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BENJAMIN FREIBURGER has been a reader for the William Morris Agency, Artisan Entertainment and Cinergi Pictures. After graduating from Emerson College film school, he has worked in Hollywood for over ten years,learning every aspect of the business. Working with writers and screenplays of all kinds has been a passion of his and Ben is commited to helping promising scripts develop into sellable properties.

JOHN GARY was a reader for Willaim Morris for 12 years and has done coverage on more than ten thousand scripts. He was also the personal reader for Jim Wiatt, William Morris's CEO. He's had scripts optioned a half-dozen times and developed material with Radar Pictures, Davis Entertainment, Cool Hand and Trigger Street productions. John currently has a screenplay in preproduction.

OUR TIP OF THE WEEK

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FORCE YOUR HERO TO SACRIFICE.

If your hero doesn't have to make a hard choice at the climax of your script and make a painful sacrifice, then that script is missing a vital story beat. Don't make life easy for your protagonist. Audiences delight in seeing hard choices be made because it reveals character in a way no dialogue ever could. Too many screenplays contain conflicts that are not challenging enough to ever make the audience sweat. All great films have that "all is lost" moment, where the odds seem insurmountable. And this is the moment of your script in which you have to be smarter than your audience. You have to figure out a sollution to the hero's problem that the audience can't see coming. This may not be easy to do. But that's why they'll pay you the big bucks. So get to it! Don't let your hero off the hook!

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As a professional Hollywood reader, I've seen every type of screenplay imaginable. Few scripts ever make it past readers like myself, and even fewer are turned into actual movies. Our goal and passion is to elevate your work above the enormous heaps of content submitted everyday to Hollywood by sharpening your idea into a story that will thrill audiences, push their emotional buttons, confound their expectations and leave them desperate for more.

The task might, at first, seem a daunting one with so much competition out there. But most of the tens of thousands of scripts written every year don't stand a chance of being sold for simple mistakes that you can learn to avoid. These screenplays don't fail because their authors don't have a great idea or lack the drive to succeed. Most of these scripts were already as good as dead before the writer hit "Print" because they lack very specific, time-tested story elements that the professionals not only understand, but also embrace and master.

If you wish to be the next Lawrence Kasdan, Charlie Kaufman or William Goldman, you must gain a command of the storytelling techniques that they, and thousands of years of storytellers before them, have employed.

With our SCRIPT ANALYSIS AND NOTES service, we'll give you everything you need to hone your ideas and sharpen their impact upon readers. Screenwriting is storytelling. And much of the skill of storytelling lies in its presentation. You might have the greatest story known to mankind on your hands, but if you don't reveal the story in the right order, with the right beats, it could fall flat! You'll get 6-10 pages of precise and easily applicable notes on such areas as: story structure, act breaks, engaging openings, plotting, dramatizing conflicts, coherent character arcs, effective climaxes and killer dialogue.

You'll get more attention with better results and at a lower cost than anywhere else. And you'll have one month of unlimited email access for follow-up questions. This is the perfect service for any writer looking for a helping hand at any stage of the uphill battle to complete or perfect a script.

Our COVERAGE SERVICE will give you an insider look at how your script will be read and covered by Hollywood readers at agencies and studios. You'll receive the same coverage report on your script that would be submitted to any story department head. These reports are usually confidential and writers almost never get a coverage report of their own screenplay in their hands. This is your chance to get an insider perspective. The coverage service is only recommended for writers who are ready to send their scripts out to agencies and studios.

Check out the services and feel free to write us with any questions at: orders@scriptprodigy.com.

Most writers are intelligent and curious. They wish to explore the depths of our world and our reality. And while this is an admirable trait -- and neccesary to the craft -- it can also tempt screenwriters to stray dangerously from their STORIES. Screenwriting is an art of brevity, and a hero's story arc is defined and controlled by a film's firm structure. Therefore, it's vital that your script's scenes and acts be tight and delibrate. If you can't explain the role of a scene within the structure of your script, there's no room for it and I'll tell you to cut it. We are striving for what Robert McKee calls "a good story, well told."

Even the deepest character studies ever put on film are sparce when held up to comparable novels. A large part of our work together will involve summoning the courage to trust our audience and show the bare minimum of clues to explain characters. The strongest roles in films are defined by actions, not words. A screenwriter should be prepared to SHOW traits and take a paper cutter to talky dialogue.

We're not going to go easy on your work for the simple reason that no one else in Hollywood will. If you order one of our services, be prepared for frank but encouraging notes. They might not always be easy to hear, but they will make you a better writer. If you're ready to succeed, then let's get to it!

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