All About SAPEX & Where To Find Us

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ABOUT SAPEX SAPEX was started in 1982, at the same time as Channel Four. Since then we have prepared scripts of all types (not only feature and tv shooting scripts but also many different sorts of pre-production and post-production scripts), from the initial word-processing to the final copying & binding. Throughout, SAPEX has adapted to the times and requirements of the producer, writer, production office and distributor. We are learning all the time as technology in production and distribution change. We have been at the forefront with the use of technology to 'move' scripts around the world. At SAPEX we try to take some of the strain away from the hurly-burly of the production office - not all of it - where would the fun be? - so whatever your scripting needs might be, think SAPEX first.

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PREP & SHOOTING SCRIPTS SAPEX word-processes ('WPs') a full range of shooting scripts to suit all your production needs. Here are a few examples of layouts used at SAPEX.   The preparation script is more than just 'copy-typing' the words laid down by the writer. For a script to be a working document the scene headers must conform to a standard; character names must be kept consistent so when the script is broken down 'spurious' characters don't just appear; many established practices must be known and incorporated. At SAPEX we understand the 'technicalities' and the well tried conventions of a film or TV script through all its stages, from the initial germination and synopsis onward into production and post production. Once a production is into prep there are many requirements of a script. A Filofax size script is one option when out on recce: page-for-page identical to the full size script and double-sided just like a book. Some directors like to work scene-a-page. And, now that we offer a scanning service, a scene-a-page script can even incorporate the story-board. These and many other styles are available once your script has been 'SAPEXed'. We learn by answering your questions. Please ask.   Many writers and all production offices want flexibility in amending scripts as and when changes occur. SAPEX can supply files suitable for most PC and (using file exchange) Mac WPs, in Word 6, RichText or Text formats. Files to/from 'dedicated' script software (such as 'Final Draft' *.fdr and 'Scriptware' *.sw3 and v2 *.scr files) are also supported. Scene and page numbers can be locked, styles are embedded so that you just 'click' on the dialogue box and type away. Give SAPEX your writer's disk and let us do the formatting, scene numbering, etc. Most production offices use computerised scheduling and budgeting. If you are running 'MovieMagic' SAPEX can supply a *.sex file for importing into your 'MovieMagic' schedule. This doesn't do away with the 'getting-to-know-you' act of entering information for your scripts - it just takes away much of the tedium of keying it in.   SAPEX is not a typing agency. For security reasons all scripts are WPed in house. With a little notice, SAPEX can turn a TV script around in a day and a feature in a day and a half! All scripts are proofed on a one-to-one basis before we send out a restricted proofing copy for final approval. SAPEX understands the technology. For several years before the emergence of the Internet a number of national and international productions made use of telecommunications and a system unique to SAPEX to transfer scripts around the globe. Productions such as 'The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles' were able to receive new versions as they travelled the world and many others, often in local studios such as Shepperton, Pinewood, London or Belfast, took advantage of the unique service. Today almost every production office has access to the Internet and SAPEX is able to meet their remote production facility requirements with an accumulated wealth of long-term online expertise.   Once your script is ready to be distributed let the SAPEX Copy Shop take the stress away from the production office. Even if we have not WPed your script, send us a hard copy and tint pages as they are issued for fast service - long runs with tint inserts - 100 copies of a TV script in a morning, a feature in a day. Budgets are often tight, to say the least, and scripts in card covers are not always necessary. We do not charge for collating, drilling or Acco binding. If you already have a copier, our pre-drilled paper could be the answer. And should you decide to base your production at Millennium, the revamped Elstree Studios, or anywhere else in London or the Home Counties, then fully supported copier hire is available from SAPEX's associate, The Production Copier Company.

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POST PRODUCTION SCRIPTS SAPEX prepares a full range of Post Production scripts for both FEATURE and TV distribution. We are aware of the 'vagaries' of documentation requirements in 'Combined Dialogue & Continuity', 'Master English Subtitle Spotting', 'Transmission Post Production' and a variety of other oddly named script formats. Films entered into international competitions often require a dialogue list for translation and subtitling. Even Teletext subtitle files for caption generation are available from SAPEX. Please just ask.

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SAPEX is located in the Elstree Film Studios in 'downtown Borehamwood'.... Two minutes from the A1, 30 minutes from West One, 35 minutes from Pinewood and 45 minutes from Shepperton - at the apex of the Celluloid Triangle.