I hope everyone has enjoyed Script Coverage and Report Awareness Week (SCRAW 2026) and I hope the content has been useful and has encouraged some of you new scriptwriters to get good quality feedback on your scripts – it honestly really can speed up your process as a new writer – if you don’t want to use my feedback for any reason – I can definitely recommend two other services – Try Lucy Hay (https://bang2write.com/) Lucy offers a great service for new screenwriters.
And if you can afford him – Danny Stack is great too, and a very experienced industry reader ABOUT | Danny Stack – but if you want to get a script report from me: My script coverage service is one of the busiest script report and feedback services in the UK, and my script reports are the most comprehensive on the market.
And today – is where we look at the business practicalities of the UK script market place. And there’s no one better to talk about this than, well me… (I would say that – having already recorded an hour long video on the subject)
The video below looks at the business realities of being a scriptwriter in the UK (there are less than 300 working scriptwriters in the UK and probably only about 30 scriptwriters who are regularly getting original scripts commissioned made and broadcast).
The video covers scriptwriting advice and practical business aspects of how scriptwriting careers work in the UK film and TV business, including sections on: • Agents • BBC Writersroom • Building credits on existing shows • Why nobody will accept unsolicited scripts • The UK film business • The current state of UK TV As well as advice on writing original scripts, sitcoms scripts and I reveal the biggest writing mistakes made by new scriptwriters (and how to avoid making those mistakes – some of these mistakes have already been covered in previous SCRAW 2026 blogposts).
I hope you find the video useful, its realistic, but maybe will discourage some people and if you don’t like the sound of the business works, that’s probably very useful to know starting out.
Of course, the business of film and TV is changing rapidly – not just in the UK but across the industry worldwide – YouTube is now the biggest broadcaster in the world – and everyone is watching content made by individual creators these days rather than broadcasters.
A long time ago a book was published called ‘The Long Tail’ which showed how niche interests (all added up together) dwarfed the larger ‘blockbusters’ online – and TV has now been steamrollered by the ‘The Long Tail’ theory.
But that doesn’t mean that TV drama or film is dead (despite what the AI bros keep telling everyone) there is still a strong mass market appeal for shows and films that hit the right buttons.
I don’t doubt, that if The Wire or The Sopranos, or Only Fools and Horses or Fawlty Towers were made today they’d still be smash hits and culturally would still find the same place in our collective consciousness – shows of that level of brilliance will always find a big audience – and TV and film despite being somewhat relegated to second fiddle – will always be the best place for really BIG stories.
But it is going to be harder, business wise – for broadcasters and commissioners to pick up shows like that, and take a gamble on them, the business has changed, and the ground will be unsteady for a while – which means as writers, we’re going to have to work twice as hard on scripts, and three times as hard on being in the right place, at the right time – which is also part of the business – LUCK. And a large part of being successful as a scriptwriter, is about being lucky – you need talent, you need discipline, you need persistence – you need to be good to work with and friendly and you also need a dose of luck – and that’s something I can’t teach – BUT I CAN TELL YOU – when LUCK STRIKES- you need to be able to recognise it, and make the most of it.
Thanks for reading. – if you’d like a report on your script– my prices for script reports are below:
- £80 for a TV script (up to 65 pages)
- £120 for a feature film script (up to 125 pages)
All you need to do is contact: matcoop23@yahoo.co.uk to check my availability and remember – you can trust me – I’m a DOCTOR, well a Script Doctor at least…
ABOUT MATTHEW COOPER – UK SCRIPT WRITER FOR HIRE
Hi – I’m Matthew Cooper and I’ve been a script writer for hire and UK script consultant for over 25 years.
I’ve written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award-winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and I’ve been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.
I’ve done high profile rewrites on released and studio backed feature films and TV (often uncredited) in my time, I’ve also sold original screenplays to Miramax and Universal Pictures. Here’s a link to some of my credits on the IMdB
I’ve worked on feature films, TV series, web series and as a director I’ve made six micro budget features films, including ‘At The Mountains Of Madness’ which hit the screens in 2021 and ‘H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth’ which was released in 2024 and is free to view on his YouTube here: https://youtu.be/AEfaYEsx7pM
And I also wrote and directed the hit comedy feature film SOBER, which was shot in nine days for a total budget of £7,000 and cleared 10,000 YouTube views in 2 days! Sober stars Dean Smith (Last Tango in Halifax / Still Open All Hours) and Tom Gibbons (Funny Cow / The Archers) which made a big splash when it released in 2025 – you can view the comedy film here for free – https://youtu.be/Dx3yq03z6Mc
Matthew is also a hugely busy early adopter of AI VIDEO and you can hire him as an AI VIDEO DIRECTOR FOR HIRE – and check out his AI VIDEO PRODUCTION COMPANY.
YOU CAN CONTACT MAT ON – matcoop23@yahoo.co.uk