“We’ve tried a few script consultants, but Sarah Olley is the one we keep using again and again. We keep coming back because Sarah’s notes are always insightful, constructive and well thought out, combining incisive analysis with helpful suggestions.” Dan & Nuria Wicksman, Screenwriters in 15 countries.

“I’ve worked with Sarah many times and she’s consistently proved invaluable not only at being able to deconstruct a script, but also at the bigger picture as to how the production as a whole should be approached and planned. I highly recommend her.” Charlie Gauvain, Managing Director, Eye Film & TV

“Sarah is passionate and creative and can always be relied upon to provide insightful and constructive development feedback to our clients. She has helped many writers to unpack and articulate the problems with their scripts, giving them an excellent platform from which to progress their work further. She has had much positive feedback from highly satisfied clients who have valued her ability to cut through the confusion sometimes left by other sources of advice. We are happy to recommend her to our colleagues in the industry.” Lucy Scher, Co-Director of The Script Factory

“Sarah is one of our core readers and we greatly value her script analysis work. She has excellent judgement and instincts.” Patrick Strafford, Group Director of Commercial Development, Warner Bros UK

“Sarah’s contribution as a member of our script development team has been essential. She’s exceptionally thorough and complete in her analysis and provides great insight into both character development and plot line. She is able to work easily with different writers and is also clearly able to provide appropriate support to meet the varying needs of different authors and producers. After working with Sarah on several projects I now would not consider developing a screenplay without her involvement.” Gregory Hoffman, Founder and President, True Edge Pictures

“Sarah was script editor on children’s drama, The Secret of Eel Island and her contribution was essential to the success of the writing team. Her crystal clear thinking, thorough understanding of structure and her ability to see the overall picture, gave me the freedom to invent and concentrate on story.  The happy result was a critically acclaimed series that has been re-commissioned by five. I look forward to further projects working with Sarah.” Frank Prendergast, Creative Director, Eye Film & TV

“Thanks very much for your fantastic crit. I wanted to just sit down and start rewriting when I’d finished it. There’s so much good stuff to work on. I have been through it and underscored all the bits that really set me thinking.” Jeremiah Quinn, Screenwriter/Director

“A HUGE thank you for your insightful comments. I think you’re right on the mark. Your remarks are great because they’re very specific and I can already see how the script could be much stronger if I could get those elements working.” Geetika Lizardi, Screenwriter/Director

“I employed Sarah as a script editor on my screenplay Soul Mates which had funding from Screen WM in 2009. Her comments were always incisive, comprehensive and with a clear understanding of the script, I couldn’t have asked for a better person to work with.” Rachel Sambrooks, Screenwriter

 “I used the Script Surgery to develop a project which subsequently got picked up by the BBC Writersroom and made the semi-finals in a Hollywood screenwriting competition. Sarah is extremely thorough, has some quite brilliant ideas and my script got where it did due to her input.” Miv Evans, Screenwriter

“I can’t fault the process! I thought Sarah did a great job at helping me develop my skills in screenwriting. Sarah’s notes were clear, concise and hugely beneficial when it came to providing those extra narrative layers which will ultimately help me sell this film in the future. I feel I’ve made great steps.” Michael Spicer, Screenwriter

“I’ve worked with Sarah both as a colleague on the Eye Film & TV web drama series Tempting Fates, and received excellent script notes from her on my own work. As a script editor, she maintains a strong overview of any given project. As a co-writer and co-storyliner, I found Sarah to be a neverending font of new and fresh ideas and perspectives, with a very strong sense of character and story. No hesitation here in recommending her!” Jason Arnopp, Screenwriter

 “Sarah provided a report on my script for the Screen Writers’ Festival Script Market. Her comments were insightful and encouraging. She was careful to mention what worked as well as what didn’t. The former gave me the confidence to approach the next draft with enthusiasm. The latter ensured that I was going in the right direction and that I took the script to the next level.” Liz Holliday, Screenwriter

“I found Sarah Olley’s headline development report really useful. It was clear, well thought through and insightful. She had read my script carefully and pinpointed a number of areas that could be improved with further development. The report offered practical criticism and positive suggestions to bring out the best of the core idea. I would happily and warmly recommend her services to any scriptwriter or development executive seeking to make the best of their project” Tim Rolt, Screenwriter

“I hired Sarah to provide development notes on a horror project I was writing, which had attracted strong interest. Having written several drafts I needed an expert assessment of the state of the material, combined with precise suggestions on how to solve some deep seated story problems. The company interested in the project also wanted an assessment of the project’s commercial prospects and overall market appeal.

Sarah provided exceptionally clear, concise and sophisticated analysis, which delivered in all regards. On a creative level she helped me identify, and develop solutions for the story issue that had frustrated me, which resulted in a much improved subsequent draft. It also gave the company a realistic assessment of the projects likely commercial appeal, allowing them to effectively target potential investors.

I recommend Sarah unreservedly and intend to use her services on my subsequent projects.”  Jon Hayes, Screenwriter

 “Sarah had done some script consulting on a short film of mine, which was recently Student Oscar nominated. She was instrumental in finding the weaknesses in the script and offering suggestions on how to improve it.

 

Quite often, when people read scripts, they share with you their likes and dislikes rather than focusing on improving a script. Not Sarah. She was able to see the script from a structural level and judge the script independent of the actual content, i.e. she was able to focus on the story mechanics of the script and improve them so the actual story shines.

 

Despite my initial resistance (given the time constraints I was under), she stuck by her points and comments. And it was those very comments that started the brain churning that led me to changing the script at the very last second before the shoot.

 

These changes took care of some of the major problems I was facing during the development process and made the story complete and sound, so much so that now audiences feel the most for the main character in the scenes she suggested.

 

While I used her twice (both times in person), I only wish that I came to her earlier so that I had the time to digest her insightful comments. While we had agreed to meet for an hour each time, she was more interested in giving me her complete analysis than constantly looking at the clock – which was much appreciated.

 

Now that the short film is over, I’m going to use a bit of my own advice and will be working with Sarah again on the first draft of my feature before I present it to producers. I suggest you get to her early too, so you can have the time to digest and intake her suggestions and comments.” Rahul Gandotra, Student Oscar nominated Director/Writer