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 12th 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.
Yesterday as part of Script Coverage and Report Awareness Week 2026: SCRAW 2026 I talked about new scriptwriters not understanding the first rule of screenwriting – and promising that I would be able to teach them about the rule in less than 15 mins.
The first rule of scriptwriting is SHOW – DON’T TELL. And most new scriptwriters think they understand that rule but do not. I sometimes read scripts by new writers who might have just come out of two or three years on a masters degree in screenwriting – AND THEY HAVEN’T BEEN TAUGHT THIS PROPERLY!
I sometimes think that the people who TEACH scriptwriting professionally don’t understand the difference between SHOW and TELL – or if they DO UNDERSTAND it, they cannot be communicating this to their students effectively.
So – for all new scriptwriters, or those thinking of trying their hand at writing a script – here is one of THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF SCRIPTWRITING – which you need to learn and understand – the difference between SHOW AND TELL.
So people, I want you to grab a pen and a pad, I want you to sit down, turn off your phone and watch the short ten-minute film below – and while watching it – I’d like you to write down – every time dialogue is used to explain the plot. That’s right, I want to make note of every bit of talk – that is used to explain the plot to the audience.
So – did you write down each time plot info was given via dialogue???? – there’s clearly a very complicated story in that short film – with a lot of stuff that needs to be explained to the audience? It’s also a very very emotionally charged film.
DID IT SHOW or DID IT TELL? Did it communicate plot info via lazy dialogue drops or did it explain what was happening – via visuals?
I think you now understand the difference between show and tell – and that style of storytelling doesn’t just work for short films, it works in EastEnders and Emmerdale and probably every one of your favourite films too.
Seen the clip below? You don’t even need to have seen the have seen the film or know the plot to know that more is being said in the looks between the actors and the visuals in this scene – than could be said in dialogue:
Cinema (and TV) is the art of SHOWING – showing stuff happening as it happens – not the art of people sitting around explaining the plot to each other.
How do you explain the dangers of a killer shark? Do you have characters explain to each other the dangers of killer shark or do you open the movie JAWS with a terrifying scene of shark killing swimmer??? SHOW – is ALWAYS much better than tell.
Okay, hope you guys enjoyed the free lesson today and are enjoying Script Coverage and Report Awareness Week 2026: SCRAW 2026 – come back tomorrow for some more info on script formatting – and why getting the format right is so important.
– 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).
It’s not expensive either
- £80 for a TV script (up to 65 pages)
- £120 for a feature film script (up to 125 pages)
- YOU CAN CONTACT MAT ON – matcoop23@yahoo.co.uk
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