Working With Screenplays
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Welcome to The Editorial Department's Screen Division. For nearly 30 years, TED has helped novelists to perfect their craft and find audiences for their stories. We launched the Screen Division to bring our extensive experience with story, character, dialogue and structure to a new medium: the screenplay. Our Los Angeles-based screen staff was chosen for its own screenwriting and consultation experience, and offers a range of affordable development, consultation, and adaptation services for screenwriters. Similar services are availible for those wishing to adapt their stories for film and television. Development is about making things better, and developing a work to its fullest potential. Anyone can tell writers what they want to hear. At TED, we tell writers what they need to hear--the good, the bad, and (occasionally) the ugly. That means getting specific about what works, what could be better, and what shouldn't be there at all.
What We DoWe evaluate screenplays, looking for things like concept, story, character, dialogue, structure, arc, and commercial appeal. When there's room for improvement, we work with the writer to achieve the script's maximum potential in all of these areas. What We PromiseRealistic and useful feedback in our evaluations, with considerably more detail than you'll find in typical Hollywood "coverage." When working with our staff, you'll get a committed effort to bring your work to the next level, and help you grow as a writer. Getting StartedOur $35 Short Critique examines your script's first ten pages for overall effectiveness, craft, and market appeal. Your opening is extremely important, as this is where you make your first impression. The Short Critique is a fast, economical way to get a feel for the sensibilities of your editor and what we can do for you. More information The Script Evaluation provides an in-depth analysis of your script and explores what's working, and what could be better. Having the whole script evaluated also gives you feedback on larger issues such as plot, structure, character development and arc--things that cannot be conveyed (or evaluated) in ten pages. More information The Evaluation/Consult is a middle ground, for those who want to know where a particular screenplay stands, and whether it's worth the sometimes considerable effort involved to bring it up to par--or whether it can be brought up to par at all. In short, if you find yourself wondering whether to sink more time into a script or start a new one instead, this could be what you're looking for. More information Our StaffOur screenplay consultants are based in Los Angeles and have benefit of film, television, and book publishing experience. Overview of ServicesShort Critique Your opening is crucial. Agents, managers, studios and production companies are swamped with submissions, and if your script doesn't hook the reader at the outset, your first impression could be your last. The Short Critique evaluates the first ten pages of your screenplay, and provides feedback on what's working, what's not--and how to make your opening as compelling as possible. We'll point out problem areas, suggest improvements, and give you our opinion on your opening's commercial potential. The Short Critique offers a fast, low-cost way to get a professional appraisal of your material. You can use it to test our abilities before sending the entire script, or simply to get an unbiased opinion. Turnaround Time: 7 days (standard) / 24 hours (rush) Price: $35 (standard) / $52.00 (rush) Screenplay Evaluation and Story Development Notes A comprehensive written report addressing your script's overall strengths and weaknesses, commercial potential (including novel and game crossover potential, when appropriate), and specific issues such as plot, structure, pacing, narration, characterization, character arc, dialogue, writing style, formatting, spelling and grammar. Hollywood coverage stops there, but we don't: we go the extra mile, providing you with development notes to tell you what's working, what's not--and why, and suggesting specific improvements to maximize your script's potential. In most cases this is the next step after the short critique. Each Evaluation includes a 30-minute phone consultation with TED's Director of Development, John Robert Marlow. Turnaround Time: 10 days (standard) / 24 hours (rush) Price: $250 (standard) / $325 (rush) up to 125 pages Additional pages: $2.00 per page (standard) / $3.00 per page (rush) Detail Notes Our Detail Notes service provides highly detailed notes placed throughout the body of your screenplay, pointing out areas which need (or would benefit from) improvement and making specific suggestions. This service takes things one level deeper than our Evaluation and Story Development Notes, and is generally most appropriate when the major elements of the script (plot, structure, characters, dialogue) are already in place, and you're looking for detailed feedback on highly specific matters. Detail Notes are intended to push an already good script toward perfection. All comments are inserted into the screenplay itself, allowing you to see the notes as you read. Turnaround Time: 10 days (standard) / 24 hours (rush) Price: $375 (standard) / $562 (rush) up to 125 pages Additional pages: $3.00 per page (standard) / $4.50 per page (rush) Development Developmental Outline: For promising material that nevertheless needs a good deal of revision to achieve its full potential, it's often faster and more economical to work in outline form. TED's Director of Development John Robert Marlow will read through your screenplay, help you put together a working outline, and consult with you by phone and e-mail for a total of up to 20 hours. At the end of this process, you'll have a solid outline to guide your revision or adaptation, and you'll know exactly where you're going before your fingers ever touch the keyboard--avoiding blind alleys and endless rewrites. The Developmental Outline is most appropriate for