Reader Question: What is the absolute limit on script page count?

From a Tweet by @AshleyWills:

Hi Scott. What is the v. absolute max for pg count? Can there be extenuating circumstances that throw the 1pg/1min rule out?

Ashley, your tweet raises two different issues.

First, re page count: There is no rule about an “absolute max” page count total. However there are some pretty reliable pieces of conventional wisdom we all need to be aware of. Let me frame them from the perspective of Hollywood’s Guardians of the Gates: Script Readers.

One of the first things a reader does when assigned to cover your script is go to the end to see how long it is. Why? Primarily because they want to know how much time they will have to commit to that particular coverage process.

If your script is 95 pages, they love you.

If your script is 140 pages long, they hate you.

Generally speaking, depending upon the genre of the story, if a script clocks in above 120 pages, that raises a yellow flag. This is especially true nowadays where non-science fiction / fantasy / spectacle / blockbuster movies tend to be shrinking in length. So whereas two decades ago, the norm was 120 pages, a script reader is more likely to think of a ‘typical’ script coming in around 110 pages.

On the other end of the spectrum, a script that is 90 pages or less can also raise a yellow flag, again depending upon genre.

Per this last point, certain genres like Action, Comedy, and Horror, may tend to be shorter than Drama, Fantasy and Science Fiction. Again this can vary per the requirements of an individual story. If, for example, the story takes place in another world, that can require more pages to convey what that world is and how it works. The same can hold true for a period piece.

Bottom line while there is no rule etched in stone re the maximum number of pages allowed in a spec script, if you go much over 120, that is likely to raise a reader’s eyebrow. Anything over 130 pages and they are likely to assume — even before they crack open the script — it is overwritten and/or needs tightening.

If you want to be safe on this point, you may keep in mind the magic number: 105. I just flipped through dozens of spec script that have sold in the last 2 years and most of them range between 100–110 pages, so 105 is a good number to keep in mind.

NOTE: That is just a number. The really important thing is your STORY. If you need 120 pages to tell it well, then it should be 120 pages. If you only need 95 pages to tell it well, then it should be 95 pages.

The second question is the 1-page-per-minute axiom. We all know that is a slippery adage. One page of dialogue can translate into a much shorter amount of screen time than one page of action. It’s simply meant as a general rubric to bear in mind for our writing.

And again, this can vary from genre to genre, story to story.

One adjunct point: When I first started writing, I read a ton of scripts of that era and determined that the average scene was about 2 pages long. Some longer, some shorter, but on average two pages.

I have used that as I would conceive, plan and write each scene knowing that if a scene clocked in at 3 or 4 pages, it had better have enough going on and be important enough to justify that additional length.

Over the last few years, I’ve done a similar analysis of current scripts, and my sense is that the length of an average scene has shrunk. Perhaps it’s because consumers live in a ‘faster’ world of social media and they are used to shorter blocks of information. Maybe it’s because moviegoers need less exposition and prefer to get into and out of the action more quickly. Or it could be that there are more action, science fiction, and thriller projects nowadays, and their scripts are filled with more, but shorter scenes.

Whatever the reason, I now think of the average length of a script to be 1 1/2 pages. That’s my touchstone for how I approach scene-writing.

Hey, script readers! A special shout-out to you. What’s your thinking about the maximum number of script pages? And while we’re at it, minimum page count, too? Do you have an ideal number for a script to clock in at? Does that number vary per genre, and if so how? Do you think in terms of average scene length and if so what is it?

Everyone else is invited to this conversation.

Once more: All of these discussion points, while important, are secondary to one thing: The Story. That is what should rule the debate. How long the script is, how short the script is, how many scenes it has, how long the average scene is, all of that is subordinate to the writing of the story. Focus on telling it the very best way you can, no matter what the conventional wisdom suggests.

See you in comments.

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