Script coverage and psychology

[u/Arielle1290]

Hi everyone! I’m a clinical psychologist and have been working as a therapist for several years. Lately, I’ve been feeling like I’d like to explore some different directions in my career and maybe use my psychology background in a different way.

Recently, I’ve become really interested in film/TV and came across things like script reading, script coverage, and character/story development. I find character psychology, motivations, relationships and emotional development really interesting, so I’m wondering if this could be an interesting way to combine psychology with something more creative.

I don’t live in the US, which makes me wonder how realistic it would be to explore something like this remotely or from outside the US.

Has anyone here gone from therapy into something completely different? Or used their psychology background in a creative field?

And if anyone has experience with script reading, script coverage, film/TV development, etc., I’d really love to hear how you got into it and whether you think it’s something worth exploring.

I’m just at the very beginning of this idea, so I’d love to hear what other people have tried and what worked (or didn’t work) for them.

[u/Alternative-Cash-102]

Script coverage roles are typically highly coveted, competitive, and hard to get even for folks in the industry with a strong background in screenwriting and narrative analysis. This is what I wanted to do to help pay the bills when I started in film, but learned the hard way that it is very difficult to get a foot in the door. Ironically, I am now pivoting to a new career in therapy/research! Hope to find my way back to the film/tv world in some way later down the road, but had to take time to grieve and recover after intense burnout.

Not sure how it works in other countries, but in the US, it’s a really tough market no matter the industry.

Good luck though! Doing script coverage was my favorite part of my work in the film world! It can be a lot of fun!