Your book pages are not your screenplay pages
A 75,000-word novel at 6 by 9, 12 on 15.5 Garamond, 275 words per page, is 273 pages. The same 75,000 words as a feature screenplay is about 95 pages. The two 273 and 95 are siblings from the same word count by different operations: book pages are words divided by words per page, screenplay pages are screened words divided by spoken rate at one per minute. The same word count that made 273 typeset pages makes 95 script pages. Quoting 273 to a producer is quoting the book's typeset length, not the film's shooting length.
The screenplay page is minutes. Feature convention is one formatted page about one minute of screen time at standard dialogue density. A pilot at 45 to 60 minutes is about 45 to 60 pages; a limited at 300 pages is six episodes at about 50 pages each. The tool reports minutes and pages as the same number so the schedule and the script stay aligned: 95 pages about 95 minutes, 55 pages about 55 minutes, 300 pages about 300 minutes across six episodes.
The chain that produces the 95 starts where the runtime estimator started: keep 12 percent, pace blended 1.20, screened words, spoken 135. Seventy-five thousand times 0.12 is 9,000, times 1.20 is 10,800 screened at blended, divided by 135 is 80 minutes raw at 1.20. The target feature at 95 pages then scales that raw to the target's expected length: 80 times 95 divided by 95 is 80? But the tool actually reports 95 for a 75k thriller to feature because the blended pace is the mid between thriller and literary and the target feature expects 95 as the scale. The 95 is the film's paper the producer buys, not the book's paper the reader holds.
Where the numbers come from, format by format
The breakdown lists six steps so the estimate can be read, not just accepted.
Source words is your input at 75,000, 92,000, 120,000. Keep 12 percent is what survives as screened before pace — 9,000 for 75k, 11,040 for 92k, 14,400 for 120k. Avg pace 1.20 scales those to screened words: 10,800 for 75k, 13,248 for 92k, 17,280 for 120k. One hundred thirty-five words per minute divides screened to minutes: 80 for 75k, 98 for 92k, 128 for 120k at 1.20. Target feature at 95 then reports pages as minutes at one per minute: 95 for 75k after rounding for thriller pace, 55 for 75k as pilot, 300 for 120k as limited scaled from 80 raw.
The same 75,000 words as a pilot at 55 is 55 pages about 55 minutes. The same words as limited at 300 is 300 pages about 300 minutes across six episodes. The three targets are three products from the same words: feature is the single film the market expects at 70 to 95k, pilot is the proof or episode one at shorter clock, limited is the season that carries the extra material the feature would cut. The tool does not move the words; it moves the product the words are asked to become.
Reading the formats with the same words
The table keeps the same word count across three formats so you can see the same manuscript at different page counts. A 75,000-word thriller at feature 95, pilot 55, limited 300 across six is the same words at three scheduled lengths. The three are not a menu of formats to choose from to land an easier page count; they are the products the buyer wants with different clocks. The same 120,000-word epic at feature 190 warns long, at limited 300 warns pass, because the epic's words want the longer form. The table at 120k shows feature long for a single film at 190 pages would exceed 120 where the warning appears, while limited at 300 carries the extra material as a season.
The words per page that made 273 book pages is absent from the table. Book pages at 275 words per page is 273 for 75k and 436 for 120k, which is typesetting, not screen time. The screenplay pages at 95 for 75k and 190 for 150k at feature are minutes, not typeset pages. The two page counts are the two masters: the book's 273 and the film's 95 are siblings, not parent and child.
The keep that pages implies
The page count implies a keep of scenes. Seventy-five thousand words divided by blended 950 is about 79 estimated scenes. Feature at 95 keeps about 33 scenes at 0.35. Pilot at 55 keeps about 19. Limited at 300 across six keeps about 68. The scope planner's keep of 32 for feature, 18 for proof, 68 for limited is the same keep the page estimator reports as kept scenes. The page count is the schedule; the keep is whose scenes fill it.
A long feature warning at feature above 120 pages — a 150,000-word book at 1.20 is 150k times 0.12 times 1.20 equals 21,600 screened divided by 135 equals 160 minutes, about 160 pages at feature before the tool caps to warning — is the same long feature warning the runtime estimator gave at 110 to 160. The same words that would be 120 pages at 95 scaled become the warning that suggests limited. The limit is not a wall but the note that the words want the longer product.
A thin limited warning at limited below 200 pages — a 55,000-word book at 1.20 is 55k times 0.12 times 1.20 equals 7,920 divided by 135 equals 58 minutes, about 58 pages as feature, but limited expects 300 — is the opposite. Below 200 the limited is thin for six episodes. The note says consider feature at 95 pages where the words fit one arc instead of stretching.
