Screenplay format guide
Cold Open: What It Is and How to Format One
A cold open is the scene or short sequence that plays before the opening titles, written to hook the audience before anything else. In a TV script you mark it with COLD OPEN centred at the top, write it as normal scenes, and end it with END OF COLD OPEN before ACT ONE begins on a new page.
Written and reviewed by ScriptLix Editorial
In short
A cold open is the scene or short sequence that plays before a show’s opening titles, written to hook the audience at once. In a TV script, put COLD OPEN centred at the top, write the scene as normal, and close it with END OF COLD OPEN before ACT ONE starts on a new page.
COLD OPEN
EXT. HIGHWAY REST STOP - NIGHT
Rain. One car in the lot. TESS ADEYEMI (30s, paramedic's jacket over pajamas) sits behind the wheel, engine running, staring at a phone propped on the dash.
On the screen: a live video feed of her own kitchen. Someone is making tea in it.
TESS
(barely a whisper)
I live alone.
The figure on screen turns and looks straight into the camera.
END OF COLD OPEN
ACT ONE
INT. TESS'S KITCHEN - MORNING
Two mugs in the sink. Tess counts them twice.
Write your own
Type in plain text. A name in caps right above a line becomes dialogue, and lines starting INT. or EXT. become scene headings.
COLD OPEN
EXT. HIGHWAY REST STOP - NIGHT
Rain. One car in the lot. TESS ADEYEMI (30s, paramedic's jacket over pajamas) sits behind the wheel, engine running, staring at a phone propped on the dash.
On the screen: a live video feed of her own kitchen. Someone is making tea in it.
TESS
(barely a whisper)
I live alone.
The figure on screen turns and looks straight into the camera.
END OF COLD OPEN
ACT ONE
INT. TESS'S KITCHEN - MORNING
Two mugs in the sink. Tess counts them twice.
How to use it
- 1
Start the episode with COLD OPEN in capitals, centred (many writers also underline it).
- 2
Write the hook as ordinary scene headings, action and dialogue, usually one to five pages.
- 3
End it with END OF COLD OPEN centred, then start ACT ONE, centred, on a new page.
What is a cold open?
It is the part of an episode or film that runs before the title sequence or main titles. The audience is dropped into the story with no credits and no setup, so the scene has to grab attention on its own.
In TV dramas the same section is often called the TEASER, and it usually sets up the episode’s problem or crime. In comedies the cold open is often a short self contained bit that may have nothing to do with the episode’s plot.
How do you format a cold open in a TV script?
Put COLD OPEN (or TEASER, if that is what the show uses) centred at the top of the first page, in capitals. Below it, write the scene exactly as you would any other: scene heading, action, character cues and dialogue.
Close it with END OF COLD OPEN, centred. The next act starts on a fresh page with its own centred heading, such as ACT ONE, and ends with END OF ACT ONE. A script for a show with no act breaks can still use the cold open label on its own.
Do feature screenplays use a cold open?
Films often open before the title appears, and people call that a cold open too. In a feature screenplay you do not usually label it. Write the opening scenes, then mark where the title lands with a line such as TITLE CARD or MAIN TITLES if it matters to the story.
What are common cold open mistakes?
Running too long: most are a few pages, and a ten page cold open is really act one. Explaining instead of hooking: end on a question, a reveal or a laugh, not a summary. Forgetting the label: without COLD OPEN and END OF COLD OPEN a reader cannot see where the titles go. And writing it in a different style from the rest of the script: it is still the same show.
More from the format guide
- How to Write a Montage in a Screenplay
- How to Write a Flashback in a Screenplay
- How to Write a Phone Call in a Screenplay
- How to Write Text Messages in a Screenplay
- Dual Dialogue in a Screenplay
- Voice Over in a Screenplay: V.O. Narration
- Screenplay Transitions: CUT TO, DISSOLVE TO
- How to Introduce a Character in a Screenplay
- How to Use Parentheticals in a Screenplay
- How to Write an Intercut in a Screenplay
- How to Write a Title Card in a Screenplay
- How to Write a Series of Shots in a Screenplay
- How to Write a Flash Forward in a Screenplay
- How to Write a Dream Sequence in a Screenplay
- Smash Cut: What It Is and How to Write One
- O.S. in a Screenplay: Meaning and Format
- How to Write a Pre Lap in a Screenplay
- Subtitles in a Screenplay: Foreign Dialogue
- How to Write a Split Screen in a Screenplay
- How to Write Slow Motion in a Screenplay
- How to Write a Freeze Frame in a Screenplay
- How to Write Song Lyrics in a Screenplay
Questions writers ask
How long should a cold open be?
Usually one to five pages, which plays as about one to five minutes.
Is a cold open the same as a teaser?
Mostly. Both run before the titles. Teaser is the more common label in hour long dramas; cold open is common in comedies. Use whichever the show you are writing uses.
Does the cold open count as an act?
No. It sits before ACT ONE and is not numbered as an act.
Is the cold open label centred or flush left?
Centred, in capitals, usually underlined, the same as act headings. The scenes inside it use normal screenplay margins.
Further reading
More free tools
- TV script formatGuideSingle cam vs multi cam, with a live formatter
- How to write a TV pilotGuideThe pilot guide and an outline template
- Format checkerToolFind every line that breaks format
- Character introductionsGuideCaps, age and one telling detail
- TransitionsGuideCUT TO:, DISSOLVE TO: and when to skip them
- Smash cutGuideThe jolt, written right