Spec Scout

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  • #76
    Re: Spec Scout

    What's the point of this service again?

    Sincerely,

    Confused.

    Comment


    • #77
      Re: Spec Scout

      Originally posted by jcgary View Post
      What's that sound? I think it might be the levees breaking.



      But I thought:



      So are you "willing" to make "exceptions" in certain cases, or are you implementing a full-scale opt-out policy for any and all writers who wish their material not reviewed by your readers?

      Because one of these things is not like the other.
      There's no contradiction, John. 24 hours ago, in part in response to the conversation on this thread, my partners and I decided a) to implement an opt-out policy, and b) to suppress scores below a certain threshold. We're doing that because it's the right thing to do.

      It is, however, going take a few days for our developers to make the above changes, and the fact that a) so far this entire conversation has taken place on a weekend, and b) that weekend happens to be the one before Christmas, is going to make it take a few days longer than any of us would like. We also need to work through the details of the above policy changes so we can have consistency going forward, but we should have those nailed down by the end of the day after Christmas.

      In the meantime, our existing policy is affecting poor Steven, whose first draft somehow made it into the wild, where we apparently came upon it in the course of our normal tracking activities. If what he said is true (and I have no reason to think it's not, I just don't know what script we're talking about yet), then his script got sucked into the spec market far earlier than he or his reps planned, and for us to have covered it adds insult to injury. Not pro-writer, you might say.
      Jason Scoggins

      http://www.specscout.com

      or for that matter

      http://www.scogginsreport.com

      Comment


      • #78
        Re: Spec Scout

        ...just to be clear, unless you are paying to be read by this service, or have reps who have sent your script out wide and it somehow ended up on the site, you won't be on the site, correct?
        Correct. We're not grabbing first drafts off of people's hard drives and holding them up for the world to see (or for ransom, for that matter). We're only covering stuff that's already been distributed widely to the town, or the paid submissions that are good enough to qualify. In response to the other post that included the phrase "who knows what draft," it's the draft that the reps are sending to producers and development execs.

        This isn't a game of "gotcha." We're oriented around the spec market, which is to say, tracking scripts that are being marketed to producers and buyers. Our take is that once a script enters that realm, it's being read and covered widely in a semi-public setting already. We're covering those scripts and making the coverage available in a similarly semi-public setting for a monthly fee. So far, our coverage lags the market by about a month, so we think it's unreasonable to suggest our site undermines a script's chances of selling. If we weren't concerned about consistency and providing clean data for our scoring system, we might have done this by aggregating coverage from other sources. But we are, so we're doing the coverage ourselves.
        Last edited by jscoggins; 12-23-2012, 06:58 PM.
        Jason Scoggins

        http://www.specscout.com

        or for that matter

        http://www.scogginsreport.com

        Comment


        • #79
          Re: Spec Scout

          And the only way for me, a writer, to view what's been posted and rated is to pay a fee.
          No, this is wrong. Writers cannot pay to view the coverage of scripts we've covered for free.

          Up to this point, our policy has been not to send coverage to writers directly at all, for pay or otherwise, but reps who have access to the library may download the coverage and share it with you. As I said previously, we may change this policy in light of the opt-out policy we've promised to implement in the coming days -- we should have an update by the end of the day on Wednesday, after Christmas.
          Jason Scoggins

          http://www.specscout.com

          or for that matter

          http://www.scogginsreport.com

          Comment


          • #80
            Re: Spec Scout

            Originally posted by jscoggins View Post
            Sorry, MB, thought I had answered via my response to FSF.

            "Phenomenal" is an admittedly less than precise adjective. Let me be more specific: A score in the 80's means all three readers rated the script a "Recommend" or better. It's a pretty high bar -- there aren't all that many that have hit that mark so far.

            Yes, I agree that it's logical to expect that of those, a pretty small percentage will be sans agent, since good material tends to attract champions. But there are exceptions, notably scripts repped by exceptional managers like yourself. (I know that's going to come off as me kissing your ass, but I mean it literally.)

