How to Edit a Script – The Cut Pass

You’ve written your screenplay – great job – but now the task becomes how to edit a script so that it will also make sense to other people. You’ve got a lot of pages in the form of ideas, story beats, dialogue, speeches, scene headings and action lines (oh, so many action lines) and now it’s time to take what you need and leave the rest. More than just tightening words, more than just punching jokes, we are talking about script cuts – also known as The Cut Pass.

Knowing how to edit a script with cuts is a skill that comes with time and experience. Cut too little, and you’ve wasted your time (which isn’t as expensive as the production’s time). Cut too much, and you’ve lost the plot (literally). You need to goldilocks those strikethroughs so that it’s jussssssst right – and by following these screenplay cuts tips and tricks, you’ll be a writer who knows how to properly edit a script.

The Cut Pass needs to look at the script as a whole, and mark up – be it an X out, strikethrough, or as subtle as a circled section with a big “NO!” in the margins – changes that you think the writer should make.

A great way to mark & share your cuts is with Scriptation. They feature not only an incredible set of digital mark up tools (including the ability to X out, strikethrough, or subtly circle a section and write a big ‘No’ in the margin)…

But with Scriptation’s Layers feature, you can make a ‘Cut Pass’ Layer of notes that solely focuses on what you think you need to cut from the script. That way, any of your content notes, meeting thoughts, or joke alts can live in their own layers, separate from what you think needs to go away.

Also, you can share your ‘Cut Pass’ Layer with others, to collaborate on edits together; if multiple people screenwriters have marked the same area to be deleted, chances are it’s not that important.

Script notes shouldn’t be in the Cut Pass, anyway. Taking notes for what you think the writer should change, or what strategies you have to make those changes, or what pitches you have for various screenplay changes, those don’t help anyone at this stage of the writing process.

For this Cut Pass, any of those notes could – and likely will – end up being useless, as the material you’re noting will be either gone from the script entirely, or changed to reflect what other cuts have taken away.

A writer’s genius new scene blow doesn’t work if it’s no longer where the scene ends. But some things may be affected by your cut pass, so…

While you’re not noting the script as you edit, cuts you propose may lead to needing some additional writing to make it all make sense. Bridging the gaps, as it were, between when Character A introduces an idea, Character B has problems with it, and Character C has another problem, before Character B accepts. You could simply CUT Character C’s problem– but you may want to give them something to say that takes up less space.

It’s helpful in this instance to suggest some options that would accompany your cut; so the person approving those cuts doesn’t discover a new problem to deal with. By pitching a fix (a common trait of a successful writing support staff), you have made life easier for the person who has to approve, review, and/or decide on what script edits are going to ultimately be the ones to make.

So who is that deciding person, exactly?

This brings up a very important classification when it comes to editing a screenplay; is it your script, a friend’s script, or a boss’s script? The differences lead to a wider variety of work on a similar project:

1) Your Script – You make your own cuts, without needing as much explanation as to what you’re pitching to remove. You know what you suggest. Take the cut! Kill your darlings!

2) Your Friend’s Script – They likely are coming to you for help they desperately need, but they also probably want to be told how good something is. So propose cuts, but be sure to say things like, “I like this, but cutting for time” or “I enjoy this subplot, but you may not need it for the overall story” or “Dude! Hilarious! How can I cut any of this?!”

3) Your Boss’s Script – For anyone working on a show, assisting someone with a feature, or everything in between, these script cuts need to be framed as helpful, thoughtful, and most of all – concise. If these cuts are for a Showrunner to review, they don’t have time to read three paragraphs of why “Kermit would never say that”. Get in, cut it out, move on. There are more episodes to work on, after all.

To sum it up, know who’s work you’re slashing with a red pen before you start your cut pass; otherwise, it may be the last time you ever do so.

Timing can be everything when it comes to editing a script. If a writer turns in a long writers’ draft and is going to go back and edit it down, or you know it’s going to be a page one rewrite, don’t bother with your cut pitches. You’ll be looking at big picture things that don’t require such fine tooth combs.

For TV shows, coming out of a Table Read is an ideal time for script editing. You’ve heard what works, what doesn’t, and likely received a run time from your UPM or Script Supervisor. This was likely LONG, and now it’s time to reduce your page count.

Almost finish a cut pass when a new draft hits your inbox? With Scriptation’s Note Transfer, you can carry your work into the new draft with the push of a button. Whether some cuts were taken already or if some still need to go, you’ll have all your material saved since you were keen enough to use a helpful script editing app. Also, if someone cut too much and you need to refer to the work that was, going digital means all of your drafts are easily accessible no matter what the current revision color is.

Before you start slashing and tearing, it’s helpful to have an idea of what page count you’re trying to get to. Big script cuts can ultimately be easier than small ones, since a fat, unedited script has more available to trim than a tightly wound packet that’s had a few people skim through it already.

