Many people who represent themselves as script consultants have never sold a script. While I imagine some of them might do a credible job, many of them don't. So I think it makes a lot of sense to seek out someone who has actually written and sold lots of scripts to TV and movies rather than someone who hasn't.

Further, jobs such as "creative executive" and "development executive" and "story editor" at studios and talent agencies, while they sound like big glamorous deals, are often simply fancy names for low paying entry-level positions for recent college grads. So don't be fooled by such credits. Also, only a human being can read and critique a script. So you throw away money if you go through a company representing anonymous readers. You want a real writer to give you notes, not a wannabe making money off of other wannabes.

I currently have three features and a TV movie in active development, have written and sold over a hundred TV scripts, including movies, episodes and 15 pilots, and have been a primetime network producer, story editor and show-runner. You'll find a very partial list of my credits at IMDb.com.

I currently teach screen and TV writing at Cal Lutheran University in Los Angeles, having previously taught at UCLA, NYU and Syracuse University.

I have awards or nominations for two Emmys, two Edgars, a Best TV Movie of the Year from the Writers Guild of America, also from the Mystery Writers of America, a Grammy for Best Comedy Album, and I was a winner in the Gotham IFP Screenplay Competition.

Between other activities, I reserve time to do one or two analyses a month for writers with scripts that interest me. I write a detailed analysis, putting minor notes in the margins and major notes in an 8-15-page single-spaced, typed letter.

I can show the writer how to improve structure, enrich characters, enliven dialog, increase commercial potential and salability, add freshness, improve logic, enhance dramatic impact, increase humor, and improve the overall integrity. I even find myself, to a limited extent, correcting formatting, grammar, spelling and punctuation as much as I'd rather not.

My rates are $500 for a movie-length script up to 125 pages (in proper format), $350 for a one-hour TV script, $250 for a half-hour sitcom. I charge $100 an hour for treatments, outlines and other short projects, and for all projects from production companies or professionals writing on commission. A reasonable amount of follow-up phone time is free.

I don't know how happy or unhappy you might be with what I tell you, but I promise you it will be constructive and sincere, based on knowledge, skill and expertise, not on this week's hip jargon and hype, and will bring with it 20-plus years of experience as a screen and television writer and producer.

Sincerely,
Bob Shayne