The industry standard for the page count of a one hour-drama is between 45 and 75 pages. For half-hour comedies, this count needs to be between 22 and 45 pages. Webseries can vary widely in length, though usually shorter than a typical half hour.
From established writers and showrunners, a half-hour sitcom script can be as long as 44 pages. Keep in mind that sitcoms are more often than not dialogue-heavy, which would account for the increased page counts. For novice writers, it's best to shoot for 22-25 pages to get you under that 30-minute gauge.
The page count of a script is crucial because it directly correlates to the length of the finished film. The general "script page to minutes" rule of thumb is that one page of a screenplay equates to one minute of screen time.
Scripts written in proper screenplay format average a page per minute. A feature is roughly an hour-and-a-half – two hours long. Thus the 90 – 120 page rule. Screenwriting books and expensive screenwriting gurus will all tell you that scripts should fall within the 90-120 page rule.
Scripts should always roughly be a page to a minute, so you should expect pilot scripts to be 45 - 60 pages. 45 - 60 pages equals out to about 45 minutes to an hour of screen time. Consider the channel where your script is likely to air.
How many pages can you read in 30 minutes? The short answer is 20 pages with an average reading of 300 words per minute.
The ideal length of a half-hour script is between 25-35 pages (if you're entering your script into a contest, make sure to double-check their rules regarding page count first!).
In fact, only two-thirds were within 0.8 and 1.2, which means that a 100-page-script could have a running time of anywhere between 80 and 120 minutes – a very wide margin. Another way of looking at the data is to plot the length of the scripts and finished movies in a scatter plot.
If you have an idea, game, script, screenplay, or production already in development that you'd like to pitch to Netflix, you must work through a licensed agent, producer, attorney, manager, or industry executive, as appropriate, who already has a relationship with Netflix.
While a slow reader will only get through 30 pages per hour, the average person can read around 40 pages per hour. Statistics show that quick readers can even go through 50 or 60 pages in one hour.
This rule of thumb also applies broadly to feature film scripts. So, if you want to write an hour-long pilot for a traditional network, aim for around 44 or 45 pages. If you plan to write an hour-long pilot for a premium channel or streaming service, aim for a script in the neighborhood of 55-65 pages.
Feature scripts run anywhere from 80 to 130 pages, according to the general guidelines and expectations of the film industry — especially for up-and-coming screenwriters. Anything less is not enough and anything more is far beyond what is needed in the industry's eyes.
One page = one minute of screen time. 120 page script = a two hour movie. (Film school, remember?)
A typical hour-long drama or comedy has around 42 pages (including scene headings and slug lines). So, if you have a 100-page feature script, you should expect it to translate into about 22 minutes of broadcast time (that's not accounting for commercial breaks).
Answer: At the normal speaking rate of 130 words per minute (wpm), a 40 minutes long speech will have about 5,200 words .
As Netflix is a WGA signatory, they have to abide by the guidelines set forth by the Writer's Guild Schedule of Minimums. That means, for a single draft of an original screenplay, Netflix pays $42,138 for a script, with compensation only going up from there.
If you sell an idea or a storyline, you can expect to get $5,000 on the front-end and about $20,000 on the back-end if the movie gets produced. If you sell a treatment, you should expect around $15,000 on the front end and $30,000 on the back-end.
For screenwriters, one of the most tedious — yet important — directives is the screenplay page count. The general rule states that your screenplay should be between 90 to 130 pages long — 80 pages is too few and anything over 129 pages is too much.
Video Length: 2 minutes = 240-word script
This rule is based on the average reading speed.
How many words are there in a 7-minute speech? If you are a slow speaker less than 840 words. If you speak at an average speed between: 840 – 1120 words. If you are a fast speaker between: 1120 - 1400 words.
A film faithfully produced from a screenplay that is 10–15 pages in correct format will be approximately 10–15 minutes long. As a general guideline, you write a script at a particular length with the idea that, for example, a 100-page script will result in a 100-minute film.
Producers expect screenplays to come in between 90 and 110 pages since that's the minimum length of most commercial movies. Any script below 90 pages may be considered unusually brief, but this does not mean it can't be adapted into a successful film.
For a 5 minute video, you would need around 750 words if someone is speaking the entire time. Adjust as needed for scenes without voiceover or dialogue.