How to Turn a Screenplay into a Voiceover Script

To turn a screenplay into a voiceover script, keep only the dialogue, put each speech on one line that starts with the character's name and a colon, and move scene headings, action and parentheticals out of the spoken lines. Action you want heard becomes narration; everything else goes in your own notes.

Screenplay format vs voiceover format

A screenplay is written for people to read: the character's name is centred above the speech, directions sit in brackets under it, and action is described between speeches. A voice model reads every word it's given, so a voiceover script needs only the words that should be spoken, each with its speaker.

A worked example

A scene in screenplay format:

INT. LIGHTHOUSE - NIGHT

Rain hammers the glass. MARA (30s) climbs the last steps.

                    MARA
          Hello? Joss?

                    JOSS (O.S.)
          Up here. Mind the third step.

                    MARA
              (out of breath)
          You could have fixed it by now.

The same scene, ready to paste:

Narrator: Rain hammers the glass as Mara climbs the last steps.
Mara: Hello? Joss?
Joss: Up here. Mind the third step.
Mara: You could have fixed it by now.

Step by step

Export plain text. Final Draft, Fade In, WriterSolo, Highland and most screenwriting apps can export a .txt or Fountain file. Fountain is plain text already.
Join each cue to its speech. Put the character's name, a colon and the dialogue on one line. Speeches that run over several lines in the screenplay become one line here.
Drop the extensions. (O.S.), (V.O.), (CONT'D) are for readers. Remove them so the name matches the voice exactly.
Move parentheticals out. (out of breath) would be read aloud. Note it in your own copy, and get the delivery from the voice's style or a re-take instead.
Decide about action. For a table read, a narrator reading key action helps listeners follow. For temp dialogue under picture, leave it out entirely.
Remove scene headings, or turn them into narration (Narrator: Inside the lighthouse. Night.) if you want them heard.
Add the cast in abcVoiceover, one voice per speaking character with the same names, then paste.

Stage plays

Play scripts are usually closer already: the name comes first, then the speech. Check for names in capitals followed by a full stop rather than a colon (MARA. Hello?) and replace the full stop with a colon. Stage directions in italics or brackets go the same way as screenplay parentheticals.

Speeding it up

A text editor with find and replace that supports regular expressions can join cues to speeches across a whole script.
One script per scene keeps things manageable and makes the download match your scene numbers.
Characters with one line each can share a voice at first. Give them their own later, line by line.

What to do with the result

A full-cast read of a draft is one of the best ways to hear what works; see AI table reads. For cutting picture against temp dialogue, see scratch dialogue for film, and formatting dialogue covers the paste rules in full.

How to turn a screenplay into a voiceover script