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Hello. My name is Stuart Hazeldine and I'm a screenwriter.
Don’t ask me for chapter and verse, but I recently read a statistic from the Writers Guild of America that said if you've been regularly employed as a screenwriter for 15 years, congratulations: you are in the top 1% of professional screenwriters.
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Well, I have been regularly employed for 28 years - so far. Guess I must be doing something right. I've sold material or been hired 24 times during those 28 years, so allowing for the odd year out doing other things I've basically had one gig per-year for a quarter of a century.
EXPERIENCE
I’ve covered a lot of bases in that time:
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I've written for almost every studio in Hollywood
(what’s wrong with me, Sony?).
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I've written for A-list directors like Steven Spielberg, Michael Mann, Scott Derrickson and Alex Proyas, and A-list producers like Michael Deluca, Dan Lin, Don Murphy and Ed Pressman.
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I've sold verbal pitches, outlines and spec scripts.
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I've adapted short stories, novels, graphic novels, non-fiction.
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I've done extensive page-one rewrites and uncredited production polishes.
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I've written TV pilot scripts, created format documents and series bibles.
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I've been flown around the world to write on film sets and in rehearsal rooms with A-list actors.
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I've written across most genres: sci-fi, fantasy, horror, action, thriller, war, historical epic, true story biopic, uplifting drama, psychodramas. Everything but comedy, basically.
There isn’t much that I haven’t done as a screenwriter.
Oh, I directed a couple of movies too. My other jam.
So, here is a conversation I had with a young producer a few years back:
PRODUCER: Hey, could you read a script I’m developing and give me your thoughts?
ME: Sorry, I’m busy.
PRODUCER: What if I paid you?
ME: No offence, but you couldn’t afford me.
PRODUCER: Try me.
ME: Okay, I would charge ‘X’.
PRODUCER: Deal.
ME: …Oh. Errr. Send it over then.
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*reads script, sends notes*
PRODUCER: These are the best notes we’ve had in years! Can we pay you 5x as much to sit with our baby writers for a few days and rebuild the script from the ground up?
Reader, I did oblige them.
EXPERTISE
I’ve done a few more consultancy jobs since, and realised that while I enjoy solving my own problems most of all, I do get a kick out of identifying what isn’t working in other people’s scripts then pointing them toward a better path. That is my skillset, and who doesn’t enjoy doing what they do best for a few bucks and a beer?
So recently I thought ‘I have gaps between projects: why not fill them with a bit of problem-solving for others?’
This would mean ‘putting the word out’ instead of waiting for folks to find me, so I researched the wide world of script consultants and, well, how can I put this delicately… most of them haven’t done much. Either they sold a script back in the day, or they’ve worked as a script editor or development exec at a production company for a few years. But almost none of them have worked as a professional screenwriter for any significant length of time. In effect they are inexperienced storytellers offering their services to even less-experienced storytellers – i.e. to newbie writers who are trying to break into the business. Basically they're Toyota Priuses - and that’s fine. Nothing wrong with taking an Uber ride in a Prius when you’re starting out.
Well, false modesty be damned, I'm not a Prius – I’m a Tesla, so I charge Tesla prices and I'm not looking to help newbies. If that's you, there are an endless number of script consultants out there who will be only too happy to help you get onto the first rung of the ladder.
I'm a B-2-B guy, not a B-2-C guy – aiming to help upcoming or established producers, execs or screenwriters who have a project that isn’t clicking, who have development funds to spend, and who could use an expert outside opinion to break their creative logjam.
Right, now we have that sorted…
HOW IT WORKS
For rates and availability email me at scriptsolve2024@gmail.com
Sometimes I’ll be too busy to help. This isn't my main gig.
Other times I’ll be able to help, but only if you’re patient.
And sometimes I’ll be available right away.
I charge a non-returnable fee – 10% of the total – to read your script because it takes a morning to do so properly and I value my time.
When I’m done, I may realise I can’t help you because:
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I honestly think your script is beyond saving… or
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I think it’s so great that you don’t need much help, so it would be bad form to take your money in exchange for minor upgrades (unless that’s all you want)… or
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It has problems, but I simply don’t know how to fix them (happens occasionally).
If any of these apply I'll tell you – but I keep the reading fee. It’s the risk you take, I’m afraid.
If I do see what’s going wrong and I believe I can point you to solutions – which is usually the case – I'll ask you to sign a simple agreement that basically says you won’t sue me if you don’t agree with my notes (and I won’t sue you for implementing them), then I will charge my main fee and write my notes.
Where possible I will write as much as I can, five pages of notes or whatever. But to be clear, you are fundamentally paying for quality not quantity. If the solve happens to be simple yet crucial – ‘Your script called The Sixth Sense isn’t working, but if we find out ‘He’s Been Dead All Along’ in the final scene it will rock” – I won’t gild the lily with extra word salad just to make you feel you got your money’s worth. Solves are solves, whether multiple and complicated or single and simple.
It's possible that you may feel my notes echo your own secret thoughts about what needs to be done, so you may wonder why you bothered paying me. That isn’t my problem. Often we need other people to tell us what we already know deep-down, as often happens with test screenings.
It's also possible that you may disagree with my notes so strongly that, again, you wonder why you paid me for them. That also isn’t my problem. My only obligation is to give you honest feedback. What you think of my feedback, and whether you choose to action it, is on you.
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FAQ
The caveats below are for the few newbies with money and persistence enough to want my services:
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No discounts for that extenuating circumstance you’re thinking of right now.
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We won't become friends and go for coffee.
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I won’t help you to secure agency representation, sell your script or finance your project.
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I won’t enter into extended email dialogue after I submit my notes to clarify them for you or read multiple future drafts for free, even if I really like your script.
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I won’t do actual writing for you. That costs bigger bucks and involves contracts and unions.
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If you need help with the structure or characters of a comedy or musical I may be able to help you, but don’t ask me how to make them ‘funnier’ or improve lyrics/librettos – that requires specialist skills.
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If I suggest creative fixes and/or lines of dialogue and you choose to use them, you may do so and there is no need to credit me. But if you choose to give me a script consultant credit it will be appreciated.
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Attempts to contact me via other email addresses or social media before, during or after I consult for you will be ignored – and reported/blocked if you're rude. Use the pathway I’ve created only.
Thanks.