“One of the first books I tell new writers to buy. It is indispensable, practical, readable, and fun to use. Buy this book before you write another word!”
— Dean Batali, TV Writer/Producer (That ’70s Show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
“Required reading for any screenwriter who wants to be taken seriously by Hollywood. Can’t imagine how there never has been a book like this before!”
— Elizabeth Stephen, President, Television; Executive Vice President, Motion Picture Production, Mandalay Television Pictures
“It doesn’t matter how great your screenplay is if it looks all wrong. The Hollywood Standard is probably the most critical book any screenwriter who is serious about being taken seriously can own. For any writer who truly understands the power of making a good first impression, this comprehensive guide to format and style is priceless.”
— Marie Jones, Book Reviewer, www.absolutewrite.com
“Christopher Riley just made my job tougher! Each year experienced producers screen out hundreds of scripts because the mistakes in form and organization reveal them to be the work of amateurs. But if those hopeful writers follow Riley’s concise and knowledgeable advice, they’re going to look like the best professionals in Hollywood.”
— Robert W. Cort, Producer (Save the Last Dance, Runaway Bride, Mr. Holland’s Opus, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Three Men and a Baby, Outrageous Fortune)
“In Hollywood, looks matter. Read The Hollywood Standard to ensure that your script not only gets in past the Hollywood bouncers, but turns heads when it gets there.”
— Amy Snow, winner, 2004 ABC/Disney Screenwriting Fellowship
“Riley has succeeded in an extremely difficult task: he has produced a guide to screenplay formatting which is both entertaining to read and exceptionally thorough. Riley’s clear style, authoritative voice and well-written examples make this book far more enjoyable than any formatting guide has a right to be. This is the best guide to script formatting ever, and it is an indispensable tool for every writer working in Hollywood.”
— Wout Thielemans, Screentalk
“The Hollywood Standard isn’t just a rulebook for formatting scripts — it’s a translator that explains how to make the visions and words in your head come to life on a page. From incorporating text messages and emails to writing simultaneous dialogue, it offers simple, easy-to-follow directions that make your script not only readable, but dramatic. Any question you may have about how something should look on a page, this book answers it. Don’t keep it on your bookshelf— keep it on your desk.”
— Chad Gervich, TV writer/producer (Reality Binge, Foody Call, Speeders), author of the best-selling book Small Screen, Big Picture: A Writer’s Guide to the TV Business
“Christopher Riley has demystified screenplay format in his new edition of The Hollywood Standard. Screenwriters should read this from cover to cover and take notes because, in this crazy business where a writer’s creative work can be disqualified because words are in the wrong places on the page, this book might save your career.”
— Mary J. Schirmer, screenwriter, writing instructor, film critic
“A craftsman often bends the rules, an artist often breaks them. But to do it well, one must first know what those rules are, and I can think of no better way to learn them than Christopher Riley’s The Hollywood Standard.”
— Bill Marsilii, screenwriter, Deja Vu
“For years, while Christopher Riley was on the other side of the lot in the script department, standardizing feature formatting, we on the television side relished the lack of reliable formatting information. As we waded through piles and piles of Warner Bros. Workshop submissions, the look of a script was one of our secret short-cuts for separating the rookies from the pros. Now people will know both how and why television scripts are formatted. Thanks a lot, Chris…”
— Jack Gilbert, Warner Bros. Workshop
“A key insider Hollywood truism is that a screenplay is half-sold by presentation alone. Christopher Riley’s The Hollywood Standard presents both the industry standard guidelines and the true insider secret — that your script sells by the way your script reads, how it lays on the page. Riley shows how scripts come alive on the page. Mastering these skills will communicate the movie you envision, and separate you from the pack. His expertise is a gift to all screenwriters and filmmakers.”
— Bobette Buster, adjunct professor, USC School of Cinematic Arts, international speaker on screenwriting
“Here’s the hard truth; when I was a development executive, the scripts that reflected The Hollywood Standard were on my desk, and the ones that didn’t were in the trash. That’s why I tell every aspiring screenwriter and executive at Act One to buy and study The Hollywood Standard. It is the best guarantee anyone has to get his script on the right desk.”
— Vicki Peterson, director, Act One writing and executive programs
“The Hollywood Standard is the last and final word on screenplay format. With hard-and-fast rules to set a true standard, plus enough variation to allow for personal preference, this book covers all the bases. Much more definitive and thorough than any other script format book on the market. Highly recommended!”
— John Dart & Jeff Swanson, StoryPros.com
“Frankly, all the stuff you learn from Field or McKee won’t get you anywhere if you don’t know the stuff in Riley’s book. Because if your screenplay doesn’t read professionally, it won’t be read by the professionals. This is the only writing book I still keep near my computer. When I need to figure out how to script a flash forward for a character from the future with a split personality, The Hollywood Standard is where I turn.”
—Brian Davidson, writer-producer, CSI: Miami
“The two crucial ingredients for an exceptional screenplay are a great idea and Christopher Riley’s The Hollywood Standard. Riley’s guidance will ensure that your vision is communicated clearly and professionally to the people who will buy and make your film.”
—Sheryl Anderson, writer-producer, Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, Dave’s World, Charmed, Flash Gordon
“The Hollywood Standard is an invaluable resource to both amateur and professional screenwriters. Riley’s book demystifies script formatting clearly and concisely. I require all my screen writing students to buy The Hollywood Standard, and it sits on my reference shelf next to Robert McKee’s Story and Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations.”
— Thomas Parham, Ph.D., Professor of Theater, Film, and Television, Azusa Pacific University, writer, JAG
“Riley has made my life as a professor of screenwriting so much easier. Whenever a student asks a question about formatting, I just say, ‘Go look it up in The Hollywood Standard!’ End of story.”
— Kris Young, lecturer, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, screenwriter, Teen Angel
“There are thousands of rules to formatting a script according to professional Hollywood standards. Fortunately, you only need to remember one: read Christopher Riley’s book!”
— Nathan Scoggins, Writer-Director (The Least of These)
“Designed as a manual for every screenwriter — neophyte or old pro — it presents a format for writing scripts for theatrical feature films, hour-long television drama and long-form television, including made-for-TV movies and series. Riley’s presentation will enable screenwriters to absorb material about, say, the necessity for page breaks, paragraphing and capitalization, without feeling intimidated. The book’s strength lies in its ability to combine important specifics (e.g., the proper use of punctuation) with broader aspects of scriptwriting (e.g., how to describe what’s being seen and heard within a shot or sequence).
Riley, who’s also written screenplays for Touchstone Pictures, Paramount and Mandalay, supplies what may be the first accurate, complete and practical guide to standard script formats, a reference that writers of film would do well to keep handy as they work.”
— Publishers Weekly
“New media may be changing the rules for how stories are delivered to audiences, but the rules for how they’re written (and formatted) haven’t changed — and there’s no better book than the one you’re holding to teach them to you. In The Hollywood Standard, Christopher Riley delivers those rules with winsome authority.”
— Jacob Roman, New Media Writer/Producer, Internet web series ID