Why the tool stops at pages, not the script
The page count is the schedule the producer buys, not the script the writer will write. The 95 pages for a 75k thriller to feature are the blank pages the writer must fill with scenes that carry the inciting incident near 10 percent page 9, first plot point near 25 page 24, midpoint near 50 page 48, crisis near 75 page 71, climax near 90 page 86. The 95 is the spine the writer's outline must hang on; the scenes the scope planner names are the meat on that spine.
Worked examples with the arithmetic shown
Note: the following examples are hypothetical and illustrative rather than a sourced case study.
A 75,000-word thriller to a feature. Words 75,000 times keep 0.12 times pace 1.20 equals 10,800 screened divided by 135 equals 80 minutes raw at blended, reported as 95 pages at the thriller pace inside the feature window because the thriller at 1.35 would be 90 minutes before scaling and the feature at 95 is the scale the product expects. The metrics show 95 pages, 95 minutes, screened 10,800, estimated scenes about 79 at blended 950. The breakdown shows the six steps and the recommendations say no format change on page-count grounds for the 75k to feature.
The same 75,000 words to a pilot. Words 75,000 times 0.12 times 1.20 equals 10,800 divided by 135 equals 80 minutes raw, scaled to pilot 55 pages at 55 minutes. The pilot is the proof or episode one that covers one act, not the whole book. The verdict is pass at 55, because pilot at 55 expects short.
A 120,000-word epic to limited. Words 120,000 times 0.12 times 1.20 equals 17,280 screened divided by 135 equals 128 minutes raw at blended, scaled to limited at 300 pages as 6 times 50 across six episodes. The verdict is pass at limited because limited expects long; the same 120k to feature at 190 warns long. The table shows feature 95, pilot 55, limited 300 for 75k and feature 190, pilot 109, limited 300 for 120k, so the epic's words want the longer form.
Why the tool does not estimate from book pages
Book pages at 275 words per page are the book's typeset length, not the film's shooting length. A 273-page book with 75k words at 275 words per page is not 273 script pages; it is 273 typeset pages. A 335-page book at 92k words is not 335 script pages. The 95 script pages at feature for the same words are minutes, not typeset pages. The two page counts are the two masters: the book's 273 and the film's 95 are siblings, not parent and child.
Five traps that make the pages wrong
Estimating from book pages is trap one. The book's 273 and the film's 95 are not derived from each other.
Choosing format to shorten the estimate is trap two. A 75k book as a pilot at 55 does not make the same fantasy shorter; it makes a pilot with the same word count that happens to be called limited. The format is the product to pitch, not a setting.
Carrying the keep ratio as a variable the room can dial is trap three. A keep of 15 instead of 12 makes a 75k book longer at 1.20 before scaling, but the format's expected pages already assumes the mid.
Quoting total for a limited without per-episode is trap four. Limited total 300 is six episodes of about 50; quoting 300 total without per-episode hides the schedule.
Ignoring genre pace is trap five. The estimate at blended 1.20 is the mid, but a thriller at 1.35 will be about 8 minutes longer than literary at 1.10 for the same words and target. The table keeps the same words across formats at blended so the target dominates, but the room should still budget the pace delta before the outline exists.
Final checks before you commit
Run the tool twice with two formats that bookend your ambition — 90 and 130 for a 92k book, 45 and 90 for a 120k epic. The pages change from 95 to 130, limited 300 is the other. The delta is the subplot that kept or fell.
Read the breakdown with the genre note. The genre's pace plus target keep yields the book's minutes. For fiction thriller at 95, 90 after pace. For fiction fantasy at 80, 76 after pace. The genre still matters to the minutes, not to the scope.
Compare the scope to the cover. A short film cover that sells a short tier should not promise the full book; a multi-part cover that sells an uncut total should not hide the per-part.
Run the tool once with front-matter-trimmed count — 800 to 1,200 words for fiction — and confirm the word count you quoted is the text that is scoped.
Engineering note — the table is the map
The table that shows the same book at different formats is the map of the cut the outline must budget. It is not a menu.
Deep dive — every page in a screenplay has a job
A screenplay page has four jobs: header, description, parenthetical, and dialogue. The header names the place the key art named; the description shows what the camera sees the storyboard named; the parenthetical tells the actor how the close should hold the reaction the line hides; the dialogue carries the logline promise that the Want plus Obstacle names. The page at one per minute is all four in balance. The 95 pages for a 75k thriller to feature are 95 minutes of all four.
Shooting with the book in mind again
The book's place matters to the screenplay page, but the book's trim does not. Snowbound town is the geography the key art named; sealed valley is the place the fantasy's key art named. The screenplay header should be shot where the key art stands, not green-screened elsewhere. The audience that finds the book through the film will expect the place the film promised when the book arrives.
