Who We Are
Founded by Julie Gray in 2006, the Script Department is a group of talented story analysts who are also writers. We are privy to the way scripts are analyzed by agents and producers. And with multiple managers, options, rewrites and sales between us, we have been on both sides of the equation. So we know how you feel and we know what kind of material Hollywood is looking for.At the Script Department, you will develop a working relationship with your story analyst and he or she will get to know you, your script and your writing very well. To us, every client is a unique individual deserving of our full attention.
Only the best analysts work at The Script Department. Each is invested in the success of our writers and the direction of our company. Because to us, this is personal.
Who We Are Not
We are not a faceless script service company which employs anonymous readers to churn out coverages as fast as they can for as little pay as possible.At The Script Department, we are veterans of a different work ethic, one that has taught us that overworked, underpaid story analysts just don't have the energy to put their best work into the notes your hard-earned money buys. Fatigue, reading too quickly, making errors, and glossing over notes are unintentional byproducts of a factory-like atmosphere. That's not a great way to have your work reviewed, take it from us.
Our Track Record
The Script Department has clients who are repped and produced, but who still value solid feedback before sending a script to their agent or a producer, for example, writers like Robert Chomiak and Paul Smith. We take a great deal of pride in these writers and many more like them.We also work with writers on every point in the curve: from beginners learning about screenwriting for the very first time, to writers with a few scripts under their belts seeking representation.
In fact, The Script Department has successfully coached hundreds of writers toward reaching their goals. Our clients have placed in competitions like The Blue Cat Screenwriting Competition, The Page International Screenwriting Competition, The Creative Screenwriting Competition, The Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competition and the Warner Brother's Television Fellowship. Our clients have found representation, taken meetings at studios like Universal and Fox, and most importantly, have come away from their experience with us as better writers — full stop.
We receive gifts and cards from satisfied clients all over the world, which makes us feel so honored. We have been taken out for dinner, mentioned in thank-you speeches, and received hundreds of emails. At the Script Department, we connect with our clients and they return again and again, because they know that working with us means that writers come first. Because to us — it's personal. Every time.
About Julie Gray
A published essayist and short fiction writer, Julie was the winner of the 2003 Creative Screenwriting Expo Writers Boot Camp Award. Julie graduated from the program in 2005, and is also an alumna of the UCLA Writers' Program Studio, and has read for the Blue Cat Screenwriting Competition as well as for Walden Media (Narnia) Seed Productions (The Tourist) Red Wagon Productions (Jarhead) Bedford Falls (Blood Diamond) and Cinergi (Swim Fan).
A lifelong Californian, Julie lives in Los Angeles. When not working on one of her psychological thriller scripts, she is writing her YA novel, or sharing her knowledge about writing, entertainment and life in her popular blog The Rouge Wave.
The Script Department Mission Statement
We embody professionalism, honesty, and industry connections, one writer at a time. We are committed to being personally involved with each and every writer no matter where they are on the curve. We are a positive presence in the screenwriting community and are respected by industry professionals.Our goal is to teach, encourage, coach, and ultimately empower each writer so that they are better writers after having worked with The Script Department. We help writers take their material to the next level of its potential. We inspire confidence and creativity. We give writers a realistic view of how their material may fare in a very competitive market.
Screenwriting is the powerful intersection of creativity and commerce we call Hollywood. The Script Department mentors our writers through what can be a challenging and frustrating path with honesty, encouragement, arming them with and the resources, introductions, and recommendations to raise the level of their game.
We value each writer as a unique individual with a unique vision and a story to tell. And we hold this truth to be self-evident: The difference between writers who make it in Hollywood, and those who don't, is that those who made it never quit trying.
Our Story Analysts
Unless specifically requested, Script Department analysts are assigned to your script according to their availability.Andrew Zinnes
Since then Andrew has turned from the dark side into the light and is now a working writer. His feature screenplay ABSOLUTE ANGELS was picked up by Warner Brothers and he is currently working on a Korean/American horror co-production. Andrew is repped at ICM and Mosaic Media Group. Outside of screenwriting, Andrew is also the US Editor of The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook US Edition (aka The Guerilla Film Makers Hollywood Handbook) and Co-Author of The Guerilla Film Makers Documentary Handbook. He does consulting and story analysis in both the fiction and non-fiction worlds.
Andrew received a Bachelor of Arts in History from The George Washington University in Washington, DC as well as a Masters in Film and Video from The American University in Washington, DC.
What are your favorite movies?
Almost Famous, Back to the Future, The Shawshank Redeption, Sexy Beast
Who are your favorite directors?
Cameron Crowe, Wes Anderson, Tony Scott, Genevieve Jolliffe
What was your most memorable movie experience?
Sneaking into a drive in theater in the trunk of my friend's car - along with two other buds and several cases of beer - to see Bachelor Party.
What advice would you give aspiring screenwriters who are trying to break in to the business?
Read as many screenplays as you possibly can, both good and bad, so you understand what the buyers want and don't want. Then read and experience life beyond the movie world as much as possible - it will only help you be more creative.
