So you want to be a script reader? 🖋️
Finally answering the Big question!
Hello Messies <3
We hope you’re having a BLAST in the sun and since you keep asking, we thought we would finally deliver the answer to the age-old question — HOW do I become a script reader?
We decided to ask someone who knows about the world of script reading much more than we do, our amazing Messy admin, Rowan Allen!
Oh, you poor bastard. It’s going to be a hard road ahead.
But I get it. It’s the first step towards your dream job of script editing on Coronation Street, or developing feature films with the BFI, or commissioning sitcoms for Channel 4. Or maybe it’s your backdoor route into a screenwriting career?
Well, since you’re here, I’ll give you the fruits of my experience. I’ve been reading in a professional capacity for about three years, and I hope to god I’ve learned something from that. (I sure as shit didn’t make any money from it.) So what are my bona fides?
I’ve read for a number of screenplay competitions, including several of the ‘big’ ones with prizes actually worth the submission fee.
I have also read for UK production companies and professional coverage services.
Aside from script reading work, I’ve been a script researcher and assistant script editor on BBC crime dramas Silent Witness and Beyond Paradise.
You can also hire me to write coverage on your film or TV project as an independent script editor. (Or get me drunk at one of the Messy Drinks events and I might read it for free.)
I won’t name any of the companies I’ve worked with, because not all of them have ethical working practices and could be considered exploitative. If you’re so inclined you can find my CV elsewhere and draw your own conclusions (or, again, get me drunk and I’ll dish the dirt).
Script reading jobs are tricky things to pin down, and there’s no one way to go about getting them. They are rarely advertised like normal jobs - an overwhelming problem with media industry roles in general - and when they are, competition is naturally fierce.
It’s especially bad right now, with the UK film & TV industry more or less in freefall, so don’t be downhearted if you struggle to find this work straight away (or ever!). Much like leprechauns and the Ark of the Covenant, script reading jobs simply don’t want to be found.
First, ask yourself: why do you want to be a script reader?
This is not a glamorous job. It’s not a lucrative job. It’s not even a secure job. If you want a steady wage for doing skilled work, go learn a trade.
Despite the mystery and competition surrounding it, script reading is an entry-level job at best. It requires basic reading ability, an understanding of screenplay formatting, structure and a smattering of story theory, and a GCSE English-level writing ability. I’m confident in saying that (some) screenwriters can comfortably manage that.
(Honestly, if there’s one piece of advice I’d give to young people thinking about entering the film & TV industry, it would be to apprentice as an electrician or a carpenter before doing anything else. You can learn film theory from YouTube and Wikipedia and make films on borrowed cameras and microphones; studying filmmaking is only worth it if you’re able to go to an institution which all but guarantees you a job when you graduate.)
However, you’re still reading this newsletter, which must mean you’re afflicted with the same mental illness I am: wanting to work in scripted media above everything else. Good. If you’re in it for anything other than a love of the game and a slim chance at stepping up to something better, then let’s go:
Apply for jobs
Hands in the air: I’ve never successfully applied for a reading job through normal channels. I’ve been rejected to read for the BFI’s filmmaking fund once before, and when BBC Writers opened their books for new readers in 2022, they required applicants to have a minimum of three years’ experience (18 months for DDN applicants).
That’s it. Don’t hold your breath for these ones.
Email script contests
Script competitions need a lot of readers, especially if they have a decent reputation and have tons of scripts to get through. This is how many people get into script reading, and experiences can vary wildly depending on the size of the competition and how much of a scam it is. (Note: most of them are scams. The trick is to figure out how to separate the ones which are scamming writers with too much money from those that scam the readers with not enough).
A small minority of contests will advertise for reader pools, but otherwise you’ll have to use your initiative. I’ve gotten work just by emailing generic inboxes a week or two before submissions close and asking if they need any extra hands on deck. If you do well they’ll likely keep you in mind for next season, but it is by nature fleeting work.
This approach sometimes also works with professional coverage services, but as they’re year-round operations they often have regular readers already in place. Still, worth a try!
Bear in mind that the pay for these jobs is often extremely low, but so is the bar for entry.
Contact production companies
Depending on their internal structure, production companies may have in-house readers who deal with all their script (and sometimes book) submissions, but others use an external pool of readers to generate synopses and recommendations, usually managed by a development staffer. If you can get an in with a company, they can end up being a handy source of semi-regular income, especially if you deliver high-quality work on deadline.
