How to Write Script Coverage: A Step-by-Step Guide (Free Template)
Writing coverage is the first job most people get in development — and the one nobody teaches you properly. This guide walks the whole process, from the read to the recommendation, with a template you can copy straight into your next report.
Script coverage is a written evaluation that summarizes a screenplay and judges whether it’s worth pursuing. Studios, agencies, contests, and production companies run every submission through it. Strong coverage is clear, fair, specific, and useful — it explains why something works or doesn’t, rather than shrugging out an “I liked it.”
The good news? The format is learnable, and the process barely changes from one script to the next. Follow these six steps and you’ll produce a report that reads like a professional wrote it.
Key Takeaways
- Coverage follows a fixed skeleton: header, logline, synopsis, comments, ratings grid, recommendation.
- Read the whole script first and take notes as you go — you can’t fake a real read, and it always shows.
- Judge the material professionally, not by personal taste; separate “I didn’t enjoy it” from “it doesn’t work.”
- The recommendation — Pass, Consider, or Recommend — is the line every executive skips to first.
Step 1: Read the Whole Script and Take Notes
Coverage starts with an honest, complete read. Skim-and-summarize is obvious to anyone who reads reports for a living, because a shallow read produces a shallow synopsis and vague comments. Give the script your full attention once, the way its intended audience eventually would.
Keep a running log as you go. Jot page numbers for turning points, note where you got confused or bored, mark a line of dialogue that landed, flag a character who vanishes for forty pages. Those margin notes become the raw material for every section that follows. By the last page you should be able to answer three questions without flipping back: what does the protagonist want, what stands in the way, and how does it end?
Step 2: Fill In the Header
The header is the report’s ID card. It sits at the top and tells the reader, at a glance, what they’re looking at before a single word of story. It’s fast to write and easy to get sloppy with — don’t. Wrong page counts and misspelled titles undercut everything below them.
A standard header captures the title, writer, genre, format (feature, pilot, short), page count, the draft date, who submitted it, the analyst’s name, and the date of the read. Some companies add budget range or logline slot here too. Match the house template if you’ve been given one.
Step 3: Write a Sharp Logline
The logline is one or two sentences — usually 25 to 40 words — capturing the protagonist, their goal, the conflict, and the stakes. It’s the DNA of the story. If you can’t write a clean logline, that’s often a signal the script itself lacks a clear engine, and that’s worth noting in your comments.
Focus on the dramatic core, not the plot mechanics. “A mild-mannered banker must survive a corrupt prison after being wrongly convicted of murder” tells you the character, the world, the problem, and the stakes in one breath. Skip the character names in the logline; the archetype does the work.
Step 4: Summarize the Story in a Synopsis
The synopsis is a one-to-two-page prose summary of the entire plot, written in present tense and third person. Unlike a marketing synopsis, a coverage synopsis reveals the ending — the executive needs to know how it resolves, not be teased. Cover all three acts with even weight so no section feels rushed.
Introduce a character in ALL CAPS the first time only, then use normal case. Stick to the A-story; drop subplots that don’t move the central conflict. If half your synopsis is setup, that imbalance usually mirrors a real structural problem in the script — flag it later.
Step 5: Write the Comments (the Analysis)
This is where you earn your keep. The comments section — often two to three pages — is your professional read on what works and what doesn’t. Cover premise, structure, character, dialogue, pacing, tone, and commercial potential. Lead with strengths, then dig into weaknesses, and always explain the why.
Be specific. “The dialogue is weak” helps no one. “Every character speaks in the same wry, ironic register, so the antagonist never sounds distinct from the hero” gives a real, addressable observation. Balance matters, especially in coverage a writer will read — even a Pass should acknowledge what the script does well.
Step 6: Score the Grid and Give a Recommendation
Most templates end with a ratings grid — a short list of craft categories (premise, structure, characters, dialogue, and so on) each marked Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor. It gives the executive a scannable snapshot that matches your written comments.
Then the verdict. Pass means not right for us. Consider means there’s enough merit for a closer look. Recommend is rare and reserved for material you’d stake your name on. Make sure the recommendation lines up with your comments — a glowing analysis followed by a Pass just confuses the reader.
Free Script Coverage Template
Here’s a clean, industry-standard skeleton you can copy and fill in. It carries all six sections in the order an executive expects to read them.
Common Mistakes That Give You Away
New readers tend to trip on the same handful of things. Rewriting the script instead of evaluating it is the big one — your job is to assess the material, not to fix it for the writer. Save the “here’s how I’d do it” instinct; coverage isn’t a rewrite.
The other classics: a synopsis that hides the ending, comments that describe the plot instead of analyzing it, a recommendation that contradicts the write-up, and personal taste masquerading as professional judgment. Catch yourself writing “boring” and push further — why is it boring? Low stakes? No clear goal? Passive protagonist? That specificity is the whole value.
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Try ScriptCoveragePro →Frequently Asked Questions
How long should script coverage be?
Most coverage runs two to three pages total: a short header, a one-to-two-page synopsis, roughly two pages of comments, and a ratings grid with the recommendation. Brevity is the point — coverage exists so a busy executive can absorb a script’s potential in minutes rather than hours.
What sections does script coverage include?
Standard coverage has six parts: a header with the script’s details, a logline, a synopsis, a comments or analysis section, a ratings grid scoring craft categories, and a final recommendation of Pass, Consider, or Recommend. That order rarely changes across studios, agencies, and contests.
Should the synopsis reveal the ending?
Yes. A coverage synopsis is an evaluation tool, not a marketing teaser, so it tells the full story including the resolution. The executive reading it needs to know how the script ends to judge whether the payoff works, without having to read all 100-plus pages themselves.
Do I write coverage to the writer or the executive?
Traditional studio coverage is written for the executive and stays internal, so it keeps a neutral, third-party tone. Paid coverage for writers flips this — you write knowing the writer will read it, so you keep the analysis constructive and balanced while still being honest about weaknesses.
What’s the difference between Consider and Recommend?
Consider means the material has enough merit to warrant a closer look, even if it’s imperfect. Recommend is stronger and far rarer — it signals material you strongly believe should move forward. Because the bar for Recommend is high, most solid scripts land on Consider at best.
Putting It Together
Coverage isn’t complicated once you see the shape of it. Read honestly, capture the story in a logline and synopsis, analyze the craft with specifics, score the grid, and land a verdict that matches your read. Do that consistently and you’ll produce reports any development office would recognize.
Grab the template above, run your next script through the six steps, and keep your comments specific enough to actually help. That’s the difference between coverage that gets skimmed and coverage that gets trusted.