Margaux Froley Outhred
After college, Margaux worked at USA Films in Acquisitions and Development, reading every script she could and meeting every assistant possible. After a year behind a desk, however, Margaux segued into the fast pace of reality television production where she directed 60 episodes of TLC's home organization show, CLEAN SWEEP. When the show ended, Margaux wanted to focus on her own screenwriting career again, and took a job as the Director of Development at Writers Bootcamp, a Professional screenwriting training ground, where she oversaw 300+ writers between LA and NYC. During that time she found a new level of skill and interest coaching and developing young writers' material. Margaux currently works with a television producer who was one of the Executive Producers on FRIENDS for many seasons. The television world has been a great learning experience, but Margaux also fills her time developing emerging writers by working with The Script Department.
What are your favorite TV shows?
South Park, Heroes, Dexter, and Friday Night Lights.
What Are Your Favorite Movies?
Some Like it Hot, Charade, Hot Fuzz, 3:10 to Yuma, and Die Hard.
Who are your favorite directors?
Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead / Hot Fuzz), Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Altman, Mike White.
What was your most memorable movie experience?
When I saw PULP FICTION for the first time. I had wanted to be a writer up until that point, but PULP FICTION was the first time I realized someone actually wrote movies. I wanted to be the next Tarantino.....and I was 13!
What advice would you give aspiring screenwriters who are trying to break in to the business?
This business is made of those who stay and those who leave. If you really want to do this, you have to keep going no matter what. If you don't love this with all your heart, save yourself the pain of trying to break into this lottery of a business. The quality writing will rise to the surface, if you stick around long enough to keep getting better.
Bart Gold
Bart is originally from the Boston area, and received a Bachelor of Science in Film and Screenwriting from Northwestern University.
What are your favorite movies?
Fargo, The Incredibles, Heat, The Professional, The Queen, Anchorman, Juno, and Point Break since it convinced me to jump out of an airplane.
Who are your favorite directors?
The Coen Brothers, Brad Bird, Cameron Crowe, Peter Jackson, Ivan Reitman.
What was your most memorable movie experience?
Being able to bring a friend and fellow Coens fan to the LA WGA Screening of No Country for Old Men, with the Coens and their cast present for Q&A. Being able to see the Woody Allen Q&A after a WGA screening of Match Point, or seeing Peter Jackson's live Q&A after the ROTK WGA screening.
What advice would you give aspiring screenwriters who are trying to break in to the business?
Read as many screenplays as you possibly can, both good and bad. There are incredible lessons to be learned every time you read a screenplay which fails to grab you.
PJ McIlvaine
PJ also has an indie holiday film THE TOWN THAT BANNED CHRISTMAS with Matt McCoy, Hunter Gomez, Jane Sibbett and Carol Alt currently awaiting distribution, hopefully for 2008. Ask her about the producers meeting where they thought she was going to show up in a fringed shawl with a cat on her shoulder.
PJ has placed in Nicholls, the People's Pilot, Austin and Moondance and was a staff member for the now defunct Screentalk, with numerous essays and articles published in Newsday, The New York Times, other media and various online sites. She currently writes a monthly column called "Adventures in Screenwriting" for Moviebytes.com.
What are your favorite movies?
So many movies, so little time! To Kill A Mockingbird, It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World, The Piano, Die Hard (the first and third), any Gerard Depardieu movie, B-horror flicks, and too many others to mention.
Who are your favorite directors?
George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and my husband.
What was your most memorable movie experience?
I have two. First, as a kid, screaming in horror over The Phantom of the Opera, I had nightmares for weeks. Second, semi-losing my virginity at the drive-in while watching Star Wars. Harrison Ford never looked so sexy.
What advice would you give aspiring screenwriters who are trying to break in to the business?
Oh boy. That it's a marathon, not a sprint. It's okay to use three brads. If your mother says it's wonderful, it's probably not. Writing is like a discipline, the more you do it, the better you'll get at it. If you can't write to the exclusion of almost everything else, you're barking up the wrong tree. Develop the hide of a rhino. Read like the wind, write like the devil. Don't forget to spell check. Keep in mind that from writing a script, refining it, sending it out into the cold, cruel world, finding a champion, then that champion finding a champion, and actually getting the darn thing made can take years. So be patient. And kind. And sweet. Would you pay ten bucks to see your movie? It's not called Show Business for nothing.
What are your favorite TV shows?
Monk Monk Monk (for the superdupercalifraglicious Ted Levine), 24 (except for last season, yecch),
Project Runway, Jericho (before they killed off Gerard McRainey), Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen
Nightmares (Chef Ramsay can sharpen my knives any time he damn well pleases).
Bill Ballantyne
He wrote his first play The Al Cornell Story in 1982. It was an immediate hit, winning a Dora Mavor Moore Award. He was hooked. His second play, Bat Masterson's Last Regular Job, was performed in Toronto and in New York simultaneously. He has written sixteen plays, to date, receiving international praise.
In 2000, Ryerson University invited him to teach a course in script writing. The response was overwhelming: he was filling a real need. The word spread and he now does seminars with Victoria College, Theatre Passe Muraille, The Tarragon Theatre, The Yale Dramatists League and E-scripts.
