How Did My Script Go From a Consider to a Pass?
That is a question we get quite frequently. We understand! (Because it happens to us, too.) You submit a script for coverage. You get a “consider with reservations.” You’re close to a coveted “consider,” which is the industry standard for “ready to show.” You do the notes, and you resubmit. One would expect that you’d get–at the very least–another CWR or hopefully move up to a coveted “consider.” Right? Makes sense!
But then your coverage comes back, and it’s a PASS!?!? WTF??? How is that possible?
Yup, we know it sucks. We’ve been there. Script progression is seldom the linear path forward from pass to consider that we’d hope. Getting stuck in the “pass” zone for a dozen drafts or yes, even backsliding, happens all the time.
So how can this happen? A few possibilities:
1. CI uses real-world ratings
What does that mean? All of our readers are industry professionals, and won’t hand out considers unless it would be a consider in a real-world situation. As in, “Mr. Producer, this is worth your time;” or “Ms. Manager, you might want to represent this person.”
Sometimes writers will have gotten a glowing coverage from another service, a festival, or AI, and so forth, and are shocked to find that it’s a pass from CI. Unfortunately, some coverage services hand out considers (and recommends) like cotton candy at a fair; it makes people feel good and keeps them coming back. We all want to be praised. We all want to feel good about ourselves, especially in a business that’s full of rejection.
But that doesn’t help you improve your writing craft, and it doesn’t move your material forward.
2. Reader opinion
Sometimes you will get different ratings from two CI analysts; even if those readers both have similar tastes and like the same genres. How can that happen? Because different readers respond to different things and have different opinions. And that is as it should be. Let’s say your horror script got a CWR from the late-40s horror guy, but a pass from the late-20s horror gal. What does that mean? Different perspectives.
They might both be right. The script may not have actually backslid; it’s just two different opinions, and both can be perfectly legit.One reader might call a script a pass whjile another gives it a CWR; yet if both have similar notes, what does that tell you?
Your script needs to appeal to the largest possible demographic of readers because you won’t know who will be reading your script when you send it out to a producer or manager. The more types of people it works for, the better your chances.
Additionally, some readers are better at spotting character inconsistencies; whereas others are fantastic with plot or structure, etc. Again, all of these perspectives are valid and all work towards the common goal: to make your script as ironclad as possible.
3. Backslide
Yes, it’s possible to do the notes… and the script backslides because of it. Maybe the writer didn’t track the changes throughout the script, and now we have plot logic holes. Or maybe character motivations don’t make sense anymore. Maybe the writer ignored the difficult notes and opted to instead do the cursory ones.
Or the writer thinks they’ve addressed all the notes, but they’ve done so in a way that feels grafted-on, such as adding a few lines of backstory or some exposition about the plot. The fastest fix in the world: add a line of dialogue, right? But these can stand out and feel inorganic. Experienced writers can often tell things that were added in to address a note which have not been massaged into the script as well as they could have been. Especially when it comes to dialogue fixes, reading aloud with friends is always a good idea, to ensure flow and make sure it doesn’t sound forced or expository.
Dialogue fixes are an easy way to address a note; but they may not be the best way. Dialogue is inherently “tell.” Screenwriting is all about “show.” Is there perhaps a visual way one can hit the note instead?
Or maybe doing the notes uncovered a huge, spine-breaking premise problem. In other words, by fixing one thing, it makes a previously easy-to-overlook problem more prevalent. It happens.
4. The Reader Is An Idiot
Of course, this is always a possibility. The most recent reader may not be as perceptive as the previous one. Much though we try to standardize the process and make sure every reader is up to snuff, people see things differently. One reader might get the subtext or the themes while another misses these things and instead focuses on plot logic.
It’s rare a CI reader completely misses the boat (because we weed those folks out quickly, or they don’t get hired in the first place.) But it certainly happens that a reader may miss something that was obvious to another reader. And in those instances, yeah, it can affect the scores.
However, bear in mind that even if this happens, it’s still valuable, because it is incumbent upon the writer to bulletproof the script to all levels of reader. The “idiot” reader is still going to have notes, and those notes will almost certainly be of value, regardless of whether they were as perceptive as the previous reader or not.
If it’s a good note, take.
If it’s a bad note, consider it very carefully before discarding. It may seem “bad” simply because you don’t agree with it, but the reader may see something here the writer does not. Give it a fair hearing. Then: implement what works and discard the rest.
No matter what, the notes should always help move the script forward.
Conclusion
Here is the important takeaway: The final score — pass/consider, etc. — doesn’t really matter. What matters is that the notes resonate with you and help improve the next draft. The whole purpose of getting coverage as a writer is to get notes and outside perspective that will allow you to improve the script with each draft.
And even if one does backslide from a consider to a pass, it’s all part of the journey. It’s all just drafts until the script is locked and goes out to buyers (and even then, everyone will have notes… director, producers, financiers, actors…) It’s the pro writer’s job to just shrug and say, “No problem, on it.”
Now go get ’em.