How long should a screenplay be?

Most feature film screenplays are between 90 and 120 pages, because one page of correctly formatted script runs about one minute on screen. A one-hour TV drama is around 50 to 60 pages, a half-hour comedy 25 to 35, and a short film usually 5 to 15 pages.

Typical lengths

• Feature film: 90 to 120 pages. Debut scripts are safest at 95 to 110.
• Hour-long TV drama: 50 to 60 pages.
• Half-hour comedy: 25 to 35 pages.
• Short film: 5 to 15 pages; festivals favour shorter.

The page-a-minute rule

It only works if the format is right: Courier 12, standard margins and indents. That's why cheating the margins to save pages is easily spotted.

Too long?

1. Cut scenes that repeat information.
2. Enter scenes later and leave earlier.
3. Trim action to what we see and hear.

True-Script shows real pages as you write, so you always know your page count.

Typical lengths by type

• Feature film: 90 to 120 pages. Comedies and horror often run 90 to 100; dramas and epics can be longer, but a first-time writer's spec over 120 pages is a hard sell.
• Short film: 1 to 15 pages. Most festivals favour shorts under 15 minutes, and the sweet spot is often 5 to 10.
• One-hour TV drama: about 50 to 65 pages for a 42 to 60 minute episode.
• Half-hour comedy: 25 to 35 pages for single-camera shows; multi-camera sitcoms use a different, more spaced-out format and run longer on the page.

Why a page is about a minute

Standard format, with Courier 12 and fixed margins, puts a predictable amount of text on each page. Over a whole script, dialogue-heavy pages that play faster balance out action-heavy pages that play slower, so the rule of a minute per page works surprisingly well for planning and budgeting. It is an average, not a promise: a single line such as "The battle rages" could be five minutes of screen time.

How to cut a long script

1. Start scenes later and end them earlier. Most scenes have a few lines of arrival and departure that can go.
2. Trim action paragraphs to what the audience must see.
3. Remove unnecessary transitions and camera directions.
4. Look for scenes that do the same job twice and merge them.
5. Never cheat with smaller fonts or margins. Readers notice, and it defeats the point of standard format.

Timing your script

A table read gives the most realistic timing, because you hear the dialogue at speaking pace. True-Script's Table Read plays your script with voices for each character, so you can time a scene or the whole draft without gathering a cast.

Common questions

Related guides

• How do you format a screenplay?
• How do you write a short film script?
• What goes on a screenplay title page?