Screenplay Table Reads
A St. Louis Service Aimed at Developing Local Talent Becomes an Internationally-Known Resource for Screenwriters and Filmmakers!
Through Script Mechanics and the CinemaSpoke Screenwriting Contest, we at LightHeart Entertainment & Media have been staging free table reads of scripts by screenwriters for many years. While we primarily serve the St. Louis bi-state region, many screenwriters come from Los Angeles, Kansas City, Chicago, and even Mexico for one of our table reads! Recently, a South Carolina screenwriter drove for hours through a snowstorm to get to St. Louis for his table read.
We read scripts in the earliest stages to ones about to shot. All we ask is that the scripts are properly formatted and that you bring copies for the table reading, which is usually 6-10 copies. We share scripts to minimize copies and provide the professional actors, actresses, filmmakers, and writers who read the script’s parts aloud and provide feedback to the screenwriter(s).
After a narrator and the actors assigned the parts read the script aloud, we discuss the script in detail. The open discussion of script, story, characters, plot, themes, and settings will pinpoint both what isn’t working and what is working in the script. Many ideas and suggestions will be provided, and, of course, the screenwriter(s) will have to figure out what works for the script.
Our professional readers often follow up afterward with additional thought and ideas for the screenwriters because we care and want your script to be the best.
Our table read notes and analysis come without any strings attached. We just want the screenwriters to have an opportunity to improve their scripts and have a better chance to sell their script and/or make the best film possible. What started as a local service aimed at developing local St. Louis talent has become an internationally-known resource for screenwriters and filmmakers.
Table Reads Are . . .
Full of Fun and Surprises Because Good Actresses and Actors Bring the Roles to Life and Because We All Care about the Screenwriter and the Script and the Story! Because We Read Across Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Age, Producer Often See New Possibilities in Casting Roles! Sometimes Directors Decide to Cast Our Readers!
Thank You, Brian! We Love It When You Bring a Script to Read, or Just Come to the Table Read, and Join in the Fun!
Brian Jun is a Director, Writer, and Producer Known for “Born to Play,” “She Loves Me Not,” “Sleep with Me,” “Joint Body,” “The Coverup,” “Steel City.” Recommendations Like This One Make Us Proud and Happy in an AW-Shucks Sort of Way! See Below for More Recommendations that Make Us Proud and Happy!
More "Bust Our Buttons" Recommendations!
Thank You, Dan! We Love to Table Read Your Scripts!
Dan Steadman is a Writer, Director, Editor, and Producer whose Credits Include “The Racket,” “The Shoe,” “American U,” “Proximity,” “Expect Delays,” “Somewhere Between Arnold & Festus,” “Projectile: The Movie,” “Belleville,” “Hidden Hills,” “Red Lodge.” Check Out Dan's Website: Circa87.com.
Tom, Thank You! We Look Forward to Reading More Scripts for You!
Tom Bellos is a Film and Television Writer and Producer Whose Credits Include “Cicada Song,” “D-love,” “BET Experience: Top Ten Moments from BET Awards Weekend”, “Dr. Phil,” “Distorted Beauty,” “2 Amandas,”Philadelphia and the Phillies,” ”Los Angeles and the Dodgers,” “Chicago and the Cubs,” “Ricky,” “History of the Joke,” “Life Below the Line: The World Poverty Crisis,” “VH1 News Presents: Michael Jackson's Secret Childhood,” “E! True Hollywood Story,” ”Bloody Island: The Race Riots of East St. Louis.”
Mary, Thank You! We Love Reading Your Work and Look Forward to Table Reading All Your Scripts!
Mary Cox is A Film Critic for Advantage News, WBGZ, and cinemachatter.com. She is Also a Screenwriter. We Love Your Work and Look Forward to Working with You on the 4 Films Project!