The Spec Script

As the dates for our next annual Open Call will be announced very soon, we turned to Script Consultant Philip Shelley to outline some of the key things you should be thinking about if you are considering entering your script.

What is a Spec Script and Why is it Important? Will it get made?

‘Spec’ as in speculative. Also known as a ‘calling card’ script, 'specimen' script or ‘writing sample’.

For new screenwriters looking to break into the industry – indeed even for experienced writers looking to refresh / relaunch themselves – spec scripts are absolutely fundamental. They are your currency as a writer. Everything good will come from a promising spec script. And without it, potential employers won’t be able to engage with you as a serious proposition.

The Channel 4 screenwriting course is all about the spec script. Initially we choose 12 writers largely based on the script they have submitted. The main purpose of the course is for them to then write another script. So, by the end of the course, they should all have two outstanding spec scripts.

I have witnessed these scripts kickstarting and indeed sustaining careers over many years. That’s the very good news. The less good news is that while, over the years, many of these projects have been optioned by production companies and taken into active, paid development, they pretty much never seem to end up getting made. What they do instead is get you in the door, initiate conversations and relationships with the producers and development executives who have the power to commission you to write your next scripts.

What sort of script should you write?

So, what sort of script should you write as your ‘spec’ script? A few years ago on the Channel 4 course, then head of drama at Channel 4, Caroline Hollick, after reading that year’s (excellent) scripts said something along the lines of, ’These may not be exactly the sort of shows C4 would make but they are the shows these writers think we should be making.’

What that conveyed to me was the passion (even bloody-mindedness) behind the scripts. The fact that those writers had written stories which fired their imaginations, stories that they were burning to tell – often unconventional, unexpected and highly distinctive scripts that were a powerful expression of that writer’s voice (by which I mean their identity / profile as a writer) – showcasing the subjects and people in whom they were passionately interested; and that they dramatised those stories in a way that felt fresh and powerfully idiosyncratic.

You should not hold back from making your spec script challenging – telling a story and writing in a style and tone that is not necessarily conventional or currently fashionable. The only real criteria is that you write a script that you feel passionately about, that you can pitch confidently and enthusiastically because you have a strong belief and conviction that this is a story that needs to be told – and that you are the writer to tell that story.

Is there anything to avoid?

The spec scripts that seem to turn readers off are those that are trying to predict and second-guess the industry, that are trying to be cannily commercial – and in doing so are compromising that writer’s passion and voice.

What distinguishes a great spec script?

Your spec script is a rare chance to really push the boat out – to write something bold, original, innovative, even something of real scale. If the script isn’t going to be made, then let yourself have fun creating something with a big budget if that’s what your story needs. Once you are inside the industry and people are paying you money for your work, there will be all sorts of caveats and concerns about budgets, commissioning editors, audiences and channels.

On the other hand, if what currently excites you is a one hour two-hander contained within a single interior location, that’s fine too.

For the professional reader, the best spec scripts are a breath of fresh air – utterly unlike all the commissioned scripts that come across their desks, challenging and innovative in a way so many commissioned scripts aren’t.

The same is true for the more mid-career writer writing a new spec. It’s a chance to restate their identity and skillset to the wider industry, maybe to show potential employers how they have changed, how much they have learnt and grown through the commissioned work they’ve done, that what they have to say and offer now is different - and more exciting – than what they had to say when they were starting out.

Any final advice?

Above all, you need to have fun writing your spec script. As Caroline Hollick says, this script should be what you think should be being made for film and TV. It should challenge and provoke readers.

It may be that your passion is for a particular genre – that’s great – lean into that genre, really have fun with it. Write the challenging, subversive version of that genre.

I remember the first script I read by Catherine Moulton (an alumna of 4screenwriting and the BBC's Pilot scheme and lead writer on the excellent Code Of Silence for ITV) was a fairly gothic, feminist horror film script – the sort of story you rarely see on TV. It was highly original, had a lot to say about gender politics within a hugely entertaining, genre context.

And one of the scripts written by an outstanding writer on this year’s 4screenwriting was a naval court martial drama set in the early 19th century with an almost exclusively male cast – determinedly uncommercial in the current climate but a story that she was compelled to tell (and yes, a female writer writing an all-male show!). As well as being a brilliant piece of storytelling for the screen, the story has strong contemporary resonance – a classic British tale of establishment cover-up, with echoes of Grenfell, Hillsborough, etc.

So – do not under-estimate the power of an outstanding spec script. I am a firm believer in the idea that the best scripts will rise to the surface, will find their champions. There is a whole host of people in the TV and film industries actively seeking out new writing talent. It’s quite a small world and word of mouth is powerful. But your first, vital step is writing that undeniably excellent spec script. Good luck!

About Philip Shelley

PHILIP SHELLEY is a script consultant with a background in script-editing and producing. His book, SCREENWRITING, THE CRAFT AND THE CAREER was published by Nick Hern Books earlier this year. He runs the Channel 4 screenwriting course (entries for 2026 will open in late September) and the Greenlight Screenwriting Lab for Irish screenwriters. He also runs his own script consultancy, working with production companies and writers of all levels of experience.