Contacting them is essentially the same approach as with the contests. Most production companies have a generic email address that you can use to submit your CV as a prospective reader. They’re likely to get many messages like this all the time for all kinds of roles, so a better bet is to try and find the contact details of a development coordinator or script editor and ask if you can buy them a coffee in return for some career advice.
If you’re feeling really confident, you can always try calling their office number and asking about reading vacancies. Personally, I’ve never had the stones to try, but I have heard the occasional success story.
Make friends in the industry
It’s sad but true: most jobs in film & TV come from friends passing on jobs they’ve heard about through WhatsApp or email. I can think of at least three reading gigs that I got either because someone directly forwarded a message to me or that I first saw in a group chat.
It’s a frustratingly opaque aspect of the industry, because you already have to have some access to get even further in, but that’s not going to change any time soon. When I’m an executive at a top-level production company I’ll do things differently, and I expect all you Messies to do the same. For now, this is how the game is played.
Get to know script editors, people who work in development, production coordinators, even producers and directors (as long as they work in scripted). If they like you and they know you’re looking for work, there’s every chance they’ll think of you when an opportunity comes up.
How do you make these friends? Not having any, I don’t have the faintest idea. But here are some suggestions:
Go to industry networking events. They’re literally all over Eventbrite, and will most likely be populated by people at the same level as you, but this is a good thing - some of you will have better luck than others, and as you rise you can lend each other a helping hand.
Send people friendly messages on LinkedIn. I know this is cringe, but I’ve gotten meetings with people this way, and if you’re not a total weirdo about it.
Ask to swap numbers on other jobs. Work as a supporting artist on a TV show or a runner on a short film? Get those digits if you’ve managed to strike up a rapport with the crew.
Once you’ve made some friends, this should lead nicely to:
Recommendations
I got my first paid reading work by asking a script office colleague if he had any tips when my contract on Silent Witness was coming up. He told me about a coverage service that ran competitions and was often in need of new writers, so he put me in touch with their coverage manager and I started almost straight away on a freelance basis.
What now?
Okay, those are your approaches. What happens when you get in the door?
Be prepared to do free work
I hate to say it because this industry is rife with exploitation, but in this case, you’re simply not going to get reading work without coverage samples. A company will ask you to share script reports you’ve done - usually of a TV pilot, feature film or short script - before they’ll bring you on board. In that case, it’s fine to reuse the same samples over and over again.
If you haven’t ever done one before, find an example report from any professional coverage site (like this one) and copy the format to write about a friend’s script, or one that’s publicly available. At the very least, this is good practice for your critical faculties and doing future reports.
However, some of them won’t let you use your own sample, and will ask you to complete a report based on a script they assign you.
They will almost certainly not pay you for this work.
Loath as I am to say it, you may just need to bite this bullet, because if they’re taking this much care in hiring their readers, then they probably have standards and want to ensure that the people they hire are working at a consistent level. This means they’ll keep you in the reader pool.
Don’t expect to make money
Script reading is the lowest step on the ladder, and often so low that you’ll actually have to drop down to reach it.
The pay is usually bad, often bordering on or less than minimum wage. Shock horror!
In my experience, pay for script or book coverage from production companies tends to be better than elsewhere, though rarely more than you’d make as, say, a cleaner. Script competitions more or less run on goodwill, fumes and the broken souls of readers, making you wonder where exactly all that entry fee money goes.
Here’s a sample of some of the fees I’ve been paid along with the work I’ve done:
£3-5 (read and score script + write brief feedback to writer)
£12 (read 10-page extract, 3-page outline + write 3-page report)
£4 (read and rate TV pilot)
£75 (read and synopsise TV script + write 1 page of coverage)
£38-45 (read and score script + write 3-page report)
Because of this stark financial reality, script reading is simply not going to be an option for people who need to make a living from it. Everyone I know who does it either also has a day job or does four or five additional freelance gig economy late capitalist nightmare jobs just to make ends meet. Mercifully, script reading is something you can often perform while doing other work, providing said other job doesn’t involve much higher brain function (e.g. security, reception, Reform UK MP).
Thank you, Rowan!!
With love,
The Messy Women x
This is hilariously accurate to the experiences I had trying to break into script reading in the first half of 2023; and I’d worked with a load of producers/directors and script editors!