Michael Hauge’s 15 Rules for Script Presentation

Michael Hauge's Story Mastery / Michael Hauge’s 15 Rules for Script Presentation

Michael Hauge’s

15 Rules
for
Script Presentation


Be absolutely certain your script meets these criteria before submitting it to anyone for consideration (or for coaching):

  1. INCLUDE THE TITLE, YOUR NAME and PAGE NUMBERS on all scripts, outlines, and anything else you submit.
  2. Write only the title, your name, and your (or your agent’s) address and phone number on the TITLE PAGE of your screenplay – no date, copyright or WGA registration information.
  3. USE FORMATTING SOFTWARE such as Movie Magic Screenwriter or Final Draft to make certain all margins, spacing and capitalization are correct.
  4. OMIT ALL SHOOTING SCRIPT DEVICES, such as scene numbers, sound effects written in upper case, or the word “continued” at the top or bottom of each page.
  5. Make no mention of the CREDIT SEQUENCE or the MUSICAL SCORE.
  6. BEGIN EVERY SCENE WITH ACTION AND DESCRIPTION – never dialogue.
  7. USE COMPLETE SENTENCES (with rare exceptions for emphasis or dialogue).
  8. INTRODUCE ONLY ONE NEW CHARACTER per paragraph.
  9. USE VISIBLE DESCRIPTION – no background information, personality traits, or anything else the audience won’t see on the screen at that moment. (*** This is the most frequently violated rule on this entire list.)
  10. PUT CHARACTERS IN THE ACTION of any scene before you give them dialogue.
  11. OMIT PARENTHETICAL DIRECTIONS to the actors.
  12. CREATE A NEW SCENE – with a NEW SCENE HEADING – every time the action changes location or jumps ahead in time.
  13. LIMIT THE LENGTH of your feature film script to 119 pages (110 pages is ideal).
  14. PROOFREAD your work, correcting all spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.
  15. REGISTER AND COPYRIGHT your script before you show it to anybody.

*Click this link to download a copy of Michael’s 15 RULES FOR SCRIPT PRESENTATION

 

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