Do you have a solid portfolio of scripts or placed in several screenwriting competitions and are unsure what to do now? Are you ready to move forward with your career but don’t know what to do next? There is a myriad of options you can pursue to take your writing to the next level, some of which we highlighted in our blog post I Wrote A Short Screenplay, Now What? If you’re in this boat, a fantastic resource is career consultations through reputable sites such as Coverfly, Stage 32, and many more. Career consultations, or career counseling, can be a great way to get advice from someone who has done it before or expertly knows the ins and outs of the industry. You might find several screenwriting competitions and organizations offer this service to screenwriters.
Coverfly is an excellent resource for connecting writers to the industry. At Killer Shorts, we are always looking for ways to help our finalists, post-contest, in finding the best resources to further their careers. This is why we are happy to promote Coverfly’s career consultation by connecting many of our Killer Alum with Coverfly’s writing development team. Below you can find out more info about this service and read testimonials from some of our alum.
Coverfly’s Writing Development Team
We are excited to tell you about the amazing resource Coverfly’s Writer Development Team is for budding screenwriters. Killer Shorts regularly sets up career consultation meetings between Tom Dever, Coverfly’s Head of Development, and our finalists (not just our winners!), so we can safely say they are an incredible asset to anyone looking for advice on furthering their careers.
Coverfly’s goal is to “connect emerging writers with the industry, guiding writers to improve their craft and career through partnerships with top competitions, fellowships, and coverage providers.” We have seen firsthand the benefit writers have gotten out of just one conversation. Read below for direct testimonials from some of our Killer Shorts finalists on their experience with Coverfly’s amazing writing development team:
Here is what our Season 2 1st Place Winner Alessandra Jara Del Castillo had to say…
Tom has been an invaluable resource since my win. A lot of conversations in this industry can feel guarded and indirect, and reading between those lines is a skill that comes with experience – experience I don’t have yet. Tom peels back the veil. Unlike the calls with literary managers, which were more about craft and the market, Tom’s guidance is specific to the writer’s journey in navigating reps and other options. We’ve had several calls since the win, he’s checked up on my progress, and has made the process of connecting with managers feel so much more accessible.
Alessandra Jara Del Castillo, Season 2 Winner
For more on Alessandra’s journey post-win, check out our interview here.
Tom was wonderfully supportive and helped me get the ball rolling on my search for representation. I think I’d subconsciously been hesitating because I just didn’t know the best way to start. Speaking with Tom made the whole process seem so much less intimidating, and way more accessible. Coverfly’s writer development team helped me craft an engaging query letter and gave me the boost I needed to start contacting reps. It was really a wonderful lesson in seizing the moment and I’m super grateful to him, Mithra, and their team.
Maria Wilson, Finalist many times over
I had my career consultation with Tom Dever from Coverfly and I just want to say how much I appreciate you continually advocating for your Killer Shorts writers. Truly the best screenwriting competition experience that I have ever had! Thanks so much for setting me up with Tom, it was really helpful—looking forward to following up with him on that conversation.
Anna Robertson, Season 2 Semifinalist
We’re so thankful to Killer Shorts for introducing us to Tom and the Coverfly team. We’ve had great discussions with them, and they’ve provided actionable advice about ways to advance our writing career. Based on the helpful encouragement of Mithra at Coverfly, we recently finished a pitch deck for Dolls in the Walls, giving us an efficient visual device to convey our script to the industry. Getting advice from people in the industry that have such great experience is a special opportunity.
Katherine Cox & Matt McCarthy, Finalists many times over
To find out more about Kat & Matt check out our interview here.
Tom was great—really straightforward about how to present myself and my work to the public, encouraging me to use Coverfly as more of a resource than I had been. If it hadn’t been for that conversation, Hide Your Crazy wouldn’t have been the #1 horror short on Coverfly down the line.
Austin Kase, Season 2 3rd Place Winner
Check out our interview with Austin here for more about his production process on Hide Your Crazy.
My call with Tom went great. He’s been very helpful. Referred me to a manager who’s currently reviewing my sample.
Brandon Weavil, Season 2 Semifinalist
A helpful tip when opting into a career consultation is most managers and producers will only read full-fledged TV scripts or feature screenplays, so when Killer Shorts sets up a call with Coverfly we really consider someone who has a well-rounded portfolio to best set up your chances for success.
Coverfly will reach out directly to writers that they find could benefit from their consultation services. The best way to be noticed by Coverfly is to be discoverable and amp up that Coverfly profile. Winning, or even placing, in screenwriting competitions like Killer Shorts can make your profile stand out and increase your chances of a consultation. Building on your profile is important by writing a bio that best reflects who you are as a writer. What are your career goals? What have you done so far? What is your dream writing job? It is imperative to add your work to the profile. Make your scripts discoverable and they might very well make The Red List.
Check out this article from Coverfly, 5 Tips for Crafting Your Perfect Writer Bio.
If you don’t get the opportunity to be connected with Coverfly, via them reaching out to you directly, or a contest like Killer Shorts hooking you up, you still have the option to pay for a consultation from sites like Stage 32.