So going in, here are some loose guidelines of what an ideal, ‘I can turn this in without getting sent out of Hollywood forever’ page count would be for the following mediums (of course, mileage may vary):

TV COMEDY SCRIPT – 30 pages

TV DRAMA SCRIPT – 50 pages

FEATURE COMEDY SCREENPLAY – 90 pages

FEATURE SCREENPLAY (other genres) – 100 pages

EPIC WORLD-BUILDING SCREENPLAY – 120 pages

Now, remember, the person opening your PDF is looking at the page count first, and not counting the title page or any script fronts (cast page, memorable quotes, maps of the world, etc.) you may have in there. So you must include those pages in your overall page count. For new writers, think of a potential Agent or Manager opening your script; the first thing they see is how long that script’s going to take them to read. Be within the zone of acceptance, and get yourself read.

This takes the previous two sections and magnifies them; who are you reading for, what is the ideal page count, but most importantly, what’s the next step?

Are you cutting a writers’ draft down before it goes to the room? In that case, you’re looking to get to a reasonable page count knowing that the other writers are going to be pitching cuts on their end, too.

Are you trimming a script before a table read, which you don’t want to run too long? You likely have an average page count you like to read at, so how many pages away are you from that number?

Or have you done all that, and the UPM is saying the script is unproducable unless you lose 4 pages TODAY? Then hike your sleeves up, because you need to cut SCENES, not lines.

The easiest thing to remember when it comes to how to edit a script is that the circumstances of the draft will determine the script editing needs. Keep this in mind when you break up your notes into Layers:

Knowing the medium and structure of the type of script you’re editing will make some cuts jump out.

For comedy scripts, you look at a scene and check some boxes. Is there a downbeat? Great. What about TWO downbeats? Well, then, there’s a cut right there. Same for the end of the scene, who has the blow (last joke of the scene) — is there a more funny joke earlier in the scene that you can go out on instead?

Also, when looking at callbacks – jokes from earlier than come back around – are there more than three? The comedy rule is three. I didn’t make it, I just follow it. So more than three, cuts-ville.

For drama scripts, a big thing you’ll find to cut is pipe; no, not actual plumbing. Pieces of plot that eat up a script’s page count, bulky explanations that can be accomplished in faster, better ways.

You’ll also want to cut down some of those monologues! Actors don’t want to remember all that just for it to get cut in the editing bay.

Not sure if you’re editing a comedy or a drama? Well, I hope it’s not a comedy then because *yikes*. But when in doubt, look to cut repetitive dialogue, extraneous action lines (remembering what is actually going to be seen on camera, VS what the characters are ‘thinking‘), and characters from scenes who don’t need to be there.

If you are looking at substantial script cuts, a few lines here or there and some re-jiggered action lines aren’t going to cut it (pun intended). You need to take a birds’ eye view of the entire screenplay to see exactly what needs to stay, and what can go.

This will likely mean entire scenes, or ‘strips’, from the AD term for strips in the production schedule (AKA a One-Liner). Those are going to save your script real page count, which in turn saves production real time, which saves everyone real money.

Superfluous scenes should go first – if they’re even still in your script – but if given the task of real cuts, it’s time for them to go. Do your characters get out of a car and walk up to the building they enter, where the real scene takes place? Any important dialogue there, if any, could be hidden with ADR if needed. Or the dialogue can move inside the location, saving a costly potential location shoot.

Next, are there scenes that don’t accomplish anything in the overall story? Maybe they are character building, and nice, but not essential. Then, sadly, they need to go. Maybe you have callbacks to previous jokes that, while funny, are a funny luxury that your script can no longer afford. Same with any cutaways, flashbacks, or quick hit scenes that may be nice to see, but could ultimately have information that’s better told.

Finally, if you’re in a serial or on-going narrative, are there scenes that can live in future episodes? Maybe that information, reveal, or character debut can eat up page count in the next episode.

To make real script cuts, you need to have a sharp eye, a full understanding of the script’s story, and a ruthless sense of what is, and is not, necessary.

This entry of the excellent Scriptnotes podcast talks about other problem-solving on the page:

This is important for anyone on a TV show or development desk: don’t be known as the person who can only take away. Being good at a cut pass is a great skill to have, but if it’s your only one? Then people will likely come to resent that all you’re doing is deleting the hard work of others. Generating ideas, fixes, and new areas take a lot of brain power and talent, and simply targeting that work to be taken away will not get you invited to any future projects (other than from UPMs and Line Producers who love how you save them money – unfortunately, they are rarely the ones in charge of staffing).

Being a writer who can bring a script in at a good page count will make you someone who gets other jobs, full stop. Self editing can be as important as being the King or Queen of the Cut Pass, and ultimately, make you a better writer.

You may have started reading this with no idea of how to edit a script, and hopefully these hacks and advice will make your next screenplay editing session be a lot more productive. The push-and-pull between producers and studios wanting shorter scripts and writers trying to tell their stories has been going on as long as there have been screenplays, and being armed with the knowledge of where the best script cuts can be made is one of the talents that make a truly well-rounded screenwriter.

Happy cutting.