First off, it is VERY hard for me to give anyone a five-star perfect rating as it implies there is no room for improvement. I think there usually is and no exception here.
I discovered this service after working on a transition of my stage play to a screenplay during the pandemic. Part of the fun for me has been learning the ins-and-out of formatting, the primary purpose of which is to make the reader happy. I see the value of it but really only partially. That said, my consultant did say that "formatting does not typically make or break a script." That says a lot -- to me anyway -- that they were not ever running a thumb down the page looking for formatting mistakes. Yet, there was a list of those mistakes, which suggested that they did burn their retina a little bit.
I have not used this kind of service much, but harping on formatting I find really annoying. So happy that was not the case here.
The other thing where I see red flags is a page or three of "statistics." Or maybe a chart. My report says, "Whilst we appreciate that the statistical performance of your script is important to you..." It isn't important to me. At all! These scores seem arbitrary, meaning less and simply a way to get a page count. I find them totally useless.
I got 9 and one half pages of anything useful. What I did get, however, IS USEFUL.
My screenplay is an historical drama. I got a clear sense that they checked out at least a little of the historical facts (easily found on Wikipedia) and so had a clue what I am trying to say. This is -- well this is what I think is the whole point of writing anything: What are you trying to say? We are dumping our story through the "plinko" game of screenwriting hoping that the reader ends up with some collection of thoughts similar to mine.
I really did think "jcs" did that. I don't give a damn about page counts. I think that's what matters. I really, really wish I could have some follow-up discussion with them because these notes gave me a glimmer of what has been driving me freaking nuts sending this thing around is the absolute 0-10 difference of opinion of what is "good" and what is "not."
I KNOW MY STORY IS GOOD. It's only structure a.k.a. storytelling holding it back.
I am going to think about these notes for another week or so, but I think I've got something useful. Frankly, it was rather cheap, too. I have a friend who is a screenwriter that has won some nice awards who charges A LOT more (not to me thank god!) and I doubt if he would say anything much better. In fact, what he has told me is just to "tell the damned story," which I think is pretty much what I was told by "jcs."
Get rid of the scores. Add some non-public discussion option.
Thanks
3 years ago
Industrial Scripts - Screenplay Editors has a
4.6
average rating
from
716
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