script readers + everyone i speak to: dont put more than 2 pages of dialogue
produced scripts i read: 6 pages of non stop dialogue no action.
Snagged. Yes, it’s true that some produced scripts violate rules designed to assist budding screenwriters.
The reason for this one is that it’s HARD to write a six-page talking scene that can sustain anyone’s interest or justify the page space. Consider that six pages is room for six visual scenes that move the story forward at a confident pace, room for an entire sequence of events.
Then translate that screen time back to the couch where two people sit discussing backstory and wisecracking and catching each other up on the plot, and it becomes clear why readers see a six-page talking scene and go…
