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Development · Stage 1

How to Become a Development Assistant

From Day 1 to Getting Paid

Development is where films begin. Here is the desk they begin on, the one skill that gets you hired, and how the first wage actually arrives.

A development assistant logs what comes in, reads what nobody else has time for, and writes it up so a producer can decide. This course takes you from never having seen a production company to the first paid job: what the desk really contains, how a film gets from an unsolicited script to a green light, how to write coverage properly, what the UK rules say about unpaid placements, and where the wage comes from when it comes.

2 hours · 6 modules · 22 lessons

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What you’ll learn

  • Be able to describe a development assistant's day, name the junior roles around you, and explain how a production company gets a film from material to green light.
  • Have written one real piece of script coverage, in the standard format, that you can attach to an application or show a mentor.
  • Know the UK rules on work experience, internships and National Minimum Wage, the questions to ask before you accept a placement, and what the first year actually costs you.
  • Have three specific routes to development experience with dates against them, and a one-page plan you can take to a mentor.
  • Be able to say the five Stage 1 statements honestly, and know your next step on MFJF.

Where this leads

By the end you will have written your own Stage 1 plan, checked yourself against MFJF's five Stage 1 statements, and know exactly what to do next: a mentor clinic, an Academy workshop, and Stage 2, the HotList.

Finish the course and you can build your personal plan: MFJF's three-stage planner for this role, ticked from Your Profile and your CV, with dated next steps and the CV line each one becomes.

Module 1

What a development assistant does, and why the job exists

20 min

Development is where films begin, and the development assistant is the person who keeps it moving. Start with what actually lands on the desk, and with the business the desk sits inside.

  1. readThe job, hour by hour7 min
  2. readHow a production company works, and what it is trying to do5 min
  3. readThe words people will use around you3 min
  4. checkCheck: the desk and the business5 min
Module 2

Coverage: the craft you can practise before anyone hires you

20 min

Coverage is the skill that gets development people hired, and the only one you can get genuinely good at from your kitchen table. Learn the format properly, learn to read like the company, then write one.

  1. readScript coverage, line by line6 min
  2. readReading well, reading fast, and building taste4 min
  3. checkCheck: coverage4 min
  4. taskTask: write one piece of coverage6 min
Module 3

Day 1: getting in the door before anybody is paying you

20 min

Development almost never hires a stranger. This module is about where the first contact actually comes from, and about the rules on unpaid work, which in the UK are clearer than most people entering the industry realise.

  1. readWhere development experience really comes from5 min
  2. readThe rules: pay, hours and unpaid work4 min
  3. checkCheck: the rules and the routes4 min
  4. taskTask: find three real routes this month7 min
Module 4

Getting paid

20 min

The step from a placement to a wage is the one this course is named after. It is a real step with a shape, and knowing the shape is most of getting it.

  1. readWhat the paid step actually looks like4 min
  2. readWhere it goes after the first job5 min
  3. checkCheck: getting paid5 min
  4. taskTask: price your first year honestly6 min
Module 5

The industry around the desk

20 min

Development touches more of the business than any other entry-level job. Knowing the map is what turns an assistant into somebody with a view.

  1. readThe map: who you deal with and what they want6 min
  2. resourcesThe development library9 min
  3. checkCheck: the map5 min
Module 6

Your plan: Stage 1 to Stage 2

20 min

Everything you have done in this course now becomes one page you can act on and show to somebody.

  1. plannerYour development plan10 min
  2. readHow you know you are ready for Stage 25 min
  3. checkCheck: are you ready?5 min
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Sources and references

Where this course comes from. Open any of them yourself.

What this course was written from

  • MFJF careers guide: Development Intern the MFJF careers guide this course was built from, including the pay range, the placement limits and the three-year plan
  • MFJF case studies: development the script reader, script consultant and office and development assistant interviews on the site
  • ScreenSkills where the guidance on work placements and unpaid work now sits, replacing the old Creative Skillset guidance
  • GOV.UK: National Minimum Wage the authority on worker status, the exemptions, and the current rate, which changes each April
  • BFI the Film Fund as the largest single UK backer, and the Reuben Library as a free source of screenplays

Every link checked 22 September 2026.

You are not doing this alone

You have your own personal career mentor

That is us, the MFJF team. Book an MFJF Mentor Session with us every month: we guide you through this journey and answer all your questions, from which job is yours to your CV and your next application.

Book my MFJF Mentor Session

Where next

Your recommended next steps

Picked for Development. Signed in, they follow your stage and the roles your answers point to. See your whole MFJF journey, step by step →

  1. My MFJF JourneyOne page for everything MFJF has built, in the order you need it.
  2. My Reading ListThe books, blogs and bodies you have saved, in one place.
  3. Start the Stage 1 course: DevelopmentTwo hours on what the job is, how people get in and what to do first.
  4. Get on the HotListPut yourself in front of productions looking for crew.
  5. Join MFJF DayPlayersDay work on productions for crew with the credits and the skills.
  6. Find your role in the career plannersEvery entry-level job by department, with a three-stage planner for each.
  7. Read the career guidesWhat each job is, the day, the way in and the pay: one guide for every role.
  8. See how it all fits on the career maps17 maps of how films get made: the people, the process and the departments.
  9. Who works whereEvery department on a shoot and every kind of film company: who is in each and what they do.
  10. Industry EssentialsThe books, industry bodies, websites and blogs worth knowing, department by department.
  11. Read the MFJF Survival GuidesStraight answers to what everyone starting out asks: how long it takes, what you get paid, and what to do every day.
  12. MFJF Academy workshopsLive sessions with people who do the job, and the monthly career clinic.
  13. Build your CV with the CV BuilderThe industry's format, built from your profile and your current CV.

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