The AI App You're Using Could Kill Your Movie Deal

If you’re a working screenwriter or aspiring careerist in Hollywood no doubt you have been inundated with ads for AI apps in your algorithm selling you the hope of being discovered, to get through the gatekeeper, or quick and precise coverage on your screenplay.

It’s those captivating viral ads that hook you immediately — a young screenwriter disclosing “How I got my first screenwriting agent.” Or the app founder looking dead into the camera, telling you Hollywood “was built to keep you out unless you already knew someone inside” — and that his app is the fix. You upload your script, you get coverage in minutes, and then, in his words, “the door opens: producers and executives come looking for high-scoring scripts. No cold emails. No networking events. No gatekeepers. You’re in!”

Sadly, that's not how it works. And I think some of these founders know exactly which hope they're pushing on and with the rising use of AI technology it feels these apps are multiplying by the second. And truthfully it’s not just your money at stake here — it could be a lot more, things you’re not even thinking about. Which is why I wanted to write about it for my subscribers because I genuinely care about your career success.

Last year a host of screenwriter resources like Coverfly, ScreenCraft, WeScreenplay, The Script Lab, and The Tracking Board all shut down inside about eight months. And unsurprisingly a wave of AI startups rushed in to fill the gap.

I am going to walk through what these tools actually are, what they actually deliver, and — the part almost nobody is warning writers about — what can go wrong when you upload your screenplay to a subscription service run by strangers.

Full disclosure I’m not going to call any of these apps scams. I can’t see inside these companies, and I won’t accuse anyone of something I can’t prove. I’ll name the companies and use their own words, straight off their own sites and ads, so you can always tell what’s them and what’s my opinion. You deserve the honest version here. But I can show you exactly what they’re selling — and what it isn’t. That is what I am qualified to say because I am in this industry and know how the sausage is made.