Welcome to Coverage Ink!

My name’s Jim Cirile, and I founded Coverage Ink in February 2002. As a struggling but up n’ coming WGA screenwriter in Los Angeles (some things never change,) I’d met plenty of freelance script readers, assistants and development types in town. By 2000 I had three pro Hollywood readers whom I’d hire to give notes on my script – the same no-BS commentary they’d provide to prodcos. I paid them the same rate they were getting, 50-60 bucks or so a pop, and they gave me the straight skinny. I cannot tell you how invaluable this was.

In 2001, Creative Screenwriting magazine tapped me to write their Agent’s Hot Sheet column, a tremendous experience which for over a decade allowed me to interview top agents, managers, and producers for insight into how the biz works, so I could share that info with emerging screenwriters around the world. Looking at the ads in the magazine, I saw that the only help available for writers was, for the most part, expensive consultants. I realized that there was a need for a service that provided affordable, honest, professional Hollywood-style analysis to screenwriters that showed them how the industry thinks.

Thus, with help from my three go-to readers, Coverage Ink was born. Within a year, those three were ten, and we were working hand-in-hand with Creative Screenwriting coordinating events for their annual Screenwriting Expo, including the beloved, first-of-its-kind, CS Open live writing tournament.

By the 2010s, CI had grown to 20 readers and we were coordinating live panel events and contests both in-house (Writers on the Storm) as well as for other companies (Great American Pitchfest, etc.) We held fast to our core principles: affordable, no-BS analysis with a healthy dollop of writer empowerment. Many pro readers struggle to accentuate the positive due to years of writing brutal “internal” coverage. But for the analysis to be of real value to a writer, we need to be a candle in the dark. We need to offer ideas to help writers think their way out of jams and to elevate their craft. And we need to do it in a way where the writers don’t feel bludgeoned (tricky bit, that. Coverage can sting a bit.)

In later years, we’ve enjoyed success with our Get Repped Now promotion, which has gotten writers signed to top management companies for the past five years straight, as well as setting up almost 100 meetings between writers and managers. The CI team has now grown to over 35 (it varies) top readers, each one tested and vetted by me along with my partner Tanya Klein and our manager Anna Siri – celebrating her 21st year with CI in 2026.

And we’re still here in the trenches, trying to sell scripts and get movies made every single day. Just like you guys.

We are proudly located in Los Angeles and doing what we’ve always done–sharing our knowledge (and all the bumps and bruises incurred along the way) and helping writers succeed. Check us out on YouTube for advice, war stories, and much more. https://www.youtube.com/@coverageink

Oh, one more thing: no AI. Ever. Don’t even ask.

Jim Cirile
Founder, Coverage Ink

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