Save the Cat!
Save the Cat! commercializes Blake Snyder's 15-beat story structure methodology through software subscriptions, books, physical story-planning cards, coaching, and online courses. It serves screenwriters, novelists, TV writers, educators, and corporate storytellers via a direct-to-consumer product-led model.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2005
- HeadquartersLos Angeles, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Save the Cat! does
Save the Cat! is a storytelling methodology and education company operating as Blake Snyder Enterprises, LLC. The company commercializes a proprietary 15-Beat Story Structure framework developed by late screenwriter Blake Snyder, expanded into ten genre templates (Monster in the House, Golden Fleece, Out of the Bottle, etc.). Its product portfolio spans the Story Suite software (subscription-based digital workspace), a series of authored books covering screenwriting, television, novel, YA novel, horror, and independent film applications, tactile story-planning tools (Beat Cards and Scene Cards), online and live coaching and classes, an annual Screenplay Challenge competition, a dedicated online courses platform at savethecatcourses.com, and digital gift cards.
The target market is primarily professional and aspiring screenwriters, novelists, and TV writers, with secondary segments in creative writing education (high school and college curricula via a student-tier Story Suite) and corporate business storytelling. The go-to-market is product-led and community-led: free tools (Beat Mapper, Genre Mapper, beat sheets, articles, podcasts, and a community forum) serve as top-of-funnel acquisition, converting users into paid software subscriptions, book purchases, physical cards, and coaching engagements. Distribution is direct-to-consumer via savethecat.com (WooCommerce-powered) and savethecatcourses.com, with Amazon as a secondary marketplace for book sales globally. Marketing emphasizes content (weekly blog posts and beat-sheet analyses), social presence across Facebook, X/Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram, a weekly email newsletter, and live webinars and workshops.
Revenue is generated across six streams: recurring software subscriptions (quarterly and annual, with a 30-day money-back guarantee), one-time book sales, professional services (coaching and classes), physical product sales (Beat and Scene Cards), event revenue (paid workshops and the Screenplay Challenge), and digital gift cards. Pricing is low-ticket across the portfolio, with books priced at $21.95-$24.95, card packs ranging from $12.95 to $249.95 by volume, and software sold on auto-renewing subscriptions. The brand has built significant recognition in Hollywood through endorsements from A-list filmmakers including James Gunn, Tina Fey, and Dean DeBlois, with books translated into over 20 languages. The company is privately held with no disclosed external investors, operates with 1-10 employees from Los Angeles, and is led by BJ Markel (CEO/Partner) and Jason Kolinsky (CMO/Partner).
Save the Cat! firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Save the Cat!
- Legal name
- Blake Snyder Enterprises, LLC
- Website
- https://savethecat.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2005
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Save the Cat! commercializes Blake Snyder's 15-beat story structure methodology through software subscriptions, books, physical story-planning cards, coaching, and online courses. It serves screenwriters, novelists, TV writers, educators, and corporate storytellers via a direct-to-consumer product-led model.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Save the Cat! industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Creative Writing Software
- NAICS
- Book Publishers (51313), Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Screenwriting Workshops (Film/TV/Web) (EDAMAMAE)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Fiction Writing Workshops (Short Story, Novel) (EDAMAMAA)
Keywords
Where Save the Cat! is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Los Angeles
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Save the Cat! business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Software Subscriptions: Story Suite software available via quarterly and annual subscription plans with automatic renewal. Provides the core digital workspace for implementing the Save the Cat! methodology.
- Book Sales: Sale of Save the Cat! book series including the original screenwriting guide, genre-specific guides (Writes Horror, Writes for TV, Writes a Novel, Writes a YA Novel), and the Beat Sheet Workbook. Books available as both direct purchases and via Amazon marketplace.
- Classes and Coaching: Beat Sheet Workshops, screenwriting and novel storytelling classes, and one-on-one coaching services (Beat Sheet Coaching, Idea and Logline Coaching, Script Coaching) for personalized instruction.
- Physical Products: Sale of physical products including Beat Cards (15-beat reference cards) and Scene Cards (50-card scene-tracking sets) in various pack sizes.
- Events: Revenue from paid webinars, workshops, and the annual Screenplay Challenge competition.
- Gift Cards: Digital gift cards for Save the Cat! products and services, providing gifting options for writers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Beat Cards - 1 Pack (3 Sets of 15 Cards) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Beat Cards - 3 Pack (9 Sets of 15 Cards) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Beat Cards - 5 Pack (15 Sets of 15 Cards) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Beat Cards - 25 Pack (75 Sets of 15 Cards) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Scene Cards - 1 Pack (1 Set of 50 Cards) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Scene Cards - 3 Pack (3 Sets of 50 Cards) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Scene Cards - 5 Pack (5 Sets of 50 Cards) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Scene Cards - 25 Pack (25 Sets of 50 Cards) |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Save the Cat! Writes Horror Book |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Save the Cat! Writes for TV (Autographed) |
| Subscription | Annual | Story Suite Software Subscription |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Beat Sheet Workshop |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels10 records
Save the Cat! product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Save the Cat! sells a cloud-based Story Suite software, a series of screenwriting and novel-writing books, physical Beat Cards and Scene Cards, and live/virtual classes and coaching — all built around Blake Snyder's proprietary 15-beat story structure methodology. Its customers are individual screenwriters, novelists, and TV writers who use the methodology and tools to structure narratives from idea to finished draft.
