Private Consultation
(Script Analysis)
For Directors and Writer-Directors
Judith's powerful Script Analysis tools, applied to the script you are going to direct.
How exactly do you bring the words of a script off the page and into life? How do you access the rich, inexhaustible "subworld" of a script and connect it to the infinite resource of your own imagination? How do you keep getting deeper, simpler, and truer with your ideas? Where do you find the "hot button" words and phrases to whisper to an actor just before the camera rolls, that make the actor feel stimulated and supported by an "actor's director"?
Good preparation sets you free to follow your instincts.
Judith reads your script, then meets with you in one or more two-hour sessions, to take you below the surface of your script and prepare you to cast, rehearse and shoot. We unlock the script's "story subtext," its "playable" secrets - imaginative backstory, adjustments, and spines; images, themes, events and arc. We discuss each character, and as many individual scenes as you wish.
This work applies to any genre; it helps you access your intuition so you can think on your feet; it gives you a safety net to fall back on in any contingency; it allows you to make any script your own. Its focus is the director's work with actors, but it's important preparation for talking to designers, producers, agents and executives too.
Interestingly, this work is particularly useful if you have written the script yourself. And in fact, although Judith does not call herself a "script doctor," some writers have found it useful preparation for re-writes.
The cost. Fees are on a sliding scale:
$160/hour for projects budgeted at under $4 million;
$180/hour for projects at $4-10 million;
$200/hour for projects at $10-20 million;
$220/hour for projects over $20 million.
Plus $90 for the time I spend reading your script before we meet, if you send or deliver a hard copy of the script. If you wish to send the script by email attachment (Word doc, PDF file, or Final Draft) there is an extra charge of $20. The charge for script-reading may be higher if the script is over 90 pages.
Usually it is best to schedule two-hour appointments. Consultation can be in person in Los Angeles, or by telephone or skype. Scheduling of appointments is subject to Judith’s availability.
Payment for an in-person consultation can be by cash, check, or credit card (visa or mastercard). The best way to arrange payment for a phone consultation is by credit card (visa or mastercard).
THE BOOKS It is required that you have read one of Judith’s books, either "Directing Actors" or “The Film Director’s Intuition," prior to a consultation. Both books are available in bookstores or through Amazon.com or publisher Michael Wiese Productions www.mwp.com.
To arrange a session, call 310 392-2444 or info@judithweston.com. To send or deliver a hard copy of the script, please contact us for the address.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR YOUR CONSULTATION
1) Before meeting with Judith, please re-read your script. Try to read it "as if for the first time."
2) Think about what it is you wish to get from the consultation - your concerns and questions. I can be of most help if you let me know what you are concerned about.
3) Optional: Start your script analysis on your own. If you feel comfortable with the guidelines in the Script Analysis chapters of my books, you can use them, or whatever method of script analysis you are familiar with.