How much do script consultants charge? Fees from the leading UK script consultant – Script writer for hire and UK script consultant

As a leading UK Script Consultant I get asked a lot about the fees I charge for my industry leading script reading service.

The fees are here:

£120 for a feature film
£80 for a TV drama up to one hour
£50 for a short film up to 20 pages

I’ve been told – that my fees are too low for these reports – based on the level of detail in the reports and for my level of expertise in reviewing each script personally. A more realistic fee (I’m told) for a feature film script report, that includes a page by page read (from an expert – pro level scriptwriter) would run to something like £400 or £500 – especially as most of my script reports are 30+ pages long.

The £500 fee sounds great to me, and is probably the correct level of renumeration for the work I put into each and every report – but my fees remain at £120 for a feature film script reports – because I want to encourage new writers to get expert feedback, so that they can improve their writing – and I think £400 or £500 is too much to pay for new people starting out on the very long road to being a pro scriptwriter.

A £400 or £500 report would have been beyond my own means when I started writing scripts – and looking back I think I would have benefited from expert feedback (I think it would sped up my own journey to being a pro by a few years – and I was writing Emmerdale at 27 – the youngest scriptwriter they had ever had on the writing team at that show).

So, I intend to keep my fees low on this script reports service to help as many new scriptwriters as I can. I’m not doing this for the money – I’m doing this to help people and pass on my expertise and pro experience (over a 25+ year career).

As a pro scriptwriter I don’t do anything at all for free, I have to be paid for my work and experience – but I don’t want to overcharge new scriptwriters, who often will get highly critical notes back, but with lessons and practical options for fixing their mistakes.

These reports aren’t traditional coverage – they are a high level dissection, usually containing very detailed advice on scriptwriting, and very insider led business aspects advice too (specific to the script and / or market).

The business advice alone is highly valuable and covers off questions about agents, what they want and how to get one. I’m also happy to answer any questions anyone has after they’ve received a report (and this is often crucial to new writers and is sometimes the most useful part of getting a report from myself) – before you get script coverage or a script report elsewhere – ask if you have access to the person who read your script for any follow up questions or clarifications (some services do not offer this at all – especially the faceless reader services)

The reports often contain multiple screenwriting lessons, with video examples from popular films and TV – to help writers grasp any specific feedback, and help them learn, and not repeat mistakes.

In depth script reports

The reports that I provide are the most in-depth of the market, so I’m told. Feedback from clients is amazing – with many clients choosing the service over and over again. Some writers I’ve helped in the past, now use my service on every new script as their careers develop (and seeing writers get better and better, and then land pro gigs, is one of the most gratifying things about doing the reports). During Covid, I had people send me their first ever script – and by the end of the pandemic, they were signing with agents or winning major screenwriting competitions.

Script writing career help and advice

Unlike a lot of these anonymous script reader services – you will know exactly who is reading your script and what level of experience they have, as writer, within the industry.

All reports are read by myself – Matthew Cooper – my IMDb profile is here. My scriptwriting showreel is below:

If you’d like to enquire about my script report service – please email me on – matcoop23@yahoo.co.uk

For now, here are a couple of useful blog posts for you to digest.

Matthew Cooper has been a script writer for hire and UK script consultant for over 20 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award-winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

His directorial debut, the rubber reality horror thriller ‘Markham’ was released in 2020, his second feature film as director ‘At The Mountains Of Madness’ hit the screen in 2021 and he’s gone onto to make five other low budget films – including the online smash feature film ‘Sober’ which was shot in nine days on a budget of £7,000 and cleared 15,000 views on its first day of release. You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb.