Would you like me to read your sitcom script?
Supercharged Script Reading Service from James Cary includes:
Script Read by BBC Sitcom Writer and BBC Writers Room Mentor, James Cary
5-6 pages of concrete sensible notes aimed to make your script better
A half-hour private one-to-one Zoom chat with James Cary to ask questions and talk further
Free access to a 50 Page PDF '14 Problems with Your Sitcom Script'
Free access to Webinar replay on '14 Problems with Your Sitcom Script'
James Cary is an extremely experienced sitcom writer, having written over 100 episodes of half-hour comedy that’s been broadcast on BBC TV and Radio.
TV scripts includie Miranda, My Family, My Hero, Citizen Khan, Almost Never, Dani’s Castle and Shakespeare and Hathaway.
Radio sitcoms in Think The Unthinkable, Hut 33, Elvenquest and ten series with Milton Jones.
James also reads scripts and mentors for the BBC Writers Room and the National Film and Television School.
Let me tell you about my Supercharged Script Reading Service. Here’s why I say the service is supercharged: you’re getting four stages of input into your script.
Stage 1 Lessons learnt
The aim of this stage is to avoid you paying me hard-earned money to tell you stuff that applies to so many sitcom scripts. After all, there’s no point in me telling you basic stuff you can find on my YouTube channel or Sitcom Geeks podcast for free, right?
So in Stage 1 we’re going to get rid of those basic mistakes. So the first thing you do is read my 50-page PDF ‘14 Problems with Your Sitcom Script’ and watch a 90-minute webinar replay (all included in the script reading fee).
In those resources, I run through problems that come up regularly in the hundreds of scripts I've read. Everyone makes these some of these mistakes – and there’s no shame in that! But let's spot them early and get rid of them so we can get into the nitty-gritty!
Once you’ve read that PDF and watched the webinar, take another look at your script. That’s stage 2.
Stage 2 Script Improved
Ask those hard questions: which of these problems is true of my script? How can I fix them? There’s lots of practical concrete advice on fixes in the PDF. Take action. After all, most writing is rewriting!
Take a few weeks to do this. Or longer. It's really up to you. I want to read the script when you've made it as as good as you can. Why send me anything else?
I also suggest you send me a couple of pages about the sitcom – because one of the big questions about pilot sitcom scripts is whether the script you’ve written is really going to be the best pilot for that show.
Send it all to me to read and we’re onto Stage 3. My turn!
Stage 3 Script Read & Notes Written
Within 15 working days, I will read the script and write 5-6 pages of notes which I will send to you. (Any more than that is just too much to take in.)
I won’t waste time or pages explaining to you the characters you’ve written, or outline your own story back to you. You want to know what’s not working, and how to fix it. That’s what I’m going to be focussing on.
In those notes the aim is to help you write the best version of your idea (rather than what I personally would like to watch on TV).
Then you read the notes. This is always painful! But once the rage has subsided, you should have constructive ways forward that will make the script better. And that’s what we want.
And then it’s my turn again:
Stage 4 Zoom Chat
Once you’ve read the notes and thought about them, come back to me with questions in a half-hour Zoom conversation – which can be recorded and referred back to.
And all of the above should mean that your script has been improved twiced over and you've improved as a writer.
James has been great to work with. He has an infectious passion for script writing and sitcom particularly. He really helped me focus in on the story and the characters. There are often so many choices to be made when writing a script, but James offered insight, clarity and much needed encouragement. The notes and comments he provided really inspired me to want to work on the next draft and take it to a much better place. A script I could feel proud of.
Paul G., BBC Comedy Writersroom 2021
What are you waiting for?
You will immediately receive that PDF and Webinar replay - and can get to work fixing your script RIGHT NOW. I'll drop you a note to say 'hi' and check in. And we take it from there. Let's do this!
