KEYS2SCRIPTSUCCESS is a dedicated group of professionals committed to help aspiring and established screenwriters and producers in the conceiving, developing and polishing of compelling-and-excellent entertainments for all visual media. Here are its principal partners:

 

Key F. Payton (Founder, and Director of Script Diagnostics) is ranked as being among the top 10 percent of the script consultants in the world (out of 220 who were ranked), with respondents giving Key a 4.82 rating on a 5-point scale (from Creative Screenwriting magazine’s 2010 survey of more than 900 screenwriters and their interactions with professional script consultants.)

    Possessing an honors M.A. in journalism and mass communications with a spiritual emphasis, as well as post-graduate certifications in acting, directing and state-of-the-art script consulting, Key has been a top-flight writing professional for 30 years, with his award-winning work appearing in various newspapers, magazines, Internet sites and films.

    A script doctor and consultant for the last 17 years (more than 1,300 projects), Key has worked for Amblin Entertainment, The Family Channel, Promenade Pictures, FilmStew.com, Act One: Training for Hollywood, Canvas House Films, World Vision, CRU, Shelter Entertainment, Kingston Place Pictures, and several other established prodcos, to high raves on every hand.

    He has also been a judge for multiple screenwriting and filmmaking competitions in Hollywood, including the AAA Screenplay Competition, the Screenwriting Expo Script Contest, the 168 Project, the Write of Passage Contest, and the Carl Sautter Competition of the Scriptwriters Network.

    The raves from clients rating Key for the Creative Screenwriting survey included high marks for “respecting the writer’s vision”; aiding “morale” and giving “emotional support”; helping “significantly” with the opening, second act, ending, and markets/marketability; and commenting “in great depth” on “both macro and micro aspects” of characters, dialogue, and plot.

    Further, Key has led several writer-training courses and seminars for colleges, professional conferences and filmmaking competitions, and has aided several other produced writers (see the “Who Likes Us” endorsements page).

    Key’s own produced works (as either writer or consultant) include the stage plays Three Wise Guys and Live! From Jerusalem, and the screenplays Terrance Is Dead, The Marriage Dance, Award-Winning, Useless, and The Party (the latter three winning more than 20 filmfest awards).

    Key is consistently meticulous and thorough, favors any story that ultimately uplifts the best of the human heart and spirit, and pledges always to give clients much more quality and value than they could reasonably expect.

 

Brennan Smith (Principal, Writer-in-Residence, and Chief Story Diagnostician) has an M.A. in English Education. New-York born, Brennan is a professional screenwriter and script analyst who has written and collaborated on several projects since 2001, including the award-winning comic adventure The Dueling Accountant and Wittenberg (a prequel to Shakespeare’s Hamlet).

    Bren has also written a real-life medieval adventure, Templar; a real-life child-soldier thriller, The Acholi Rescue; and an upcoming teen dramedy for the Christian market, Send.

    A graduate of Act One: Training for Hollywood’s advanced screenwriting course, Act Two, Brennan has taught screenwriting sessions at The Haven, the Damah Film Festival, and the 168 Film Project.

    Bren is also a frequent analyst for Act One’s Script Critique Service, known for his detailed story notes and expansive knowledge of the best in screenwriting perspectives.