Well first of all, I know Nate personally and he's EXACTLY the kind of reader I want reading screenplays. Why? Because he's passionate and willing to put it on the line for something i.e., a piece of material that he believes in. Unfortunately... Most readers that I've met in my lifetime do not even come close to Nate's willingness to put it on the line for something they believe in. True. Very true. You said it yourself Nate... The other reader expects to give out no more than three recommends in his ENTIRE LIFE. Cough. Ahem. I have no scientific proof of this but I'd say that IDEOLOGY [sic] pretty much sums up 85% to 95% of the readers that I've known and continue to know and I know more than ten. In my humble experience, it almost seems as if most readers are to AFRAID to recommend a screenplay if they really like it. Every reader I know has a story like Nate's EXCEPT that they didn't recommend the script. They gave it high marks but from what I understand, actual recommends have been dumbed down to lower rankings because everyone is afraid to be WRONG. Readers are so used to reading so much SHIT that even when a stand up script comes along and gives them goosebumps, they immediately come down with BUYERS REMORSE and begin to second guess that AMAZING FEELING they just lived through. So while I applaud Nate for having the balls [REAL MAN] to take that script to the next level, I also have to state what to me is the OBVIOUS... For every Nate Winslow, there's probably 25 or 30 readers who just won't put it on the line. Shit. Maybe more. Great post. Unk

You know what? I'm just going to keep writing.

Thanks again for another readers perspective. If readers are working for ScriptShark, as the previous article's author, is there still a tendency to share extremely positive coverage, or are they more inclined to submit it and forget it? From my experience, I had three different scripts over the course of a couple of months get very strong considers and I thought - wow, great. Hell, look at the "shark grid" - it's almost all excellent with a few very goods. They sent out some info and next thing I know... Crickets. I have no idea what went out, what it looked like, or who it went to other than some (I assume small) amount of managers/agents. They also had changed how they were doing business, too, no longer utilizing a "library" which producers/managers/agents could peruse. I was pretty disappointed to learn this because I had actually received requests based on coverage that received a strong pass. Anyway, thanks again for the additional thoughts. At the time I thought, great! Then over time... eh, guess it wasn't that big of a deal anyway. Now I'm back to thinking great!... now what? I guess it really is all about getting them into the hands of that one person who will champion them and fall on their sword for you.

As someone who use to manage story analysts, Nate wrote exactly how so many other analysts/readers feel. Executives too. We spend more time reading and praying for the one (script, manuscript, comic book, graphic novel, or even scriptment) to get excited about than seeing our families or having social lives ourselves. Nate, perfectly explained. Thanks!

And to UnkScreenwriter, I know more story analysts than you and none are "afraid", it just depends on the climate of the studio/company they are covering for. It might be better suited for another company where it would heartily receive a Recommend, but if it's not the type of projects they are looking for, it's given high marks, but a pass. It really is like making a recipe, it needs all the right ingredients to make something good and if the stars align too, then it becomes great. It's just the odds of who you know and what creative energy gets behind it. Keep the faith if you're a true writer, eventually, the right person will read your great script.

@Unk: You are a scholar and a gentleman, and I'm beyond flattered. @TBBB: I actually can't speak to the ScriptShark thing--I had a job reading scripts for a director and his production company, and that's a different ballgame. My two current jobs are also for production companies, so the scripts I'm reading are things that are either officially submitted to my bosses by agents/managers, or things that are sent to my bosses unofficially by friends (who have a script they've read that they think is good, so they're passing it along--the people at the top do it too!). So I'm reading with a slightly different aim: I'm trying to read something and do some quick mental telepathy and think "Would this be right for my boss? Is this something he'd like and would want to try to make?" My opinion is shuttered, for the most part, when I'm covering a script in that capacity. Which is something else that people forget when they get mad at readers: WE aren't passing on your script, we're passing on it on the behalf of someone else's tastes in movies. Another topic, though. Wish I had more experience with a ScriptShark-esque thing, but I'll just echo Scott here and say that if you write a truly great script, someone will find it. They don't go unnoticed for long.

@Staci: Thank YOU! Much appreciated. I have the pleasure of knowing sir UnknownScreenwriter in person and I know where he's coming from there. The "Unknown" part doesn't refer to a lack of experience--he's been around the racetrack a time or 20 :). I personally know, or know of, readers who aren't about to get out of their chair for a recommend even if it fit their company's mission statement for that season, just because it potentially puts them at risk. You RECOMMEND something and you're held accountable for that (as you should be, really), and I know that can sometimes hold people back from pulling the trigger on a RECOMMEND. That being said, I also know just as many who WOULD throw out a Recommend if they had the material fall into their lap that warranted it. Unk's a little more cynical than I am about that, but he's got a lot more horror stories to back it up with :). You're both right, though. As with anything in this business, it depends on the company/execs/readers/scripts/climate in the specific situation. I know a few like the ones Unk mentioned and I know a few who are just as willing as I am to get a script in front of someone because they think it deserves to be made.

