Book Coach for scripts and screenplays

The starting idea

A half hour comedy series set in an out-of-hours call centre for a water company.

What the coach asked next

That setting sounds like a goldmine for comedy—night shifts bring out the strange in everyone. Who is the first character that comes to mind when you picture this office, and what are they like?

Directions it offered after 6 answers

• Warm Workplace Ensemble Pilot

  Promising: A clear 30-minute sitcom structure built around a 5-person shift team, balancing genuine crisis-solving competence with affectionate personal chaos.

  Still open: The distinct pairings within the team, who holds the shift together, and the specific tone of late-night calls.

  Try this first: Write a 1-page scene where two call handlers professionally troubleshoot a midnight water main burst while having an overly earnest discussion about someone's relationship troubles.

• Series Engine & Character Map

  Promising: A strong 6-episode framework where every episode combines one grounded emergency with an evolving running thread featuring the mysterious recurring caller.

  Still open: How the mystery caller storyline develops across six episodes and what changes for the main crew by the season finale.

  Try this first: Draft a quick one-sentence summary for each of the 5 main characters, pairing their best technical skill with their biggest personal mess.

The starting idea

A series about a prison choir rehearsing for a single performance they may not be allowed to give.

What the coach asked next

That is such a compelling setup—there's instant tension between creating something beautiful and the strict environment around them. Is there a movie, TV show, or story you love that has the kind of atmosphere or group dynamic you're imagining?

Directions it offered after 6 answers

• Ensemble Character Drama

  Promising: Focusing on internal prison dynamics keeps the outsider choir leader from becoming a savior and lets the music feel earned and organic.

  Still open: Which prisoner's perspective anchors the group for the audience.

  Try this first: Write a short, one-page rehearsal scene where two prisoners disagree over how a song should sound, using only diegetic noise and dialogue.

• Institutional Pressure-Cooker

  Promising: Treating the staff constraints as real and reasonable creates authentic, non-villainous tension across all four episodes.

  Still open: The specific incident or administrative policy in Episode 1 that greenlights the choir project.

  Try this first: Outline four quick bullet points—one for each episode—showing one gain and one institutional setback on the way to the performance.

The starting idea

A drama that takes place across one day of an inquest into a workplace death.

What the coach asked next

That is such a compelling setup—limiting the story to a single day creates instant pressure. It makes every piece of testimony and every pause carry real weight. Is there a film, play, or show you love that has that kind of tight, high-stakes atmosphere, and what is it about the tension or mood that grabs you?

Directions it offered after 6 answers

• The Real-Time Pressure Cooker

  Promising: An unbroken, 90-minute narrative where court procedure creates relentless tension and every pause counts.

  Still open: How to handle official court recesses or breaks without breaking the audience's sense of immersion.

  Try this first: Write a 3-page opening scene of the officer setting up the empty room before anyone else arrives.

• The Reversal-Driven Mystery

  Promising: Structuring the evidence so the audience shifts their mind twice about who is responsible as bureaucratic details come to light.

  Still open: Finding the two specific documents or testimonies that trigger those flips in perception.

  Try this first: List the key events of the accident from three perspectives: the victim, the manager, and the officer reading the initial report.

The starting idea

A feature screenplay about a canal lock keeper who lets a stranger's boat through at night.

What the coach asked next

That is a brilliant setup—quiet, isolated, and full of natural tension. When that boat glides into the lock in the dark, what is the lock keeper noticing or worrying about in that moment?

Directions it offered after 6 answers

• Psychological Suspense

  Promising: Focusing the tension on emotional vulnerability and moral complicity rather than physical danger creates a fresh, atmospheric thriller.

  Still open: What the stranger is actually carrying or escaping, and what secret the lock keeper is guarding.

  Try this first: Write a short one-page scene where the lock keeper asks the stranger to leave, but the stranger's answer makes turning them away impossible.

• Atmospheric Character Drama

  Promising: Using the mechanical rhythm of the canal lock as a visual metaphor for letting someone into an isolated life.

  Still open: Keeping narrative momentum across 90+ pages with primarily two characters in a single setting.

  Try this first: Draft a sensory opening description focusing purely on sound and light: dark water, heavy timber, and a distant lantern.

The starting idea

A screenplay about a family who are the last to leave a town being relocated street by street.

What the coach asked next

That is such a striking setup—you can really feel the quiet left behind as the rest of the neighborhood empties out. What is holding this family back while everyone else moves on?

Directions it offered after 6 answers

• Inside the Living Room

  Promising: Focusing on the intimate, domestic shifts as the neighborhood empties out, letting small everyday gestures carry the heavy emotional weight.

  Still open: How much of the father's work outside directly intrudes into their private space.

  Try this first: Write a two-page scene of a quiet family dinner where no one mentions the machinery outside, but every action reflects the tension.

• The Eight-Month Countdown

  Promising: Structuring the script around key temporal milestones across eight months, watching the landscape literally disappear around the house.

  Still open: Finding the precise catalyst in the final month that forces them to surrender the house.

  Try this first: List five visual snapshot scenes across the eight months showing how the view from their front porch changes over time.

• The Bureaucrat at Home

  Promising: Exploring the quiet irony of a man who spends his workday facilitating relocation for others while coming home to a house that refuses to move.

  Still open: Whether the father believes he is protecting his family or just delaying the inevitable.

  Try this first: Write a brief scene where the father brings home a small item left behind in an emptied house and tries to hide it from his family.