Spastic Weasel Media

What is coverage?

At any given studio or production company in Hollywood, the executives who make decisions to purchase material and hire writers are inundated with scores of scripts on a weekly basis. With the responsibilities of overseeing development and production of current projects, it's impossible for them to read every submission that crosses their desks.

Coverage summarizes both the content and quality of a submission and acts as an initial filter for executives. It gives a first impression of what material is worth their time.

In addition, coverage provides a degree of protection for a company from frivolous litigation, by providing a database summary of what has been submitted and when it was received. Without this protection, companies would be less open to spec submissions for fear of possible lawsuits.

In combination, these are the reasons why every piece of material in town goes through a reader. Every one. Even submissions from so-called "A-List" writers. And coverage isn't only used by studios and production companies. Agencies and management companies employ coverage to screen possible clients.

Why do you need it?

Depending on your opinion, coverage is either a fact of life or a necessary evil. But there's no escaping the fact that some form of coverage will be the first introduction that most decision-makers will have to your writing. Just as good coverage can open doors, poor coverage can close them. So why take the risk of a poor first impression by submitting your work without any idea where you stand against industry standards?

You're serious enough about your work to have researched proper format, proper binding, and proper presentation. You've studied structure, character, dialog and pacing. You've proofed your work for grammar, spelling and punctuation. All of this on top of the weeks or months you've spent hunched over your keyboard, legal pads and cocktail napkins.

Isn't all of that time and effort worthy of the last step? Friends and family can offer support. Workshop buddies, writing partners and copy editors can offer proof-reading and opinions. But an experienced industry professional can offer an honest, and most importantly realistic, assessment of how your work ranks against hundreds of other submissions.

With ten years of development experience and thousands of pieces of coverage on scripts in all genres, I can provide that honest feedback. And more importantly, I can offer suggestions as to how your script can be improved so that when you finally submit it "for real", you're showcasing yourself and your work in the best possible light.