Curious to know if folks here have had their work reviewed (coverage) from Screencraft and/or Wescreenplay Coverage Services? And in turn, what was your impression and overall satisfaction with their notes and scoring? I know they are generally considered among the more reliable and consistent of these type of services. So, would love to know what others think who have also used them?
Full disclosure; I’ve also had an earlier draft of something I wrote reviewed by Stage 32 script services too. And had a rather interesting experience with their feedback.
Happy Sunday!
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I've had experiences with both and both can give you great marks on a script, but in the second round, you can get a freakish low score. I'm not sure what that means. Maybe the second reader wants to be sure you don't advance and sinks your project. Who knows. I've gotten to the point, where if I don't agree with a reader, I'll tell them so.
I don't mind low scores as long as the feedback is helpful. I've written enough screenplays to know what is decent material and what isn't.
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I found WeScreenplay too uneven, stopped using them. (They're owned by the same company that owns Screencraft by the way.)
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I do not understand why writers are so wrapped up in the Pass, Consider, Recommend garbage. To a writer, it is completely meaningless and a total waste of money because it cannot be translated into anything, a studio/producer will not care one iota that your screenplay received a Recommend from any of those paid services. Coverage is designed for the studio but what the writer needs is constructive feedback and notes, which are different things.
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Lots of interesting feedback and insights. Thank you. Seems like there are a few folks who feel rather passionate about this topic. So, my apologies for striking a nerve.
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I've gotten pretty good notes from screenplaymechanic. He posts around here occasionally. Only one consider out of seven submissions. Haha. So don't expect a consider vote. The reason I still use him is cause the notes and suggestions are usually on point and the scripts are better after I incorporate his feedback. It's about $200 for 2 pages of in depth notes. Worth it though.
Interesting. My last client received 13 pages of in depth notes and that was for his pilot.
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That's right, Kay Luke I always laugh when I see a site advertise you get X amount of pages of feedback for your money and I scratch my head at the smell of rat when they offer X pages for the basic coverage fee and Y pages for the premium coverage fee. I have two issues with that. 1) Anything less than the premium fee means they're holding back information you should be receiving, or they're making up bullshit to fill the page count for the premium service, and 2) Feedback should tell you what you need to know regardless of how many pages it takes to tell it. One line or a dozen pages or more, and to structure your fee based on page count is nothing short of a scam.
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Kay Luke watering hole metaphor is too good to leave untouched. Just like watering holes, they bring predators. More of a National Geographic view of a watering hole.
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Total crapshoot.
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Umm, there's a little bit of a difference between glory hole and watering hole, Craig
This rather innocent query has taken an unusual turn.
I blame Pierre lol
Apparently, the Coverfly/Screencraft controversy seems to be possibly born out of competition within the writer support and development industry. To wit: https://www.coverfly.com/an-open-letter-to-our-community-1/
Who is really behind Red Ampersand? https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ca/C3971518
Does it matter? I am with Pierre Langenegger Kay Luke on this topic. What every writer needs is constructive feedback and knowledgeable colleagues with experience and a desire to be helpful.
I was reading an article over on Linkedin about how the glut of content creators and content creation as a niche for freelance writers has given birth to the phenomena of good writing samples being handed over to editors by people who actually were not really good writers. And how to separate the genuine talent and the skilled from the hacks.
This seems to be the same kind of problem. I would venture to say that the only people I would ever consider paying for a coverage service are the people who have a demonstrable and verifiable track record. If I don't know who is reading my script, why would I care what the heck they think about it?
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J.B. Storey You want to be a successful writer? Here's how:
It depends on who you get. Also, I notice if your work sucks you'll get "general" info about how to improve. And, trust me, EVERYBODY's work sucks right off the bat. If your work is pretty good, you'll get "pass but your scores will be higher and the feedback is more measured overall. If you get a "consider" you'll get more meaningful, concise feedback and if you get a "recommend" you'll get pinpoint accurate feedback. If you have a consistent problem, i.e., there's "no meaningful romantic connection between your characters", etc., and it's over and over again, take it that this is a MAJOR problem that needs to be dealt with. BUT, I would rather get feedback from WeScreenplay, etc., before wasting money in competitions that I will lose because I didn't get my sh*t together before submitting. Sometimes you are just too close to your work to see your errors. Hope this helps!
I keep writing. My brothers and I have written 19 feature screenplays so far. NO sales yet. We enter contests hoping to breakthrough to someone. We're doing another screenplay now, but it's been tough going. It's one of those French catacomb Halloween stories.