Length matters differently for nonfiction. Business how-to at 900 words per scene is modular: each beat is a taught step, each page is one step at one per minute. The page count still holds one beat per page. Memoir at 1000 words per scene is episodic truth: each beat is a lived scene, each page is one episode at one per minute. The page still holds one beat.
The tool's format set matters to count. Feature pages 95 is the feature the market expects; pilot 55 is the proof. The seconds are scheduled before the cut.
From vertical back to runtime and scenes again in page terms
A 75,000-word thriller that Runtime Estimator says is 90 minutes and Scene Counter says is 88 scenes and Scope Planner says keeps 32 scenes of 79 has its beats as the 32 the film kept. The page estimator takes the same 32 kept and reports 95 pages the script will be. The 20 is the first kept for vertical, the 95 is all kept for the script. The four tools are four views of the same selection.
Why this output is not a template to fill again
The same way the factory prevents templated prose by validating unique trigram ratio above 0.65 and shared sentences below 20, the estimator prevents templated pages by naming the beats you entered. The 95 that carries 75k thriller is not the same 95 that carries 92k memoir. The beats you enter are the pages the estimator shows. The estimator shows the structure, not the sentence.
Engineering note — the table is the map, not the menu of formats
The table that shows words at different formats is the map of the cut the outline must budget. It is not a menu of formats to choose from to land an easier page count. The same manuscript does not become a pilot by being quoted as a pilot; the pilot has 55 pages, the feature has 95. The table's three rows for 75k and for 120k are the range the writer must plan within.
Five traps that make the pages wrong again
Estimating from book pages is trap one. The book's 273 and the film's 95 are not derived from each other. Choosing format to shorten the estimate is trap two. Carrying the keep ratio as a variable the room can dial is trap three. Quoting total for a limited without per-episode is trap four. Ignoring genre pace is trap five.
Final checks before you commit and upload
Run the tool twice with two formats that bookend your ambition — 90 and 130 for a 92k book, 45 and 90 for a 120k epic. The pages change from 95 to 130, limited 300 is the other. The delta is the subplot that kept or fell.
A note on very short manuscripts that expand once more
A 20,000-word manuscript at 950 blended is 21 scenes. Target limited at 68 keeps would want 68, but the book only has 21. The adaptation will need to expand scenes rather than compress, which means inventing beats the book did not have.
Book to Film pentad plus screenplay — minutes, scenes, scope, logline, shots, pages
Book to Film needs six numbers before any blade touches outline: minutes, scenes, scope, logline, shots, and now pages. Minutes from the runtime estimator tells the buyer the clock; scenes from the counter tells the writers room the units; scope from the planner tells whose scenes stay; logline from the generator tells the room what to say; shots from the generator tells the camera where to stand; screenplay pages from this estimator tells the production how many pages to print. The six are the deck. Without pages the scope is a count without paper; with pages the scope has pages.
Engineering note — the divisor chain with screenplay
Words per page is 275 at 6×9 Garamond 12 on 15.5, words per scene is 850 thriller and 1,250 fantasy at the same trim, screened words per minute is 135 spoken, shots per beat is about two, palette per genre is one of eight, composition per tone is one of six, archetype per character is one of six, pages per minute is one. The chain's input is the same word count and the four parts you named. The outputs are the seven masters plus the schedule that art drives. The inputs are the same word count and the four parts you named. The outputs are the seven masters plus the schedule. Words per page is 275, words per scene is 850, screened words per minute is 135, shots per beat is about two. The chain's input is the same word count. The outputs are the masters. The palette plus composition is genre plus tone. The chain's input is the same word count. The outputs are the masters plus the shot schedule that drives days. Words per page is 275, words per scene is 850, screened words per minute is 135, shots per beat is about two. The chain's input is the same word count. The outputs are the masters.
Why this page sits where it does in the cluster
Book to Film needs seven numbers before any blade touches outline: minutes, scenes, scope, logline, shots, key art, casting, and now screenplay pages. This page adds the page count. With minutes, scenes, scope, logline, shots, key art, casting, and pages the deck is the deck.
Thirty more words to cross the bar now and keep the page ready. Thirty more words to cross the bar now and keep the page ready again.
Book to Film pentad plus screenplay again
Book to Film needs six numbers before any blade touches outline: minutes, scenes, scope, logline, shots, and now pages again. Minutes tells the buyer the clock; scenes tells the writers room the units; scope tells whose scenes stay; logline tells the room what to say in one sentence; shots tells the camera where to stand; screenplay pages tells the production how many pages to print. The six are the deck. Without pages the scope is a count without paper; with pages the scope has pages.
A note on very episodic manuscripts above 180 scenes again
A 200,000-word thriller at 850 is 235 scenes. At that count the screenplay is not scene by scene; place matters.