Introduction
Screenplay Coverage for YOU... Actual studio or agency coverage of your screenplay is not intended for the screenwriter. If your work is rejected, you will never see the notes; you’ll never know why your script was turned away. Worse, your screenplay may not get another chance once it has received poor coverage.
A coverage-evaluation and story notes from an experienced story editor - a.k.a. script reader or story analyst - is the best way to prepare for a professional screenplay submission. You get frank, objective notes and a sense of how your screenplay is reading before the submission counts.
After years of working in the Hollywood studio system and reading thousands of screenplays, I founded RP Story Consulting as a way for screenwriters working outside that system to get affordable coverage, notes and formatting expertise at the same high level as professional writers. I am a working screenwriter myself; I've been through the meat grinder of assignments with revision notes coming from all sides. Expect a deft touch with constructive criticism.
Please contact me if you have any questions and/or read some of the FAQs below to learn more about how it all works.
About Me
★ Screen-credited writer and story editor.
★ Working screenwriter with literary representation and professional assignments completed.
★ Has evaluated over 2000 screenplays for studios, producers, writers and film distributors, including Polygram Films, New Regency, DEF Pictures & Pacifica International with scripts for Lionsgate, Warner, Focus, Miramax and others.
★ Has worked directly with successful, reputable producers like Gerd Koechlin, Christine Iso, Michael Edelstein, Karen Danaher-Dorr, Chuck Fries, George Belshaw and others.
★ University screenwriting professor.
Services & Fees
Submission Info
FAQs
What is a
Coverage?
Hollywood executives
and agents are often too busy with other aspects of
their schedule to read and evaluate each and every
script that's submitted to them. So they hand the
job of filtering the good from the bad to a reader
with orders that only the best scripts get passed
up the ladder. MORE...
What does a
Coverage Report look like?
Coverages
reports come in all manner of formats. Really
they're just a simple report divided into certain
categories and sections of information. The order
and importance of those varying elements are up to
the production entity needing the report.
MORE...
What does a Story
Editor do?
The title of
story editor has many definitions depending on the
venue in which it's used. In the world of episodic
television, a story editor functions as a manager,
compiling notes and revisions from writers working
on an active script or from a team of writers
working on several scripts. In the world of feature
film development, a story editor might manage
script submissions and a team of readers, sending
work out for coverage and notes. Or they may work
with a screenwriter, delivering notes from various
creatives and managing the revision process. As a
creative position, a story editor might act as a
sort of ghost writer, suggesting or even executing
changes to a screenplay at the behest of the
writer, director, producer or other creatives
involved. The changes are usually by degrees
intended to enhance the original execution of the
writer's work in the screenplay.
MORE...
What is "unsolicited material" and why shouldn't I
send it?
Unsolicited material
is a term often heard when a writer sends work and
it's rejected outright with the warning, "We don't
accept unsolicited material." The term simply means
material that hasn't been cleared for submission.
It's all about professional etiquette. If you want
to send your script around, you have to query and
receive permission to send it. In many cases, any
entity that accepts creative material will request
that you sign a release, a.k.a. a standard release.
What is a release
/ standard release and why should I sign it?
A
standard release serves several functions, but
mainly its to protect the entity that receives your
work against claims that they stole your idea.
Agents, directors, actors, producers - anyone that
receives screenplays - usually receive a lot of
them. There's a good chance that they see the same
idea more than once from different writers. If they
decide to develop a script from one writer that
resembles the idea another writer or writers, they
need to be protected. MORE...
The Latest
Thursday / January / 12 / 2012
Rob will be teaching a series of three screenwriting workshops t the Creative Alliance at the Patterson beginning Saturday afternoons, March 24th and continuing for the next two consecutive Saturdays, on March 31st and April 7th. All workshops held in the CAmm classroom from 1-4 pm.
For more details, visiting the link here.
Screenwriting Workshop at Baltimore's Creative Alliance - November 12th
Wednesday / October / 12 / 2011
Rob will be teaching a screenwriting workshop on screenplay formatting at the Creative Alliance at the Patterson on Saturday, November 12th from 1-4 pm.
For more details, visiting the link here.
Joining Faculty at Howard Community College
Monday / August / 15 / 2011
This Fall, 2011, Rob has been invited to teach Writing For Screen Narrative in the Television, Radio and Film departments at Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland.
Return to University of Maryland Faculty
Monday / April / 4 / 2011
This Fall, 2011, Rob has been invited to return to the Baltimore metro area and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County campus to teach Writing for the Media Arts, a short film, narrative screenwriting class.
Story Editor on Two Asian-based Films
Monday / April / 4 / 2011
Rob is currently working with notable New Zealand-born director Tristan Strange and on two feature film scripts to be shot in 2011. "The Chronicles of Java 1: Fire & Ice" is a fantasy-adventure, "Hell Be Here" is a horror story set on a remote Indonesian island. Based in Asia and Australia, Tristan Strange is most known for his television commercials for high-end companies such as Honda, Coca-Cola and Sony. More information on the projects later.
Read more about Tristan Strange here.
Thanks to My Fall 2010 Students At UMBC
Tuesday / January / 18 / 2011
I had a wonderful experience teaching a semester of scriptwriting to a class of mostly senior undergrads at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. So, to... Bennett, Brian B, Brian K, Casey, Danette, Eve, Josh, Keith, Lauren, Martin, Max, Meghan, Paul P-Dub William, Rachel, Ryan, Stephen, Thomas and Timothy - thanks for being my first - and a very special first. You taught me at least as much as - hopefully - I taught you.