Ruth Atkinson is a Los Angeles-based script consultant and story editor who has been helping writers, directors and producers tell their stories for over 25 years.
Growing up Ruth 
couldn’t decide between being a writer, therapist or visual artist so she launched a career that blended all three. Helping filmmakers bring their stories to life is Ruth’s deepest passion and with plenty of hot coffee she can talk story all day!
Ruth has story edited and consulted on award winning, internationally distributed shorts, features and television series that have screened at high profile festivals such as TIFF, Cannes, Sundance, Berlin and SXSW, in theaters globally and on North American cable and streamers.
In addition to individual project consulting Ruth is a story advisor for Project Involve, Film Independent’s signature diversity program, where she mentors writers in the development of their short film scripts. The program has produced over 60 shorts that have won awards at prestigious festivals, screened on HBO and in the New Yorker Magazine’s online screening room and won the NAACP Image Award.
Ruth is also a story advisor for Film Independent’s Screenwriter and Director Labs as well as Creative Advisor for Global Media Makers, a cultural exchange program in partnership with the US Department of State involving filmmakers from the Arab world, Turkey, Africa, South Africa and South Asia. Over twenty award winning films have been produced since GMM’s inception in 2016.
Remaining connected to her Canadian roots, Ruth is the facilitator and mentor for the prestigious Whistler Film Festival Screenwriters Lab held annually in Whistler, British Columbia. Many alumni of this intensive, multi-phase creative and industry development program have had their projects produced, optioned or financed. Ruth is also screenwriting mentor for the Saint John’s International Women’s Film Festival / RBC Michelle Jackson Emerging Filmmaker Award granted annually in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Backstory
Ruth’s experience spans all facets of the business from script development, production, post production and distribution. “I’ve sat in an edit suite for days on end, worked on set at three in the morning, covered the festivals looking for movies to pick up and developed stories with writers, producers and directors.” This range of experience gives her a unique take on material and informs the feedback she gives.
Ruth’s career began in Victoria, BC at a local production and post-production facility in the late 80’s just as the film business on the west coast of Canada was beginning to take off. She soon moved to Vancouver where she worked on set in production on both studio features (Warner Bros., New Regency, Morgan Creek) and network television movies (CBS, ABC & FOX).
In 1996, after several years of working in the rain, Ruth made the jump to sunny Los Angeles where she worked as a development executive developing features, network television series and network television movies at Unapix Films and Alliance Atlantis including several Hallmark Hall of Fame productions.
As a script consultant Ruth works on film and television projects that range in readiness from writers looking to complete an outline or polish a first draft to projects that are fully financed and ready for production. Ruth has worked individually with writers, writer/directors and on projects involving a writer, director and producer. “I love the synergy that’s created when people come together to develop a script. Sharing ideas as we work towards a common vision. That moment when everything clicks and a story problem is solved or the theme revealed. There’s nothing better.”
As a writer, Ruth’s first love is literature and she was drawn to film development because of her love of story. “Every script is an invitation into another world and though I’ve read well over two thousand screenplays I still feel a thrill when I have an unread script in my hands. As I turn to the first page I’m filled with the anticipation of a well-told story. Strong stories make the best movies and I’m passionately committed to helping writers tell their story and write the best script they can.”
If Ruth isn’t reading a script or talking to a writer she’s practicing yoga, seeking out the best coffee and vegan restaurants and sending cat memes to her kids.