            Of Spec Scout's Top 10 of 2012 list, only 2 of those scripts didn't have agents, and those 2 had reputable managers. FWIW, only 2 didn't have managers, and those 2 had reputable agents. The rest had both.

            In other news, my partners and I have continued this discussion offline. We're definitely going to implement an opt-out policy, whereby writers and/or their reps can request their scores and the readers' comments be suppressed. It'll take a week or two to implement that, but it'll be in the works by Monday. We're also going to automatically suppress scores and comments on spec market scripts that don't score above a certain threshold. We're still discussing what that threshold should be, but it's going to happen, concurrently with the implementation of the opt-out policy.

            Hopefully, the combination of those two changes will minimize that thing I was concerned about -- that projects without scores will automatically be seen as significantly deficient in some way (which they shouldn't be, per my earlier post about the scoring system).

            Thanks again for everyone's input. It's been very helpful.
            Thanks, Jason. I guess a better question is, can a rep have a policy of never having coverage posted on the site? Can a manger such as myself, say, unless you ask me, do not post coverage?

            Best,

            MB
            twitter.com/mbotti

            Comment


            • #81
              Re: Spec Scout

              Originally posted by ATB View Post
              What's the point of this service again?

              Sincerely,

              Confused.
              This.

              Isn't this basically the Black List, only here you pay $147 and your script stays on the website.

              Comment


              • #82
                Re: Spec Scout

                Originally posted by jscoggins View Post
                So far, our coverage lags the market by about a month, so we think it's unreasonable to suggest our site undermines a script's chances of selling. If we weren't concerned about consistency and providing clean data for our scoring system, we might have done this by aggregating coverage from other sources.
                These two sentences make my brain hurt.

                Comment


                • #83
                  Re: Spec Scout

                  Also, Jason, it'd be really easy to just turn off the website until you implement the changes. If I were you, that's what I'd do.

                  I shudder at the fallout from WME and CAA come Jan 7.

                  Comment


                  • #84
                    Re: Spec Scout

                    Originally posted by Chief View Post
                    This.

                    Isn't this basically the Black List, only here you pay $147 and your script stays on the website.
                    Ultimately, the point of Spec Scout is to promote great screenplays, especially the stuff that deserves to find a home and hasn't yet, for whatever reason. Part of this mission is already stated on our home page: "...to highlight the highest quality screenplays circulating Hollywood."

                    TBH, we hadn't considered the flip side, that by including comments and scores of every project taken to market (which had been our goal, obviously), we'd actually be highlighting the flaws of scripts that need work just as much as promoting scripts that are objectively excellent. That's definitely not the point of the site. And further, negative comments and low scores probably amount to noise for our industry subscribers.

                    There's no reason we can't track the entire market as planned, but only provide scores and comments for the best stuff. The two policy changes we've already decided to make will go a long way to furthering our mission. I stated what we're doing above, but to reiterate it, we're a) going to automatically suppress comments and scores of scripts with negative feedback and/or low scores, and b) implementing an opt-out policy to suppress scores and comments at the request of writers and their reps.

                    We're definitely doing the above, and my partners and I are looking forward to getting together to hammer out the details of both new policies on Wednesday, after Christmas. We want to get it right, and we'll post the new policies here when we're done.
                    Last edited by jscoggins; 12-23-2012, 10:26 PM.
                    Jason Scoggins

                    http://www.specscout.com

                    or for that matter

                    http://www.scogginsreport.com

                    Comment


                    • #85
                      Re: Spec Scout

                      Originally posted by jscoggins View Post

                      This isn't a game of "gotcha." We're oriented around the spec market, which is to say, tracking scripts that are being marketed to producers and buyers. Our take is that once a script enters that realm, it's being read and covered widely in a semi-public setting already. We're covering those scripts and making the coverage available in a similarly semi-public setting for a monthly fee.
                      It absolutely is a game of "gotcha."

