishers and book agents.

Also, the type of coverage and function it serves will vary. Depending on whether a story analyst is evaluating a submission for a talent agency (seller) or production company (buyer) or actor/director (talent) or writing services geared towards writer, the type of analysis will be very different. For example, coverage for literary agencies/management companies are geared towards assessing the potential of the script or project to sell and to whom and/or whether the script/book/project etc. being evaluated would be appropriate for a specific actor or director. Coverage for studios, production companies, producers are geared towards whether the company should buy the project and invest in development based on the company/individual’s specific mandate. Another type of coverage analysts do for studios, ProdCos and producers are detailed project and/or comparison coverage on projects these companies/individuals own and have in development, which entails providing comprehensive notes on the latest draft or comparing the most recent draft with the earlier draft. Project coverage also includes evaluating writing samples submitted for writer candidates being considered for rewrites on a given project.

Tomorrow DC answers how she became a script reader, including information for any of you who might be interested in learning this craft.