What a Top Lit Agent Looks for in Your Script

Most screenwriting advice comes from writers. This conversation comes from the other side, meaning someone whose job is to decide which scripts go out into the world.

Glenn Cockburn is the founder of Meridian Artists, a premier literary talent agency established in 2005. Based in Toronto and Los Angeles, his agency carries a roster of Canadian screenwriters, directors, and authors.

He got his start in 1996 as a script reader for New Line Cinema and Innovative Artists, then spent 1997 to 1999 as a creative executive at Templeton Productions, which had a first-look deal at New Line. He moved back to Toronto in 2000 to join The Characters Talent Agency, and launched Meridian in 2005.

He recently appeared on The Business of Film Podcast to speak with producer Jesse Ikeman. They discuss what he learned from his time as a reader, why the bar for samples has never been higher, the three mistakes agents see constantly, and more. Dive in!

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What a Thousand Scripts Teach You

If you ever have the opportunity, read people's scripts. Read, read, read. Unfortunately, it's not so much a paid position anymore with the advent of AI, but there is no better education for writers than just reading everything you can get your hands on and analyzing the writing.

Cockburn talks about his time as an old-school reader.

"I would, about 8:00 at night, I would get four feature film scripts delivered to me by courier. I would have to read the film, write up a one-page synopsis of it, one page of articulate comments that an executive could use in a meeting, and a cover sheet, and have all that coverage on all four scripts faxed back to New Line by 8 a.m."

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