Bill is also the chief film consultant at Warrington International, where he writes and edits documentaries, features and shorts. He maintains a small coterie of promising students whom he coaches privately, both for stage and screen. He has recently sold his film, Cooking For Two, and expects an October release.
To enter Bill's mind, please read Writing A Play, published in Scene 4 Magazine (November 2006) and in CanPlay (December 2006).
What are your favorite movies?
Hud, Five Easy Pieces, Pulp Fiction, The Big Lebowski, Fargo.
Who are your favorite directors?
Martin Ritt, Roman Polanski, The Coen Brothers, Elia Kazan.
What was your most memorable movie experience?
The final shots of Five Easy Pieces.
What advice would you give aspiring screenwriters who are trying to break in to the business?
Write from the heart, make the stakes high, and take us through a transformation.
What are your favorite plays?
American Buffalo (Mamet), No Man's Land (Pinter), True West (Shepard), A Streetcar Named Desire (Williams).
Advisory Board
The Script Department Advisory Board is made up of professionals who have lent us their wisdom, support, and mentoring from day one. We wish to honor them for their ongoing support of our vision and values, and thank them for helping to make The Script Department not only what it is today, but what it will become in the future: the friendliest, most connected, and effective go-to script coverage service in the business. At The Script Department, we are committed to holding a vision, and our Board helps us do just that.Gary Bayer
He opened his own agency, Bayer Bess Vanderwarker, in Chicago in 1985, where he was CEO and Chief Creative Officer. It grew to become the largest independent advertising agency in Chicago with accounts such as Gatorade, Cap'n Crunch Cereal, Kemper Insurance, Campbell's Soup, Helene Curtis Personal Care Products, Domino's Pizza, and many others.
Over the years, he wrote and produced several feature-length sales films for major clients starring a wide range of Hollywood people from Johnny Carson, Paul Newman, and old timers Edward G. Robinson, Joe E. Brown, and Buster Keaton. This gave him the bug to try a hand at screenwriting — which he's been doing since he sold his advertising agency in 2001.
Gary is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Washington University, St. Louis. He lives in Chicago and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and is married with three grown children.
"Having worked with many resources designed to analyze and improve creative products, The Script Department stands head and shoulders above - in talent, personal service and really caring about helping writers succeed."
Dave Sparling
To-date, six of the nine scripts Dave wrote on assignment have been produced and distributed worldwide, and one is about to enter preproduction 12 years! after it was written. Very well-versed in story analysis, Dave worked several years for the William Morris Agency, where he was a frequent go-to reader for mid-1990s spec-script specialists Rob Carlson and Alan Gasmer. Showtime Networks, Mel Gibson's Icon Entertainment, and LIVE Entertainment (subsequently renamed Artisan Entertainment before being absorbed by Lionsgate) were also key clients for Dave. In addition to his association with The Script Department, Dave is currently working on a feature rewrite assignment.
In his former position as a senior executive at Writers Boot Camp (WBC), he was instrumental in bringing that company's Immersion program to fruition, as well as overseeing the development and launch of WBC's Online Professional Membership, and growing the company's professional alliances and sponsorships. Dave has an MFA in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute and a B.S. from Bates College.
"As both a writer and in various roles where I've interacted creatively with writers, I've always placed a premium on constructive criticism. Unfortunately, all too often in the industry, the approach to coverage and the evaluation of material in general is tinged by cynicism and a predisposition toward rejection. In my opinion The Script Department's respect and fondness for both the writer and the writing process--not to mention my respect for the super-skilled individuals who've been drawn together by the company's inspiring mission — is worthy of celebration. I'm honored to be able to contribute to such a positive force in an industry whose "glass" is usually half empty."
Daisy Swan
Daisy has extensive interviewing and recruiting experience and is knowledgeable about a wide variety of business sectors nationwide. An expert in the uses of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator for career and communications purposes, Daisy has used the assessment in individual and group training.
Originally from New York City, Daisy earned her Master’s Degree in Social Sciences from University of Chicago, and has a BA in English Literature from Loyola University Chicago. She has appeared on ABCNews.com, NBC’s daytime coaching show Starting Over, and The Style Network show Modern Girl’s Guide to Living. Daisy is a member of the Professional Coaches and Mentors Association, International Coach Federation, National Association of Women Business Owners and Step Up Women’s Network. She is certified as a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach from the Coaches Training Institute.
"Julie Gray and The Script Department are the real deal. I'm so supportive of Julie and everything she does because she's about doing and providing the best for her clients. She's smart, creative, clever and kind — and no pushover. That's a winning combination in this business."
Stephanie Palmer
"The Script Department is a valuable resource for aspiring and established screenwriters. A number of clients have used Julie’s service and have had great results. I recommend Julie Gray and her team of readers highly."
Signe Olynyk
Signe created and founded the Great American PitchFest and the Great Canadian PitchFest as a way to help other writers meet the people they need to know for their careers to move forward. As a direct result, more than 50 writers have had their scripts optioned, been hired for writing assignments, or been signed with agents or managers. The PitchFest has also allowed Signe to develop relationship with more than 500 industry executives around the world, and she routines partners new writers with these companies and agencies for representation and script development.