Screenwriters know the feeling all too well: you complete a draft of your screenplay (yay!), now you need someone to read it (boo!).

It’s a rollercoaster. Because let’s face it, your friends are tired, and how objective are they going to be, really? You’re saving your industry contracts for a later draft, and how detailed can they be, with their schedule and fifty other scripts to read? There are loads of script readers and people you can pay for coverage and feedback, and, who knows, they may offer valuable advice, or they might give a sentence or two of vague, “did-you-even-really-read-it” notes. You could send it to a contest and wait months to definitely get “did-you-even-read-it” notes, and absolutely no way of ever communicating them for follow-up questions.

It’s a tough, unpredictable world out there for us, and everyday counts. What can we do?

Before I go on, I want to preface—there are unethical ways to use AI. We all know that. Our unions fought hard to prevent studios from using AI against creatives. The possibilities of AI are endless, and those unknowns can be scary

But we can also acknowledge AI as a tool—not a writer itself, but a tool in a writer’s kit, less as a generator and more as a way to refine our ideas and our work. A tool that can answer nearly any obscure (and possibly concerning…) question we come up against in the telling of our stories. 

What are we looking for? An objective reader to point out holes and weaknesses, so you can go back in with a narrower mission. That’s the need, right?

That brings me to Greenlight Coverage, an AI tool for screenwriters to get coverage and to ask project-specific follow-up questions. But maybe, like me, you are skeptical about how much value an AI-powered coverage service can provide. Will it get subtleties in dialogue? Does it understand character development? How specific can it be?

At the heart of my skepticism: how helpful can it be?

My Coverage Experience

My first pleasant surprise after signing up and uploading my script on glcoverage.com was an email less than an hour later stating that my coverage was ready.

When I clicked the link, it took me to a pretty standard coverage report, complete with logline, genre, a short and long synopsis, and scores for my Character Development, Plot Construction, Dialogue, Originality, Emotional Engagement, and Theme. Each score, out of ten, was accompanied by several sentences describing why that score was assigned. 

Further down, the coverage went into what’s working and what could be improved in the plot and character by character, an approach that was especially helpful to see which characters need a little more time and depth, or could be removed from the story entirely to tighten up the world and ensure each interaction has a purpose within the plot.

The coverage wrapped up with casting suggestions and a detailed list of film comps, which will be especially helpful and a timesaver when putting pitch packets together.

The Follow-Up Experience

Any time I read through coverage, I am left with questions, and this instance was no exception. What was an exception: an entire interface for those follow-up questions. 

Here, I asked for specific scenes or even lines of dialogue that led to a certain piece of feedback. The answer provided by Greenlight gave an overview of the scene and what about it could be improved to further the plot. This allowed me to not only understand why the point was made, but also to see how the scene reads from an outside perspective–only knowing what was on the page. It’s so easy to read my own bias into something I’ve written and believe it makes sense, because of that background knowledge. But you can’t assume your reader knows that or experienced that, too. This scene has to make sense objectively, without history, without bias, without further explanation. And that objective synopsis alone is incredibly helpful.

I also asked how the theme, which was said to be evident in the beginning but dropped toward the end, could be more consistent throughout. While Greenlight didn’t solve the problem, it did give me 10 story-specific suggestions to get my own ideas flowing and narrow my approach.

If you aren’t sure what to ask, Greenlight Coverage provides a list of suggested questions. I found most to be production-related, like “Is this concept commercially viable?,” “Are there opportunities for product placements?,” and even “What production companies would be interested in this?” Though my script isn’t to a point that I’d shop it around yet, I asked that last question anyway and was provided a sizable list, not only of the companies but of their typical work and why they may be interested in my project. This would be a great springboard for more personal research on their past work and how I could tailor my approach to each. If you get your feedback and decide your script is ready to go, this would be a valuable resource.

The Cost

Greenlight Coverage offers monthly and yearly plans, with three tiers. The basic plan at $55/month allows two screenplays per month and 10 follow-up questions. For a more casual screenwriter, this is perfectly adequate. I got valuable coverage and answers, and I feel more confident when I eventually go through to make more specific edits. 

For those who write a little more (or maybe have a large trove of work you want to take to the next level), GL does have two additional tiers. Five screenplays per month and unlimited questions for $109/month ($90/month if paid annually), or 15 screenplays and unlimited follow-up for $325/month ($260/month annually). 

Whatever option fits your needs, you can add the promo code FILMMAKER for 10% off!

The Point

As screenwriters, we pay for a myriad of services and websites hoping to improve our work and get it noticed. If you find yourself in need of feedback often, glcoverage.com is a great option, because you know the structure and quality of the feedback you’re getting, in what time frame you’ll get it, and that it was read fully from an objective perspective. 

So, if that’s what you’re looking for, it’s time to try Greenlight Coverage.