So you have your script in your pocket... now what? Accost a producer in a bar, send out your copy to random production companies, find an agent? The fact is that thousands of screenwriters are in the same position. And to make matters worse, the vast majority of scripts in circulation are simply poor, as everyone who has to read will tell you. Yet the industry is always looking for good scripts and new writers. There just aren't enough! The problem is how to find them. To read all unsolicited material is too time consuming, too expensive, and there aren't enough good readers available anyway. That's why companies use agents. But agents are in the same position, they can't read everything. So how do you bypass this catch 22?

There is no point working on your script for ages and then pushing it out onto the market if it doesn't shine brightly. You may have a good idea, but you must have a good story with that spark of originality, and it needs to be well written and properly presented. You want a good reputation. So first get it checked out. Use a reading service, a workshop, or a friendly professional to confirm that your script is good, or to improve it.

There is plenty of help around: there are Feedback or Script Reports, available at the Screenwriters' Workshop [SW], First Film Foundation, Euroscript, and from other organizations which you can find on the internet. The BFI have an excellent listing of courses and workshops, such as Player Playwrights, Birkbeck College, the SW, Adult Education Centres, and various EU Media projects such as Moonstone, North by North West, Arista, Euroscript, which may also have residential workshops.

It is an extra expense but it will pay you back. And the more professional the organization, the more likely you are to be making your first industry connections. Individuals may recommend you, or sometimes the organizations themselves promote writers and scripts. This is the next step - making connections - at industry seminars, talks, workshops, conferences, festivals. But networking is useless unless your script is good. You'll find out about script competitions and readings like the Orange Prize, Script Factory, Player Playwrights, TAPS, script calls, and who is looking for writers and editors in television production units...