Years ago, one of the principals at a production company told me that as soon as she saw a script coming through the fax machine (I said it was years ago) with either the JWT or Leo Burnett logo at the top of the page, she knew right away that there wouldn’t be enough money in the production budget.

I don’t bring this up to poop on old J. Wally or Leo B., but to make a point.

Your script is being judged before anyone has even read it.

Previously, I wrote about the merits of creating two versions of your script, one for the client and one for the director.

Today, I have another stunningly brilliant idea to share because I am such a fabulously nice guy.

Art direct your script.

That’s right – don’t just send the director the script as you bashed it out in MS Word.

Instead, drop that sucker into InDesign and art direct the crap out of it!

Make it a typographic tour-de-force, a font of fontly goodness and a design to die for.

If there’s one thing good directors appreciate, it’s aesthetics. Make them love just looking at your script.

All good directors always have a pile of tasty scripts to choose from and, chances are, many of them have much bigger budgets than your particular work of genius.

But your script, it is good and it’s just so … so pretty!

It could be just the advantage you need to make the director of your dreams pass on the next Nike campaign and take on your little nugget instead.

Trust me, it works.

Just be certain to put your J. Wally or Leo B. logo way, way down at the bottom.

- Craig Cooper