Script Coverage · From the Director's Chair

A professional's read on your screenplay.

A person reads it. Not just software.

A working director reads your draft — and tells you the truth.

You're too close to your own draft to see what's quietly killing it. Tools that score it in seconds and call it "compelling" are flattery on a timer. You need a working director who reads it cold and tells you the truth — what plays, and what dies.

One clear verdict. The biggest problem named first. The fixes that move the script forward.

01 What You Get

A tiered read, free to start and as deep as you want. Every read's blind — no brief, no notes.

The quick pass Free

The Mara Test: a binary, zero-sycophancy gut-check on Claude Opus 4.8 — green or red, one line on what's working and one on the fatal flaw. No cost, no commitment.

Every script meets Mara. Few survive.

Portrait of Mara
Mara

She takes no brief. She reads what's there, and reads it cold.

The Mara Test · Red or Green

The full read

I read it myself: the full written report — premise, structure, character, dialogue, market position, and the verdict: Recommend / Consider / Pass, biggest wound first, prioritised fixes.

The partnership

The full read, a call to go deep, and a follow-up read on your rewrite.

02 Why Me

Scott Hartford-Davis

Four decades in the director's chair on Australian film and television — Police Rescue, Water Rats, All Saints, Big Sky, Home and Away, four TV features, 547 directing credits in all. I've been in the writers' rooms and on the floor when the pages got up on their feet, so I know what plays and what quietly dies. You get that judgment, straight.

Awards & Recognition

  • New York FestivalsSilver Award
  • Australian Directors Guild (ADG)Award Winner
  • Australian Directors Guild (ADG)5 Nominations
See the work →
03 The Tiers
I

The Diagnostic

"Is this working?" gut-check

$150
5 Business Days
Page-one + structure read, a 2-page report.
III

Development Partner

A script you're rewriting

$900
Scheduled
The full report, a 60-min call, and one follow-up read.

Feature scripts and pilots. TV bibles and treatments by arrangement. Rush available.

04 How It Works
1

Run the free Mara Test — green or red, in minutes.

2

Want the full picture? Pick a tier and send the script. You pay, the clock starts. No brief, no notes — I read it cold.

3

You get the report — biggest problem first, prioritised fixes. The Development tier adds the call.

05 Submit Your Script

Choose your read, add your script, and go. Every read is delivered by email — the free test and the Diagnostic arrive in your inbox automatically; Full Coverage and the Development Partnership come from me, personally.

Free Mara Test
Green or red — emailed to you
The Diagnostic — $150
Unlocked instantly · 2-page report
Full Coverage — $450
7–10 business days · My written report
Development Partner — $900
Full report + call + rewrite read

Please select a read above.

Final Draft (.fdx), Fountain and Word (.docx) all work. Uploading fills the box below — or just paste.