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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. I’ve been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a UK script writer for broadcast TV.

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 – and my video showreel is below.

This year – 2026 is the 12^th consecutive year that I’ve been offering a UK script report service – Script writer for hire and UK script consultant mainly through the UK script consultant page on my website. That’s why I’m running Script Report and Coverage Awareness Week – to highlight how good script coverage and feedback can help new scriptwriters…

Okay – yesterday as part of Script coverage and Report Awareness Week SCRAW 2026 – We talked about how new scriptwriters can benefit from getting qualified feedback on their scripts from people with proven experience.

**The next question from many new screenwriters is WHO should we hire to do a script report**? – I’ll answer that honestly in a second – also today I’ll give some examples on the type of feedback I offer – including lessons from Jimmy McGovern on setting up a story quickly – and how to spot ‘on the nose’ dialogue (this is a packed post filled with great tips)

SCRIPT COVERAGE and SCRIPT FEEDBACK FOR NEW SCRIPTWRITERS

Who should I hire to do script coverage? – Script writer for hire and UK script consultant

Hopefully the link above answers some of the question on who to hire to do script reports, the quick answer is you need to look for an industry professional with verified credits – an IMDb link is a good place to start (here’s mine) – there’s an argument that pro scriptwriters are the best people to give feedback to scriptwriters, as they know the ropes and have been there and done that – but some people with development experience are very good – so development executives are a potentially excellent way of getting feedback, as are people who have worked as script editors – both jobs require the person to give notes on a script at a high level.

For me, I can tell you the problem with a script – AND how to fix it, but not all scriptwriters are good at feedback, and some even don’t think too constructively about their own craft (guys who work on instinct) so, not all scriptwriters are good at feedback (and a lot will be blunt when something isn’t working) Some producers, and series producers or execs may also be excellent at giving feedback.

I personally would always recommend getting script feedback from a pro scriptwriter -someone who has sold scripts and or / worked a scriptwriter for hire on the type of shows that you as a new scriptwriter can see yourself working on – in the UK the only shows really hiring new writers are soaps or serial drama and these shows are where writers like Jimmy McGovern, Russell T Davies and Sally Wainwright learned their crafts.

What can you expect as a minimum from a good script report?

You need to have a proper assessment of the whole script / project + plus some industry market advice is useful too –which I always add to any script report – tailored to the in dividual project: For example– if you’ve written a high budget UK set sci-fi series requiring Star Wars budgeting – you’ll struggle to get it even read (as the UK TV business doesn’t have the budget for these types of shows and Hollywood and Netflix /Amazon – who do have that budget will only deal with people at a Hollywood level – not new writers) Some UK lit agents won’t even read sci-fi as they can’t send it out to shows that are regularly hiring– the producer of Casualty or EastEnders does want to read a space opera – as they can’t assess from it whether the writer can write a nice in the scene at the Nurses Station or at the Queen Vic bar (to be fair, the Queen Vic isn’t exactly MOSS EISLEY – despite some of the rogue landlords over the years). So – some business advice is always useful in any script report.

So, you need an assessment of the whole project – and it’s market potential – then in my own reports I offer a page by page scene by scene report on the script itself – With notes as I read, I will judge your script compared to a pro standard – and ALL PRO SCRIPTS DELIVER VERY SET ELEMENTS – for example – as a new scriptwriter with their first ever script you need to deliver the following by page 10.

WHAT ALL PRO SCRIPTWRITERS WILL DELIVER BY PAGE 10

WHO THE SCRIPT IS ABOUT
WHAT THE PROBLEM IS
WHY WE SHOULD CARE (as an audience)

If you’ve not delivered that by page 10 / 12 – there is usually a serious problem with the script (not just the first ten pages) but THE WHOLE SCRIPT.

EVERY PRO SCRIPTWRITER WILL DELIVER (by page 12)

WHO THE SCRIPT IS ABOUT
WHAT THE PROBLEM IS
WHY WE SHOULD CARE (as an audience)

These are the pro standards I’m talking about – and how I judge new scriptwriters scripts.

You need to have your story set up and ready to go by page ten (by completing the above three elements)

SCRIPTWRITING LESSONS FROM JIMMY MCGOVERN

Don’t believe me? GO WATCH THE FIRST EVER EPISODE OF CRACKER by Jimmy McGovern from 30 odd years ago – Jimmy delivers the answers to all those question by page 7 (where the first advert break would be on ITV)

The page by page read : When I do a report the page by page read will contain lessons if required. If I think a writer needs to know a technique – I’ll use video examples to show them how the technique – for example – ON THE NOSE dialogue is a big problem for new writers.

HOW TO SPOT AND FIX ON THE NOSE DIALOGE

What is ‘on the nose’ dialogue? – it’s where the characters in the script are saying exactly what is in their heads – something that doesn’t happen in real life, it’s often very lazy writing – how do you avoid it? There are various techniques but the video below shows a scene between a husband and wife – who in the scene following – have suddenly divorced.

This scene shows why the marriage ended and why they were incompatible as a couple. But there is no mention of ‘marriage or divorce’. Neither are are discussed – but the audience watching this very true to life scene understands perfectly why the couple divorced and how painful it was – and the dialogue is NOT ON THE NOSE, it was much more true to life (where people talk around their problems rather than directly address them).

These are good examples of the type of lesson I would use in a page by page read of a new writers script.

One of the biggest problems in new writers first scripts is not understanding the difference between SHOW AND TELL – and its ONE of the LESSONS that I include in a LOT of my script reports for new writers.

The first rule of scriptwriting is SHOW – don’t TELL. And most new scriptwriters think they understand that rule but the do not – and on WEDNESDAY’s Blogpost I will give readers a free lesson on exactly how this works (with a useful video). I can teach new writers the real difference between ‘show and tell’ in less than 15 mins – so make sure you check back in tomorrow for that vital lesson.

So, yes, my reports contain a page by page read – with my thoughts and advice and lessons plus business aspect advice.

Tune back in tomorrow for the free SHOW – DON’T TELL lesson

If you’re interested in getting a script report / script coverage– 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 – my average script report is over 30 pages long – and filled with specific notes, feedback, lessons and career advice (see my video below on the business aspects of scriptwriting for a real insight into how the business works for screenwriters).

YOU CAN CONTACT MAT ON – matcoop23@yahoo.co.uk

My script reports aren’t too expensive either

£80 for a TV script (up to 65 pages)
£120 for a feature film script (up to 125 pages)

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 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.