What does a script consultant (called a script doctor in France)?

In France, a script doctor does not rewrite your script for you (in the United States, they do). That is because what we call a script doctor in France would more commonly be called a script consultant there - the kind of work associated with figures such as Linda Seger or Robert McKee.

In France, the role of a script doctor - or script consultant - is to understand what you are trying to tell, identify what is already working and what is not yet in place, and provide the perspective and direction needed to understand exactly how, and why, to rewrite.

Both terms coexist in France. Script consultant is the most immediately understood functional translation. Script doctor carries a more specific meaning: a targeted intervention on an existing draft in order to strengthen it. That precision reflects the 90pages approach. Both are used for the same practice.

Which is not script coverage. A script doctoring consultation focuses on what to do with the diagnosis and the project’s potential: how to move forward, why a given element needs rewriting, and in what direction.

Nor is it formatting. There is no universal template, no imposed structure, no formula to apply. Every screenplay has its own ecosystem, its own internal logic, its own rules. The work consists of entering that ecosystem and understanding what makes it singular.

And it is not co-writing either. The writer remains the writer. Narrative choices belong to them. The process is essentially maieutic: drawing out what is already there, often more clearly than the writer can yet see it themselves.

And it is always valuable, because no one can be both inside and outside their own text at once. Writers know what they meant to say, and they often read it on the page even when it is not actually there. A professional and perceptive outside eye sees what the writer can no longer see.

That outside perspective does not replace the writer’s intimate knowledge of their story; it complements it. It makes it possible to understand not only what needs reworking, but why, and how to move forward in concrete terms.

At the end of a consultation, the writer leaves with distance, clarity, and renewed creative momentum. They know what to rewrite, why, and how.

A script doctor can be brought in at any stage: from treatment, sometimes even at the point where different ways of telling the story are still being explored, right through to the final draft before production.

Some projects need only a single consultation - an external perspective at a pivotal moment, such as before a CNC submission. Others benefit from support across several drafts. There is no fixed formula. The process is tailored to the project’s specific needs.

Because a better script makes a better film.

Déborah Braun / 90pages

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