p. 1

u.s stage format by matt carless every script should have a title page with one contact address only in the bottom left hand corner always include a phone number and an e-mail address if you have one if you have an agent the address and number can go here a draft number or date is not required on a spec script.

[close]

p. 2

characters character #1 the boss of a large corporation he s been round the houses a lot but now just wants an easy life a young worker nervous timid a department manager who thrives on interviewing prospective new staff character #2 character #3 characters are generally listed in order of importance with some kind of brief description

[close]

p. 3

setting several small offices in a large corporate building situated in the far west side of london england time the day before an interview present and the following morning the the setting and time page is formatted as above how much setting description you include will depend on how rooted your play is in reality the more fantastic the setting the more description it will need if your play has a particularly complex structure you can also include a scene breakdown either on this page or the next as in the example below act i scene 1 scene 2 an office a small office act ii scene 1 an office now now last week.

[close]

p. 4

1 act i scene 1 act numbers are specified in roman numerals with scene numbers specified in arabic numerals scene action appears in upper and lower case text enclosed within round brackets the opening paragraph of a new scene is indented slightly further than subsequent paragraphs scene action should only deal with set description or what is happening on the stage and must never stray into superfluous novelistic text related to character thoughts or backstory character #1 character names appear in capitals indented to around the middle of the page but not centered a character is designated by either their first or last name but a role designation may be used instead with personal titles abbreviated the designated character name should remain consistent throughout the entire script character #2 dialogue appears directly under the character name in upper and lower case text if scene action interrupts a character s speech on the same page character #2continued then you must begin a new character cue when continuing the dialogue paragraphs of dialogue must always be preceded by a character name and never appear on their own character #1 beat parenthetical instructions appear in upper and lower case text enclosed within brackets on a separate line in the body of the dialogue pause never leave a parenthetical hanging at the bottom of a page when breaking a character s speech move it to the top of the next page under the character name.

[close]

p. 5

2 character #1 continued split dialogue between pages only if at least two lines appear on the first page and only after a sentence indicate the end of a scene or act in the scene action

[close]

p. 6

3 act ii scene 1 begin each new act or scene on a new page don t forget to number all of your pages page one begins with act one/scene one not the title page and keep all your pages together with a simple paper binder in the top left corner unfastened pages can become separated from the rest of the script and get lost character #1 as a general rule of thumb finish off an act and/or the script in the following way blackout

[close]