                      You're publicly setting up your site to be the barometer of a script's worth. And someone's reps will have to PAY to see the coverage -- in order for it to be taken down.

                      Why not have the entire thing be an opt-in service?

                      Comment


                      • #86
                        Re: Spec Scout

                        ... because no one would opt-in.

                        Comment


                        • #87
                          Re: Spec Scout

                          Well, here is how I see this..first off, write the best possible script you can, then you don't have to worry about "low scores or comments". Easier said than done of course. secondly, I can completely relate and agree that it would SUCK if my script showed up on this site (or any other one for that matter) that was not ready, or just a first or second draft I wasn't ready for certain eyes to read. I would FLIP OUT! if my current script ended up here, which wouldn't happen because currently I'm managing myself (and my writing partner) and have just been sending out to various coverage houses and contests and feedback companies.... but, it is currently in the top 3 on Zoetrope this month and publicly available for download. So in theory someone could download it and send it to one of these "lists" or websites without my knowledge. That's highly unlikely to happen... but I could see potentially a manager or agent with the right intentions, but poor judgement and upload it because they feel it is ready and just didn't think things through.... Ultimately, I feel the writer/creator has the final say on what and where your script goes. period. Obviously, I would defer to the manager with the experience and relationships, but I would still want to know about it and have discussion about the plan. We will be seeking management and representation for our script within the coming weeks, at which time I guess I will find out their marketing plan for it.

                          Overall, I think specscout and blacklist are perfect and a needed, helpful "service" not only for writers, but for managers, producers, and agents, and the business as a whole.


                          • Go and do likewise gents..

                          Comment


                          • #88
                            Re: Spec Scout

                            Originally posted by ChristopherCurtis View Post
                            Overall, I think specscout and blacklist are perfect and a needed, helpful "service" not only for writers, but for managers, producers, and agents, and the business as a whole.
                            You are literally the only person I've heard express this view.

                            Comment


                            • #89
                              Re: Spec Scout

                              It is my understanding - which I admit could be wrong, especially since I have no credentials to back up my opinions - that spec scripts are routinely 'covered' with comments circulated on private tracking boards - the ones writers have no access to whatsoever.

                              I also know - and this is fact - that a well know tracking board open to subscription by anyone, routinely posts current scripts, and often has comments also posted, some of which can be pretty brutal.

                              Am I wrong about this? If so I'll immediately stand corrected.

                              Or is the problem here that Spec Scout is upfront about what they have been doing and charge a fee to the gate keepers to see their ratings and comments about scripts?

                              Just trying to understand the controversy, if it can be called that.

                              Comment


                              • #90
                                Re: Spec Scout

                                Originally posted by Storytell View Post
                                I also know - and this is fact - that a well know tracking board open to subscription by anyone, routinely posts current scripts, and often has comments also posted, some of which can be pretty brutal.
                                Tracking Board, if that's the one you're talking about, has a lot of members trading scripts on their forum, and rarely some of those people might mention what they thought of a script. It's not really centralized like SpecScout is, or potentially paid attention to by anybody in the industry.

                                The controversy about SpecScout is that it's essentially one opinion on your script that the site hopes everyone in the industry will look at, meaning that if that coverage is bad or even luke warm on your script it could sink any possibility of success. While its true random readers cover your script now for all companies similarly, it isn't one opinion being seeded to multiple companies. Each reader at each company would give you the 50/50 chance of reader bias. I'd also like to point out that readers at particular studios or production companies are trying to figure out what their bosses might be interested in, not just if the script is good, which isn't something SpecScout has a way to offer.

                                As for SpecScout, I don't feel sold yet, and I think agents/managers are going to be the death of the current incarnation. But it seems like the creators are coming from a good place trying to help the market, and obviously by being on here they're open to criticism and figuring out a way to make it work.

                                I hope it succeeds, and is another way for writers to find reps / sell their ****. I think it's going to have to veer way more in the direction of unknown writers 'opting in' as opposed to a general market overview, however.
                                @ZOlkewicz - Don't follow me on Twitter.

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