For screenwriters and adapters

Make it work on screen.

Feature scripts, and novels becoming scripts. Notes from an award-winning screenwriter with three feature film credits and several TV series in development internationally.

I taught screenwriting at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University.

Book a free discovery call Two routes in ↓

Sound familiar?

Where scripts usually get stuck.

“The book works. The script is 140 pages and reads like a summary of the book.”
“I don’t know what to cut.”
“Contest notes tell me what’s wrong, not how to fix it.”
“My second act sags, and I can’t find out why.”
“I know the format. I’m less sure about the structure.”
“Everything that works in my novel happens inside a character’s head.”

Most script problems are structural, and structure can be diagnosed.

Two kinds of screenwriter

Writing for the screen, or bringing a book to it.

Writing an original script

Feature scripts, in any draft

A finished draft gets Screenplay Analysis: a detailed review of what works and what needs work, a call to break it down, and written notes. A script in progress gets three months of development, from the planning stage to the rewrite.

Adapting your own novel

Novelists moving to the screen

A novel can live inside a character’s head. A screenplay has to show everything. We work out what the film of your book actually is, what has to go, and what has to be invented for the screen.

Three feature films as screenwriter and director, and thirteen novels of my own. I know what travels between the page and the screen, and what doesn’t.

Where to start

Two ways in.

For a finished draft

$750

Screenplay Analysis

For completed feature scripts — a detailed review identifying what works and what needs work.

Submit the script, up to 115 pages
One-hour video call breaking down your script
Written analysis up to 2,500 words
Follow-up email within five days to answer questions and clarify points

Enquire about an analysis

$1,200or 3 monthly payments of $400 · 3 months, 6 sessions

Screenplay Development Support

Three months of dedicated script development, from wherever you’re starting. Planning stage, mid-draft, or stuck on a rewrite — we work through it together.

Six one-hour video calls, two per month
Written notes for every session
Twice-weekly email office hours
Flexible scheduling

Spaces are limited — contact before booking.

Enquire about development

Questions

Before you get in touch

How long can the script be?

Screenplay Analysis covers feature scripts up to 115 pages.

I’m adapting my novel and haven’t started the script. Is that too early?

No. Screenplay Development works from wherever you’re starting: planning stage, mid-draft, or stuck on a rewrite.

What genres do you work in?

Most of my own fiction is speculative — science fiction, fantasy, post-apocalyptic — and I’ve ghostwritten across a much wider range of genre fiction. But structure, character and stakes work the same way everywhere, and I’ve spent fourteen years developing material I didn’t write. Send me what you have.

Where are you, and how do calls work?

I work with writers across four continents. Calls are by video and scheduled flexibly across the engagement, so time zones are usually workable.

Free · No obligation

Talk me through the script.

Twenty minutes to talk about the project and work out which kind of support it actually needs.

Book a free discovery call Send an enquiry