Product overview
Save the Cat! is a storytelling methodology company that offers a comprehensive ecosystem of products and services built around Blake Snyder's 15-beat story structure framework. The core product portfolio includes the original Save the Cat! book and its expanded series of genre-specific books (Save the Cat! Writes Horror, Save the Cat! Writes for TV, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel, and more), the Save the Cat! Story Suite software for digital story organization, physical Beat Cards and Scene Cards for tactile story planning, and professional Classes and Coaching services. The company also provides free tools including Beat Sheets, Beat Mapper, Genre Mapper, podcasts, and a community forum. The products are designed to help screenwriters, novelists, and TV writers structure their stories using a shared language of narrative beats.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Quantifiable outcome
- The methodology has been used by writers on successful films including How to Train Your Dragon franchise, Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, and numerous network/streaming TV shows
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Save the Cat!
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Save the Cat! technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature5 records
Save the Cat! partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Save the Cat! competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- WriterDuet: Collaborative cloud screenwriting platform used by writing teams for script development. Overlaps with Save the Cat! on TV/film development use cases where structural collaboration matters.
- Scrivener: Long-form writing software widely used by novelists and screenwriters for organizing manuscripts, scenes, and research. Competes with Story Suite for the structural/organization layer of the novel-writing workflow.
- Final Draft: Industry-standard screenwriting software used by professional screenwriters for formatting and outlining scripts. Save the Cat! competes for the same screenwriter audience with Story Suite's structural/outlining approach layered on top of (rather than replacing) screenwriting tools.
- Plottr: Visual story outlining and timeline software for novelists and screenwriters to plan plots, beats, and scene arcs. Directly comparable to Story Suite's beat-mapping functionality and the Save the Cat! methodology workflow.
- Celtx: Cloud-based screenwriting and pre-production platform combining scriptwriting, storyboarding, and production planning. Overlaps with Save the Cat! on the script-structuring and outlining use case for screenwriters and TV writers.
- Story Grid: Story methodology and editorial framework (Shawn Coyne) offering books, courses, and tools for novelists and screenwriters. The closest direct competitor to Save the Cat! on the proprietary-methodology-plus-education business model.
Broad incumbents
- MasterClass: Premium online education platform with courses from working screenwriters, novelists, and storytellers. A broader incumbent in the craft-of-storytelling education space that Save the Cat! also serves via classes and coaching.
- Reedsy: Marketplace and publishing platform connecting authors with editors, designers, and marketers, plus free writing tools. Broader than Save the Cat! but overlaps on the author/writer education and tooling use case.
Emerging players
- Squibler: AI-assisted long-form writing platform for novelists and screenwriters, combining outlining with generative writing. Competes with Story Suite in the AI-enabled outlining space for fiction writers.
- Scriptation: Script annotation and note-taking app popular with film and TV production teams. Adjacent to Save the Cat!'s pre-writing/planning tools but focused downstream on script revision and notes.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Save the Cat! social profiles
Digital presenceSave the Cat! financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Save the Cat! leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Save the Cat! funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Save the Cat! M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Save the Cat!
What does Save the Cat! do?
Save the Cat! sells a cloud-based Story Suite software, a series of screenwriting and novel-writing books, physical Beat Cards and Scene Cards, and live/virtual classes and coaching — all built around Blake Snyder's proprietary 15-beat story structure methodology. Its customers are individual screenwriters, novelists, and TV writers who use the methodology and tools to structure narratives from idea to finished draft.
Is Save the Cat! a public or private company?
Save the Cat! is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Save the Cat! founded?
Save the Cat! was founded in 2005. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Save the Cat! based?
Save the Cat! is headquartered in Los Angeles, United States, in the North America region.
How does Save the Cat! make money?
Six revenue lines are on record. Software Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are book Sales, classes and Coaching, physical Products, events and gift Cards.
Who are Save the Cat!'s main competitors?
Direct peers on record are WriterDuet, Scrivener, Final Draft, Plottr, Celtx and Story Grid. Broad incumbents are MasterClass and Reedsy. Emerging players are Squibler and Scriptation.
Does Save the Cat! have an API?
No public API is recorded for Save the Cat!.
What industry is Save the Cat! in?
Save the Cat!'s product category is Creative Writing Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAMAMAE, Screenwriting Workshops (Film/TV/Web), with a secondary code of EDAMAMAA, Fiction Writing Workshops (Short Story, Novel). Its NAICS code is 51313 and its SIC code is 2731.