screenplays, novels, multi-volume series (screenplay or novel), and adaptations (novel-to-screenplay, screenplay-to-novel). It can also be used with nonfiction documentaries. If your project requires more than 20 hours (because of exceptional length, for instance), we'll discount the additional time spent. Standard: Varies with client's available time and preferred pace; generally 30-90 days Rush: 3-14 days, depending on client's available time and preferred pace. Line Editing/Polish A literal line-by-line edit of your screenplay, with suggested changes written directly into the script. Changed lines are indicated by revision marks in the margin. Our Line Edit can be as detailed as you like, from simple proofreading (for typos, ghosts, inconsistencies, etc.) to a full-blown, hands-on polish of your writing style and voice. Line Editing is most appropriate for scripts that are already in final form, but would benefit from a final pass to smooth things out, catch errors, etc. Turnaround Time: 2-3 weeks (standard) / 48 hours (rush) Price: Price varies with the amount of work involved, but typically ranges from $5-$8 per page (standard) and $10-$16 per page (rush) Personal Consulting / Coaching For those wanting personal, one-on-one script consulting or coaching, this service is now available by phone or e-mail. If you've submitted your script for one of our full-length services within the past 100 days, the cost is $75 per hour. If you'd like to receive consulting / coaching on a different or less-recently submitted script, there will be an initial reading fee of $1 per page. Pitch-Sheet (logline and teaser/summary) A one-page pitch designed to hook the reader's interest and intrigue him/her enough to ask for the treatment or script. Longer than a logline (which is included with this service) but shorter than a treatment, the Pitch-Sheet is an ideal way to get the premise of your story across briefly and persuasively. In a business where attention spans are notoriously short, this is crucial. The logline hooks the reader's interest at a glance, and the teaser reels them in. The Pitch-Sheet is best employed after the script is in final shape-as the better the script, the better the Pitch-Sheet. All Pitch-Sheets are prepared by TED's Director of Development, John Robert Marlow. He'll read your script, boil it down to its most essential elements, and deliver a document containing a teaser and two or more loglines. (Occasionally, John will suggest an alternate title as well.) To see the Pitch-Sheet he used to land a manager, sell his Nano novel, and get the adapted script into development, see his sample Pitch-Sheet. Ideally, the Pitch-Sheet should read like the back cover blurb on a novel or DVD. In fact, John's publisher (Forge/ St. Martin's Press) chose to use his Pitch-Sheet teaser as the back-cover blurb for his Nano novel, rather than a blurb written by its own in-house copywriters, who write back-cover blurbs for a living. You'll get a 50% discount on our Pitch-Sheet service if you simultaneously submit the same script for another of our full-length script services. Turnaround Time: 7 days (standard) / 24 hours (rush) Price: $200 (standard) / $300 (rush) up to 125 pages Additional pages: $1.60 per page (standard) / $2.40 per page (rush) Treatment In many cases, industry readers will ask to see a treatment before they'll commit to reading an entire script. Boiling a complete screenplay down to a few pages can be difficult, particularly for those closest to the work. We'll read your screenplay objectively and prepare a five-to-seven-page Treatment covering the most important points of your story in the format expected by industry readers. Our Treatment service is most appropriate for scripts that are already in final form, and ready for industry submission. Turnaround Time: 7 days (standard) / 24 hours (rush) Price: $350.00 (standard) / $475 (rush) up to 125 script pages Additional pages: $2.80 per page (standard) / $4.20 per page (rush) Treatment Analysis For those who already have a treatment and would like some objective input, we'll go over your document with a fresh perspective, pointing out errors and potential problems involving specific issues such as plot, structure, pacing, characters, dialogue, writing style, spelling and grammar. We'll tell you what's working, what's not--and why, and suggest ways to improve your presentation. Often, problems within a treatment indicate larger problems in the script itself; in such instances, the Treatment Analysis can serve as a broad-stroke diagnostic tool for the screenplay. Turnaround Time: 7 days (standard) / 24 hours (rush) Price: $100 (standard) / $150 (rush) up to 20 pages Additional pages: $3 per page (standard) / $6.00 per page (rush) Adaptations (Novel-to Screenplay, Screenplay-to-Novel) The demands imposed upon the writer by novels and screenplays are very different--so different, in fact, that few novelists write screenplays, and vice versa. Wonderful novels can make terrible movies, if not artfully adapted, and screenplays often lack the complexity and detail expected of novels. Nevertheless, successful adaptation is possible (witness the Harry Potter novels). If you're seeking to maximize the commercial potential of your novel (or appropriate nonfiction book), we can adapt it into a screenplay for you. We can also adapt your screenplay into a novel (or, in some cases, a nonfiction book). To inquire about these services, please contact TED's Director of Development, John Robert Marlow. Ghostwriting John Marlow and several other members of our editorial staff are experienced published writers and available for ghostwriting and collaboration on certain projects. Please contact Jesse Steele at (520) 546- 9992 for details. |
Screenplay Testimonials
Dave Erickson Iowa City, IA |
Need some professional guidance on a manuscript you've written or are writing? Have you considered hiring TED and want to know more about what to expect? Check out our Downloadable Guide for New & Prospective Clients. (Left click to view or print. Right Click/Save As... to save for future reference.)
