I read part of it all the way through.—Samuel Goldwyn
The Hollywood decision-maker who receives your story submission
rarely has time to read it him- or herself. They assign it “for
coverage” to the story department, and receive back a coverage.
“Coverage” is the term used in Hollywood for the document that
determines the fate of most story submissions. It’s a document, created
by a story editor, in the story department of an agency, production
company, studio, or broadcaster that analyzes your story’s
film-worthiness. A typical coverage includes a “grading system”
something like the following that suggests that the submission
(screenplay, novel, nonfiction book, or treatment) is:
PASS— Nothing to spend more time on. So the executive who receives this recommendation returns the submission.
RECOMMEND— The grade you’re looking for. The
executive reads at least part of the submission and, if he agrees with
his story editor, contacts the writer to ask about its rights status.
RECOMMEND, W/DEVELOPMENT— Don’t let this one go, but it’s not perfect and needs fixing.
CONSIDER— The story editor isn’t sure. Usually this grade leads to a “second read,” from a different story editor.
CONSIDER, WITH DEVELOPMENT— Meaning it’s worth
taking on for development, but not yet ready for production. In many
cases this will lead to a pass because most companies are so swamped
with production and development projects that they simply have no
bandwidth for developing another one.
Sometimes an additional category might be included:
KEEP AN EYE ON THE WRITER? That’s a Yes, or No.
The coverage typically contains a number of analytical sections to make sure all aspects of the project are addressed:
TITLE and
GENRE: The title of the
submission is followed by a statement of what genre it falls into:
Fantasy/Adventure, Action, Romance, Drama, Horror, Thriller, Comedy,
True Story, etc.
TYPE: Screenplay? Manuscript? Nonfiction? Novel? Treatment?
LOGLINE: This is a one- or two-sentence summary of
the story, sometimes referred to as the pitch-line. The best are the
shortest: “A man is mistakenly left behind when his ships leaves in a
hurry. On Mars.”
SYNOPSIS— This is a straightforward outline of your
story, to give the executive an overview of what happens in it. It
describes all main plot points and details necessary to understand the
story. The preferred length of a synopsis is a page or two. When it’s
longer, it’s usually a sign to the executive that the story is too
complicated to make a good film.
MARKET POTENTIAL— This section is a comment on the
audience the project is aimed at, and whether the story editor feels it
fits that market or departs from its needs or expectations, whether it’s
a fresh approach to an important story, whether the story is “elevated”
by its theme to make it a worthy film or series. Often names successful
films that resemble this one.
STRUCTURE— This is an overall comment on how well
the structure of the story holds together and accomplishes its purpose,
but also where it falters in doing so. Do events unfold cohesively? Are
plot points used effectively? Does the story reveal a three-act
structure? A typical comment, “There seems to be repetition of the same
events over and over again throughout the story.”
CONFLICT— This crucial section indicates whether
there is sufficient conflict, both external (in the events of the story)
and internal (within the characters). Is the main external conflict of
sufficient formidable force to hold audiences? Is it supported by
smaller external conflicts, as well as by internal conflict on the part
of the characters, especially protagonist and antagonist?
CHARACTER— Is the protagonist fully formed? Do we
care about Does he or she have a back story, a mission, and does he or
she experience change by the end? Are the supporting characters strong?
DIALOGUE— Is the dialogue unique to each character
or do they all sound the same? Does the dialogue move the story along,
providing information and containing subtext without being on-the-nose
or unbelievable?
PACING— Are scenes or events an appropriate length
for their purpose? Is there a sense of build-up, a balance between
tension and release, mystery and discovery? Sufficient twists and turns,
cliffhangers and surprises? Does each scene or event depend on what
came before?
LOGIC— This section talks about plot holes or points
lacking sufficient clarity? Do events make sense within the world of
the story? For example, do science fiction and fantasy worlds remain
consistent with their own set of rules?
CRAFT— Is the writing itself clear, concise, and
descriptive? Is there an even balance of action and dialogue? Is proper
formatting employed? Are there spelling or grammatical errors?
Yeah,
it’s pretty thorough, isn’t it? And here’s the catch: the writer who
submitted the story will rarely see the coverage that determines its
fate. It’s a real philosophical dilemma. Given that the coverage is so
important, and that you won’t see it, how should you behave?
The answer is to know that the coverage, like the troll under the
bridge, is there lurking in wait for you–and to disarm it in advance by
making sure your story addresses all the categories of expectation.
If, in its current form, it does not, write a
treatment of your story and submit that instead.
About Sell Your Story to Hollywood:
Through the expanding influence of the Internet and the
corporatization of both publishing and entertainment, the process of
getting your book to the big screen has gotten more complicated, more
eccentric, and more exciting.
This little book aims to help you figure out how to get your story
told on big screens or small. It’s not going to give you rules and
regulations, because they simply don’t exist today. Any rule that could
be promulgated has and will be broken. What this book offers instead is
nearly thirty years of observation of how things happen in show
business, the business of entertainment (better known around the world
as Hollywood). Dr. Ken Atchity’s Hollywood experience ranges from
writing to managing writers to producing their movies for television and
theaters. He’s seen the Hollywood story market from nearly every angle,
including legal and business affairs.
Ken Atchity spent his first career as a professor, a career he
embarked upon innocently because he wanted to focus his efforts on
understanding stories and helping writers get their stories told—and
here he is thirty years later still pursuing the same goal—because it’s a
worthy and never-ending goal.
He’s made films based on nonfiction books, and made deals for a
number of nonfiction stories. But most of his experience lies in turning
novels into films. As a lifelong story merchant, what Dr. Atchity
develops and sells are “stories,” because he believes stories rule the
world. Many of the observations outlined in this book are simply about
selling stories to Hollywood.
This pocket guide will help you expedite the transformation of your show business dreams into realities.
Order your copy online
here.