"[Readers] always hope the script they crack open will be a great one." Ever script reader I've talked to has said that's what keeps them reading: the promise of finding a diamond among vast fields of manure. Had to Instapaper those three posts, as I'm about to fall unconscious due to it being early in the morning. Those who want another perspective on how to be a script reader should also visit Danny Stack's blog (link below). Danny is an Irish screenwriter and script reader, who works on many of the UK's biggest soaps. He's put up guides on how to be a script reader. One of which was used as teaching materials on a script reading course I went on. http://dannystack.blogspot.co.uk/p/free-scriptwriting-downloads.html

Thanks for the response, Nate. Much appreciated.

Of course, anytime.

And speaking of materials on being a script reader... This: http://sites.google.com/site/scottdistillery/thestorybehindscriptcoverage That's one of my all-time favorite GITS series that Scott ran: "The Story Behind Script Coverage." I think it first ran more than 2 years ago, but it's popped up since then. I think all screenwriters should at least dabble in being a reader for a little while, if only to get inside of the head of the people on the other side of the table. I also, as a disciple of Mr. Myers, think reading scripts is one of the best ways to improve your writing, and you will never ever read more scripts than when you're a reader. The sheer volume of scripts is a fantastic way to just have certain things hammered into your brain about what works and what doesn't work--you'll be reading a lot of scripts where something DOESN'T work, but there's definitely just as much to learn from that as there is the other side to that. Anyways, highly encourage anyone to browse through that. Short of being a reader, that's a great glimpse into the mindset.

That last point is a really good one, Nate, which is why I used to run that 14 Days of Screenplays and even the 40 Days of Screenplays. The idea that there is a Gestalt type of understanding you get -- beyond each individual script -- by reading a lot of scripts back to back to back to back. It's the type of knowledge that goes deeper than just your conscious sense of things, down to your gut instincts. This just feels wrong or that just feels right. I'd say one of the biggest aspects of the craft you pick up like that by reading a lot of scripts is pace. Varying the type of scenes, locations of scenes, the length of scenes, when and where to put series of shots or montage, when and where to have action, when and where to bring the action down, and so on. You just start to get a sense of flow by reading a lot of scripts. So yes, read scripts. BTW our next GITS Script Reading and Analysis will be Galaxy Quest. Plus we're going to do another simul-tweet-cast [TM pending] with the movie.

I'd agree with Staci. As a reader, we're all dying for good material - made even hungrier by the fact that GREAT material is extremely rare. The low quantity of RECOMMENDS doesn't reflect fear, it reflects reality. RECOMMEND is saying "Make this movie NOW! It could go into production next week! Nothing further needed!" It's like a bullhorn through the office - "Drop everything and start reading this!" Here's where the fear Unk alludes to comes in, for surely, if there's that much risk attached to "RECOMMEND," the smarter move would be to play it safe with a mere "Consider," right? But then the triumph might be someone else's. I don't know any reader who doesn't want to climb the ladder - and I don't think there's an employee in existence who'd pass up a chance to impress their boss. We ALL want to find the next Sixth Sense. If material comes in that's that good, I can't imagine a reader wouldn't want all the bragging rights. It's human nature: "FIRST!" "TOLDJA!" "Old news." "I read that when it was just a query submission." We all want to be the one finding the Golden Ticket. In our more delusional moments, we might mistake the writer's accomplishments for our own, and start talking up this script as if we had to do anything more taxing than recognizing good work. And more than likely, if something is good enough to get a Recommend, if we hadn't found it, some other bozo would have. But that doesn't matter. It's the thrill of the hunt. It's the thought that two years from now, you could be chatting up some aspiring actress-model at a party and say, "Bridesmaids? I'm the one who found it. Because I gave it a Recommend, that movie got made." That's not true, but that's what we like to think. And you think we're afraid of Recommends? I fear Recommends like I fear the possibility that I might one day find myself in an elevator with Steven Spielberg and I have to get my pitch out before he exits.

I also know Nate, and he's a stand up guy. Definitely knows his stuff and very passionate about movies. Gives GREAT notes, too. If I was running a prodco, he'd be in there somewhere. Nate -- stop sitting on your ass and organize another GITS meet up! (What are you doing all day, man?!)

I love all these perspectives/experiences, they drive home the fact that, as a screenwriter, I MUST write for 2 audiences: the potential movie goer AND The Tired-Underpaid-Under appreciated (yet still a believer) Reader. My take away? Know Thy Audience(s).

Thanks, man. Let me know when you start your production company and I'll be there :). And you make a fantastic point--I'm on it. May GITS Gathering is being planned.