Stage 32 Career Development
Another fantastic resource for career consultations is Stage 32. They offer amazing services to help a writer succeed from their career development calls to their script consulting services. Most of the Stage 32 options you will have to pay for, but if you are able they can be a great resource to any writer looking to garner advice from an industry professional. This may not be an option for everyone, but we are happy to share that members of Script Hive get a 10% discount on Stage 32 services. To join the Script Hive discord visit here.
Career Development Call
A career development call can be helpful to screenwriters looking to further their career either in obtaining reps, navigating the business, producing your work, and much more.
For $199, you can choose any industry professional available for a 60-minute phone call. All executives are carefully vetted by Stage 32. You will be able to pick through various genres to find the person that best fits your needs.
Check out this service here.
Script Consulting
Stage 32’s Script Services Premium Consulting is an amazing service that I have personally taken advantage of. There are up to seven options you can utilize all ranging in price. Similar to the above resource, script consulting allows you to choose an industry executive to read your script and give industry-level feedback. Here are the options you can take part in:
- Feature Pitch Deck/TV Pitch Bible Review + 30 Minute Talk with an Executive- $149
- Feature Script Read + 30 Minute Talk with an Executive- $149
- TV Pilot Read + 30 Minute Talk with an Executive- $149
- TV Pilot Read + Studio Level 60 Minute Talk with an Executive- $299
- Adaptation Review & 60 Minute Call with an Executive- $299
- Feature Script Read + Studio Level 60 Minute Talk with an Executive- $299
- Reel Review + 30-Minute Talk with Industry Professional- $99
My personal experience with this service was I found they had extremely quick turnaround, the professional I spoke with gave very thorough, detailed feedback, and followed up post-call.
This service has led to several writers being discovered or represented, so it is safe to say it can be well worth it.
Check out the service here.
Pitch sessions
Stage 32 offers a wonderful service allowing a writer to pitch their script or idea to an industry professional. The executives that take part in this service, offer a certain number of written pitches or skype pitch slots. As a writer, you have the option to send a brief pitch document of your script and receive detailed coverage from the executive of your choice. There are limited slots available, but another option is to schedule a live skype pitch session where you will receive industry-level feedback.
Check it out here.
Screencraft Fellowship
Screencraft is a renowned screenwriting competition with various categories supporting genres across the board. An amazing opportunity Screencraft offers is their screenwriting fellowship. There is an intensive application process but if selected as a fellow you will take part in 7 days of professional meetings and 3 months of career consultations, providing you with a personalized gameplan to shaping your portfolio and your career. The Screencraft Fellowship’s goal is to not only hand out awards but to start writing careers.
The ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship is a program designed to provide career guidance with personalized plans of action and thoughtfully curated industry meetings for emerging screenwriters.
Screencraft Fellowship
Former mentors have included Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries, The Originals), David Rabinowitz (Blackkklansman), among many more.
The Screencraft Fellowship can be a great resource to any writer and particularly to 2019 fellow Lucy Luna. We had the pleasure of interviewing Lucy where she discussed the benefits of the fellowship and the career she has created since. Check out the interview with Lucy here.
Lee Jessup’s Career Coaching
Another amazing option for career consultations is Lee Jessup’s Career Coaching. Lee is a career coach and best-selling author, mentoring established and emerging screenwriters in film, television, and new media. With over 20 years of coaching, Lee is an amazing resource in helping writers navigate this crazy business.
Lee starts the coaching with a Career Coaching Intake Session, a one-hour career strategy session to meet a writer where they’re at in the industry and help determine the best course to taking the next steps. Whether you are an emerging writer or a repped professional writer, coaching will be completely individualized to your needs.
Your intake session with Lee might look like…
- Discussing the direction and challenges of your screenwriting career
- Confronting frustrations and difficulties (confidentially, of course)
- Identifying effective short-term next steps to help you achieve long-term goals
- Set deadlines and milestones
- Set a game plan for your work together
The intake session ranges from $230- $400. If this is something you are able to do, Lee Jessup’s Career Coaching is a great resource for taking your career to the next level.
Check out Lee Jessup on Twitter.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are quite a few options for budding screenwriters looking for professional advice on strategically shaping one’s career. From Coverfly, Stage 32, to Screencraft, there are resources that can help screenwriters speak with an industry professional and get expert advice on the next steps. Killer Shorts is happy to promote all of these career consultation services. We have been incredibly grateful to have Tom Dever of Coverfly giving wonderful advice to our Killer Alum. We have heard nothing but great things from their correspondence. When it comes to career consultations, you should consider, and research, what works best for you and your professional goals. If you’re asking yourself, ‘What steps do I take now?’ A career consultation can be a great resource to any writer.
Stay tuned for the Season 3 Top 3 Winners announcement on April 25th!
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Killer Shorts on Instagram.
Coverfly on Twitter.
Stage 32 on Twitter.
Screencraft on Twitter.
Script Hive on Twitter.
