| Script Consultation | $650 | for feature screenplays (up to 120 pages) |
| $150 | for short screenplays (up to 15 pages) |
The process is I N T E R A C T I V E.
First, I’ll read your screenplay. I’m encountering your work for the first time, just as agents and managers and producers and directors and stars and production executives and investors will. I note everything that occurs to me, everything big or small that will give your readers problems and make it difficult to sell the script.
This read takes between two and four hours... closer to two hours if there’s no copy-editing to be done, closer to four hours if there are a lot of spelling/grammar/punctuation/format issues. (There are almost always a lot of spelling/grammar/punctuation/format issues.)
Second, I’ll read your screenplay again. Now that I know what you’re trying to accomplish, I make many more notes to help you accomplish those ends more successfully, and I organize my thoughts. This read takes about two hours.
Third, we’ll meet at a mutually agreeable place and time -- face-to-face (my preference), or by Skype (my second preference), or by phone. We’ll talk for as long as I have something helpful to say and you have questions to ask -- at least one hour, usually two. (I haven’t yet spent less than two hours in such a meeting.)
The benefit of oral consultation is that we interact in real time.
I’ll begin by talking about everything from the big picture, to what might seem like small details that can in fact kill your script’s chances. I’ll discuss what works and what doesn’t work and why, and I’ll make suggestions on how to improve the script.
I recommend that you record the conversation or take notes on your copy of the screenplay, but of course it’s up to you.
You’ll ask questions if anything’s unclear. You’ll suggest ideas that occur to you, get an immediate response from me which may spark another idea, etc. If you’ve prepared any questions, bring them; when we’re talking, say whatever comes to mind, and I’ll respond.
In this process, I’m not giving you a written report that sits there, frozen in time. Instead, I’m clarifying anything that needs clarifying, identifying to you what I see as areas that need to be strengthened, exploring and brainstorming with you improvements and solutions, and engaging with you one-on-one.
In my experience as a writer and as a teacher, as someone who gives notes and who is on the receiving end of notes, nothing comes close to matching the value of this real-time give-and-take.
I won’t blow smoke and tell you your screenplay is perfect as is. If you are a professional or want to be one, that’s a waste of your time and money. Instead, I’ll show you how to make your screenplay better.
If you’re interested, print out and read the Submission Release Agreement. If you agree with its terms, fill in the information requested, sign it, send it to me with your screenplay and your check (made out to Paul Guay Productions, Inc.)... and let’s get to work on your script.