Who is this story actually about from beginning to end?
My own feature, co-written with Michelle Jubilee Gonzalez, went through dev|cut. coverage like any other beta script. The finding: two different people carry the story's beginning and its end.
Getting notes is crucial for any script, and my own are no different!
Recently, I had dev|cut. coverage done for one of my own projects, a feature I'm writing with my incredible creative partner Michelle Jubilee Gonzalez. Think The Hunger Games meets Rollerball. And we put it through the same process every beta script runs through, no exceptions or softballing, just genuine coverage.
There were some great comments, but also, it flagged real work ahead. Not because the world isn't compelling, or the craft isn't there, or the commercial fit is weak (in fact, it rated very Strong for two particular buyer lanes). It was a chink in the ensemble's armor.
The script opens on one character, hands the emotional weight to a second, then resolves the whole story through two entirely different people.
The finding, quoted directly from the coverage:
Because the setup's protagonist and the finale's protagonist are different people, identification softens at exactly the moment the film wants it strongest. — from the dev|cut. coverage report
Now, it's not like distributed protagonists are wrong. There are plenty of great ensemble films that run on exactly that conceit. But here, the audience spends the opening learning who to root for, then spends the ending watching someone else finish her story. It's a good note. It's an important note. And let's be real, that stings a little more when it's your own pages.
The solution wasn't “rewrite it.” It was sharper than that. It put the ball in our court, saying: decide whose transformation you're actually tracking and give that character the active hand in the finale that the opening promises.
That's a decision, not a demolition.
Building a coverage methodology that doesn't just find the notes, but maps the way through them is key to what actually helps move a script forward. Getting a note like this on your own pages is exactly the kind of accountability all coverage, especially dev|cut., should hold everyone to… including me.
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Every script goes through the same read — mine included. See the coverage tiers.
[Soon] The story continues... — Brian Hanford, Writer & Founder, dev|cut.™ · devcut.io
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